Two Days in Margate

Can you believe that at the ripe old age of age of 30, I have never been on a solo holiday? Work trips of course do not count.

After selling my house and quitting my job ahead of going travelling, I decided that now is an opportune time to finally go on a trip with nobody else other than me, myself and I.

Having spent my life living in the West Midlands, North West and South West of England,I recently came upon the realisation that I have never really seen much of the East of the UK. Following this thought I was torn between visiting Brighton or Margate. However, after realising that a Travelodge or Premier Inn was going to be £400+ for three nights for just myself, I settled on the latter.

Currently unemployed, I wanted to try and do this trip on a budget, which as a solo traveller can sometimes be tricky as hotels tend to charge the same price for two people as they do one person.

Accommodation

Ideally, I would have stayed in an independent hotel, BnB or hostel but after extensive research - it was hella expensive. All of the blogs and videos I watched recommended a particular indie hotel but at about £600 for three nights, it just wasn’t going to happen.

In the end, I settled on Premier Inn, conveniently located next to the train station, right on the seafront close to main attractions. At approx £200 for three nights for one person, it was a bit more than the Travelodge (approx £160) but this was located about a 40 min walk away from the main hub of Margate.

It is worth noting, my visit was from Wednesday-Saturday and prices increased significantly if you wanted to stay over the weekend.

Day One

I started my first day in Margate by walking along the beach, stopping off at Big Shot - a coffee shop and bar situated right on the seafront. I can confidently say they do a banging oat flat white, particularly good when accompanied by a slice of banana bread.

Post-fuel, I headed further along the coast to the Turner Contemporary, an art gallery celebrating Margate’s community, culture and history. Believing that art should be free for everyone, the gallery is completely free for all. Upon entry to the gallery, I was greeted by David Hockney’s Sunly Window - an artwork that originates from one of Hockney’s 200 iPad paintings produced in Normandy in 2020. It was truly spectacular but also fascinating seeing artwork created on an iPad in an art gallery, something I don’t think I’ve really seen before. The gallery is quite small and has a changing programme of exhibitions. During my visit I saw Bridget Riley’s Learning to See exhibition which gathers paintings from throughout Riley’s career.

And of course the best part of any gallery or museum - the gift shop. As with all art galleries, the shop was fantastic and if I had unlimited budget and baggage space I would have purchased more including art books galore, hats and homeware. Glorious!

After my art gallery fix, I essentially just went for a mooch and a wonder through Margate’s labyrinth of independent shops and vintage stores. I made sure to stop by Silly, the trinket collector’s dream shop. Make sure to check out their trinket trade box outside.

Next I headed over to the Shell Grotto. This mysterious attraction was discovered by chance in 1835 and raised many many questions many of which are yet to be answered. Its chalk walls are studded with 4.6 million shells creating beautiful mosaics of patterns and symbols. Now for the weird bit - nobody is quite sure who or why this place was built. Some say it’s an ancient temple, some say a secret meeting place but there’s no record of its origins. Perhaps it was simply someone with a hyperfixation and too much time on their hands.

Presuming that the grotto would be located somewhere near the sea (shells duh?), I was quite shocked that the it was actually located on a random residential street. Admission was £6 for adults. I obviously have to mention the gift shop again. Filled with shell and coastal themed gifts, the shop was really lovely.

To refuel, I visited Thao Thao for a delicious (and reasonably priced) tofu banh mi and Gaza cola before heading back to the hotel to decompress.

After cramming so much into day one, I was pretty tired so I ordered food to take back to the hotel. I wanted to try something a bit different and also something from a local business so I opted to Ital Curry and festival from Jah Jah, a lovely Caribbean restaurant.

Day Two

The second and final full day in Margate began with an oat iced latte and a sweet tahini and walnut cinnamon bun from Rise and Bun. It was amazing and a must-visit when in Margate.

Loaded with caffeine and sugar, I plodded a few doors down to one of the things I was most excited about my visit - The Crab Museum. This wonderful little gem is Europe’s first and only museum dedicated to crabs, explaining why they are vial to our lives from maintaining oceans and helping create new medicines. I LOVED the tone of voice used throughout the museum, combining fact and humour throughout. An amazing informative and silly little museum. And now I love crabs. Again, the shop was amazing and I wanted to buy everything. However, I wasn’t feeling too great so this was the moment I realised that I think I need to give up coffee - is this what being 30 is?! They do have an online shop so I may have to make a cheeky post-visit purchase. As with the art gallery, the Crab Museum is completely free.

As it was a sunny day I decided to walk along the coastal path to the Lido - an iconic Margate landmark that was unfortunately covered in scaffold. Views were great and, if I had more time, I would have ventured further and completed the coastal walk to Broadstairs.

After plenty of plodding, I headed into the Old Kent Market to pick up some food for dinner. They have a great range of options including jacket potatoes, bagels and burgers. I settled on a tofu poke bowl which was delicious.

As this was a Friday, the town felt much busier with families and tourists piling in for the sunny bank holiday weekend. So, if you want to avoid the crowds, I’d recommend visiting mid-week for a more relaxed pace.

There were a few things I would have liked to do but didn’t get chance to such as Dreamland (closed while I was there). I would have also liked to have swam in the tidal pool but literally nobody else was swimming in there which was odd considering the weather was gorgeous.

Margate was an ideal first solo trip with plenty to do to keep you occupied for a few days. I will definitely be considering the east coast for any mor future solo trips.