Margate to Broadstairs

Short weekend trips have become one of my favourite activities. Without spending much time and money, I have the opportunity not only to discover London, but cities nearby.

During a warm weekend, I really wanted to go to the beach, and I remembered that once, while on the way to another destination, and due to a problem on the train tracks, we had to make a 40 minutes stop at Margate to wait for the next train. Margate is a sand beach, which is not very common here in England, and it is neighbour to two other sand beaches that have the white cliffs as landscape.

There. Having decided the destination, all that is left is to find out the best way there.

Leaving by train from the centre of London (Charing Cross / London Bridge) the trip to Margate takes two hours, and since the days are longer during the summer, this is a smooth travel.

The idea was to just walk and discover Margate and the neighbouring beaches (Botany Bay and Broadstairs), I didn’t have a set itinerary, I wanted to have the opportunity to enjoy the beach, the weather, the walk.

Between Margate and Botany Bay we decided to walk by the beachfront, which was amazing, and allowed us to see different landscapes on the same path (the whole walk lasted around 45-50 minutes).

The second part of the way, between Botany Bay and Broadstairs, we decided to walk over the cliffs instead of the beachfront. This path is known as Cliff Promenade.

These beaches, besides the characteristic of being sand beaches, they are also known for its white cliffs. It is not only a beautiful landscape, this geological characteristic contributes to compose a diverse ecosystem, because the cliffs are a natural habitat for many animals. The area is known as The Thanet Coast, and is considered one of the most valuable marine life regions in England.

On these three beaches we can find the emblematic “beach huts”, those small coloured wooden houses, that you can rent/buy to keep your belongings during the summer or all year long. A few people use it as storage space and keep their surf equipments and beach chairs, while others transform the space into a small kitchen, making parties/reunions on the beach.

Since I have a huge passion for the artes, I couldn’t miss the chance to visit the Turner Contemporary (contemporary museum located in Margate), that is named after the painter William Turner. The museum has housed great expositions with big names such as Marcel Duchamp, Marina Abramovic, Joseph Beuys, Leonardo Da Vinci, among others. In another post we will explain a little more about the museum’s history, but we couldn’t go through this post without mentioning it.

Do not miss the video to see how the day went and the wonderful landscapes we saw.