Start from 34 curated places around Margate, GB, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Sargasso
A small, sharply run wine bar and restaurant in a former boat shed on the Harbour Arm, doing seasonal Mediterranean small plates with a focus on local seafood and natural wines. It has arguably the best sea view of any table in town. Best for sunset small plates and a glass of something orange.
Angela's of Margate
A tiny, ethically sourced seafood restaurant near the harbour that locals and critics agree is the best fish kitchen in town, with a daily-changing menu of whatever the boats brought in. Booking weeks ahead is essential. Best for a focused seafood dinner with a short, smart wine list.
Trails & outdoors
Margate to Broadstairs Coastal Walk
A 6-mile clifftop section of the Viking Coastal Trail from Margate's seafront along the chalk cliffs past Walpole Bay, Botany Bay, Kingsgate, and Joss Bay into Broadstairs. It's one of the best coast walks in the southeast and almost entirely traffic-free. Best for a half-day walk with a pub or seafood lunch at the Broadstairs end.
Botany Bay to Kingsgate Cliff Walk
A short clifftop stretch between Botany Bay and Kingsgate Bay taking in the most dramatic chalk stacks and the sea arch at Kingsgate, with steps down to both beaches at either end. It's the highlight half-mile of the whole Thanet coast. Best for an hour-long walk between two of the prettiest bays.
Things to do
Dreamland Margate
The restored seafront amusement park with vintage rides, a roller disco, an outdoor stage that pulls major touring acts in summer, and the listed wooden Scenic Railway nearby. Entry is free; you pay for rides and gig tickets. Best for a sunny afternoon of rides or a summer evening gig under the lights.
Crab Museum
Europe's only museum dedicated to crabs, on the Harbour Arm, a small but pointedly funny and political institution that uses crustaceans as a lens for everything from biology to capitalism. Entry is free and donations welcome. Best for an offbeat half-hour as part of a Harbour Arm walk.
Landmarks & sights
Turner Contemporary
David Chipperfield's six-volume seafront gallery is the engine of Margate's revival, with rotating contemporary shows and one of the best sea-light views from any museum window in Britain. Entry is free and the building itself, raised on a plinth above the sands, is the headline architecture in town. Best for an hour with whatever is on, then a coffee at the cafe overlooking the harbour.
Margate Old Town
The tangle of streets and squares behind the harbour, packed with vintage shops, independent galleries, natural wine bars, and the small restaurants doing the town's most interesting cooking. It's where Margate's creative reinvention is densest. Best for an afternoon of pottering between shops and ducking into a wine bar at dusk.