Tides are turning, autumn is here, and our coast is rich with seasonal adventures: the perfect, quieter time of year to make fresh discoveries and enjoy new experiences. Feel your senses come alive energised by sea breezes, walking and cycling. Stretch your budget and imagination with our free and low-cost, great-value attractions and activities. Treat yourself and make forever memories.
Take fresh sea air, sprinkle generously with sumptuous seasonal produce from the Garden of England. Locally caught fish and seafood, luscious ripe fruits and pies, piping hot soups, crispy bakes, spicy preserves, ciders and ales: Autumn’s harvest from our coast and countryside is here!
Browse local goodies at the monthly award-winning Cliftonville Farmers’ Market, or deli delights and fresh seafood at Quex Barn. If that is not enough, Margate International Food Centre specialises in Mediterranean and Asian food.
Raise a glass or two at one of the isle's many micro pubs - we're rumoured to have more than any other destination! Or sample local brews from the tap rooms at Northdown Brewery or Gadd’s The Ramsgate Brewery.
This year, Michelin named Margate in ‘The 10 best seaside towns for food lovers in the UK & Ireland’, and Broadstairs was featured in ‘The UK’s best seaside towns for food and drink’ by Which Magazine. Now there’s food for thought!!
Cliftonville Farmers Market
Delve into the Isle’s rich and varied history. Inspiring, quirky, historic, innovative: small and large, our great-value museums and attractions are full of surprises.
Discover the did-you-knows of Charles Dickens’ seaside life, explore underground mysteries in caves and tunnels or go on African and Asian adventures in a museum at a stately home. We even have a museum dedicated to the crab!
Experience what it would have been like to be a Spitfire or Lancaster pilot, interact with Britain’s best-loved toys or test your skills on vintage computer games: We have them all.
Please check autumn opening times directly with attractions.
Margate Caves
Coast for All Seasons
There’s nothing quite like the refreshing autumnal nip of the seaside air around Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate to bring your senses alive.
Autumn is exactly the crispy, fresh, toe-tingly time to pull on your hiking boots and re-energise in the great outdoors. Share a bracing stroll along our open, sandy beaches with your four-legged friend, or freewheel (literally!) along the Viking Coastal Trail.
Wind down in one of our saunas' with great sea views - high fives if you brave the chilly tub or dip in Walpole Bay Tidal Pool.
Warm your hands around a mug of hot chocolate; stop off at a cafe or fortify yourself with something stronger at one of our cosy coastal pubs. Simply watch the white horses roll in or snuggle down at sunset to savour the special seasonal richness of our ‘Turner skies’.
Like to tread lightly on days out? We have planet-friendly ideas for sustainable adventures exploring our beautiful Isle.
Sit back and enjoy the scenery by bus and train. Walk or cycle our lovely network of trails.
Become a Coastal Explorer in tune with our marine environment, with these fascinating family activity packs of equipment, fun activity cards and trails to discover Thanet’s heritage and coastline.
Fire your imagination at more than 30 artistic spaces and galleries across the isle. From the internationally renowned to small independents, venues captivate with contemporary and historic art, sculptures, paintings and photography. Discover public art on foot or join a fun guided bike art tour.
Fancy learning something new or expanding your own creative skills - how about a leather workshop, pottery session or cocktail making masterclass - learn directly from the Isle's most creative and exciting characters.
It’s all about epic vibes this autumn. Grooving al fresco to Dreamland headliners, new nightclubs, grassroots at Where Else? (In Margate, where else?). Live music pubs, NME-rated Ramsgate Music Hall, great theatre performances, exciting coast and harbour night lights, strolls and sounds.
Frights, Fun and Fireworks
Autumn is also the time of year to look out for creepy characters, ghosts and ghouls roaming the Isle for Halloween - whatever you age!! Follow Halloween trick or treat trails, become a zoo-curator for the day and learn all about beastly bones, or explore spookie science stalls. Or how about a Halloween party for grown ups, or an evening with P.R.I Paranormal Realm Investigations!!
Head out for Bonfire Night, as fireworks whiz, bang and dazzle across our night skies.
