We’re often in Kent visiting family, which means I get to ride down there a few times a year. As we were there for the August bank holiday, I’d packed my bike, hoping for some good weather.

The family were keen on a trip to Margate, somewhere we’d not been since 2019. That seemed like a great opportunity to go for a ride along the Viking Coastal Trail, a walking and cycling route that starts in Ramsgate and follows the coast round to Reculver (more details on Explore Kent).

For anyone who doesn’t know Margate, it is a seaside town in the Thanet area, on the north coast of Kent. It’s one of a number of significant maritime ports in the county and has a long history stretching back to the middle ages.

In recent times, the town became rundown, losing some of the charm from its heyday. But that has begun to change with an arts-led regeneration, following the opening of the Turner Contemporary gallery, which has been a catalyst for change in the town.

I found a suitable Komoot route to follow, that took in the Viking Coastal Trail, as part of a loop from Margate to Ramsgate, then back to the beginning via an inland route. So after a wander round Margate Harbour Arm and old town, then a very tasty fish and chips lunch on the seafront, I set off along the Viking Coastal Trail, this time with company.

Setting off eastwards from Margate, the trail started as a concrete path along the seafront next to the beach and below the cliffs. Along here, there were some old buildings with street art and a small beach.

We also passed Newgate Gap, which is the largest of 32 ‘gaps’ on the North Thanet coast. Interestingly, according to The Pulham Legacy, these gaps were cut by local farmers who wanted to gain access to the beach to gather seaweed to use as fertiliser.

Carrying on a little further, we reached another of gaps, this one being Sackett’s Gap. This time, we passed over it on the bridge, that’s part of Prince’s Walk.

Passing Palm Bay and Botany Bay beaches, the trail left the seafront path at the Captain Digby pub and continued along the road, on the B2052. This was pretty quiet, so wasn’t a problem to cycle along and there were some sections of shared use paths, which made going up the hill a little easier.

At the top of the hill was the North Foreland Lighthouse, with the current building dating back to 1691, which replaced a previous wooden lighthouse that burnt down. In 1998, North Foreland became the last lighthouse in the British Isles to be automated. The lighthouse is still operational today, with the cottages surrounding it available to rent for holidays, which I’d imagine would be pretty good.

We left the B2052 and made our way onto the Eastern Esplanade at Stone Bay. The beach here looked really lovely and quiet, so it’s definitely one we’ll return to at some point.

The trail carried on along the road until we reached the attractive seaside town of Broadstairs. Known as the “jewel in Thanet’s crown”, it has a history going back to 1080 and boasts Charles Dickens as a frequent visitor at one time. It’s a lovely old town with a very beautiful beach, so it’s well worth sticking around in. We had our route to follow, so we didn’t stop for long unfortunately.

From Broadstairs, the trail continued onto the Western Esplanade, passing Louisa Bay and Dumpton Bay as we made our way towards Ramsgate. Initially, we were riding on the road, which was fine as it was very quiet.

It wasn’t long before we arrived in Ramsgate, a seaside town of a similar size to Margate. Like Margate, Ramsgate has a long history, but has lost some of its old seaside charm over the years. More recently, both towns have seen a fair amount of investment, though perhaps Margate has the edge in terms of fashionability, especially with the London crowd!

It’s a few years since we’ve been in Ramsgate as well, and the sunshine probably helps, but it’s definitely looking a bit prettier nowadays, than when we were last here. There’s been a significant amount of development facing the beach in recent years, near to where the Ramsgate Tunnels are. I remember this area looking very different previously.

Leaving Ramsgate, we cycled along Westcliff Promenade, following the trail a little further, now on dedicated cycle lanes. Before we reached the end, we turned off the trail and headed inland, to continue on the Komoot route we were following.

The inland section started fine, riding along Chalk Hill, between farmland and horse paddocks, and passing over the A299 on a bridge.

But that all changed when we reached the A256. Not knowing the area and blindly following a Komoot route meant we ended up on a narrow, busy A road, with plenty of close-passing vehicles. It also meant negotiating the busy roundabout, where the A256 meets the A229.

In hindsight, we should have stopped and found an alternative, quieter route, which there appears to be, but we carried on. At one point, I had a van driver almost take me out, trying to overtake me before a traffic island.

I banged on the side of his van, which was inches away. He wasn’t happy about this and tried to deliberately run me off the road, at which point I mounted the pavement. He then shouted at me with some colourful language and pulled over further down, where he tried to drag me round to inspect the ‘damage’ my hand had apparently done, at which point I left him to his road rage.

As you can imagine this wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience, and has certainly put me off riding there again. It’s also making me question if I should always ride with a camera.

Thankfully, as we got closer to Margate, there was some semblance of cycling infrastructure, with a few shared use paths. Some of these appear to have been recently installed, as part of new development. These were definitely better than having people trying to drive at me, though weren’t particularly convenient.

It wasn’t long before we found ourselves back in Margate, where we met up with the others, who were conveniently queuing at an ice cream shop. So we had ourselves a well-deserved ice cream.

We really enjoyed riding the Viking Coastal Trail, it’s something I’d be happy to do again. Though I can 100% say I definitely won’t be following the inland route along the A256, not unless by some miracle it was made safe for cycling!

Gallery

Map