Maritime art and cafe culture: a car-free trip to Ramsgate

The Kent seaside town is a fine hub for exploring Thanet’s pop-up attractions, history and natural beauty – and excellent transport links make it easy

Ramsgate is a town on the move. It has coastal walks, bargain bike hire and good buses, and is 75 minutes from London on a high-speed train. It’s dynamic in other ways too, fizzing with new projects like its Festival of Sound, a crowdfunding drive to turn an old barge into a floating arts centre and the Active Ramsgate initiative, which promotes newly signed walking and cycling routes, kayaking, kitesurfing, geocaching and golf.

At low tide, you can stroll past white cliffs on long sandy beaches for seven miles from Ramsgate to Margate, passing rock pools and cafes and under a chalk cliff arch between Kingsgate and Botany bays.