Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Summer me and a friend did one last typical Summer excursion for the year. We went by train to Margate over a day. Margate used to be a big seaside resort back in the days. Visiting now, it did feel a bit run down but that this town has had a revival over the last years or so. There are so many vintage shops and cute restaurants and cafes. A bonus, and rather a shock I must add as a person from London, is that it's so cheap. I paid £4 for a drink and a cake - just insane. These are the things we got up to in Margate:
- The beach.
I must say that the beach was rather disappointing. Sure there is an ocean, sand and shells. Those should be the elements that you need for a nice beach. But the overall feeling wasn't a positive one, it just felt a bit rough and boring for some reason.
- Eating fish & chips. I actually hadn't planned to eat this typical seaside dish when visiting Margate but seeing other people stuffing their face in these fried delights I just had to have one. We found Peter's Fish Factory which is probably the best fish and chips I've ever had in my life. And again - so cheap!
- Old town. The streets of Margate were just the cutest things ever. So many nice houses and shops to look at.
- Shell grotto.
This was so cool. It is a grotto which have walls and ceilings covered in seashells. The best thing about it is that they still have no idea when it was made, by who or why. It was discovered 1835 but there is no records of it before then. Who doesn't enjoy a good mystery? - Vintage shopping. The old town streets are absolutely packed with vintage shops and other independent ones.
- Dreamland. The old amusement park Dreamland was recently rebuilt and opened again in 2015. It was so well planned with both new rides and vintage ones. It was quite expensive though to go on any of them but the entry is free if you just want to have a little roam around. A massive thumbs up to all the food trucks around the area.
Margate is definitely worth a visit but I wouldn't say for its beach which probably is the main attraction. I would say more for its shop, the cute town feel and of course the shell grotto.
