32 ideas for things to do in Thanet, July 24-30

Seashore Safari Photo Thanet Coast Project

Seashore Safari – Western Undercliff

July 25

Explore Thanet’s chalk rocky shore for its fascinating rockpool wildlife!

Starts at 10.30am

Explore Thanet’s chalk rocky shore for its fascinating rockpool wildlife. Join one of the series of safaris touring different Thanet Coast bays to explore the chalk reef and rockpools to see what shore life can find. These events are run with the help of Thanet Coast volunteers.

All events last for up to 2 hours and are suitable for ALL the family, but particularly 4-11s.

Children must be always be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Suggested donation of £2 per person.

PLEASE USE ONLINE BOOKINGS – as numbers will be limited this year.

Click here for updates on information about booking

Suggested donation of £2 per person

Broadstairs Summer Fireworks – CANCELLED

Pegwell Bay Guided Wildlife Walk

July 26, 1.30pm-3.30pm

The Pegwell Bay Protected Warden will be leading a walk to explore the natural history and wildlife of this beautiful coastal wetland reserve

This is a great opportunity to spot sea birds, learn to recognise wetland bird calls and learn more about the local seals enjoying the peaceful banks of the River Stour. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions about Kent’s biggest coastal reserve and how we manage its’ many habitats. These engaging walks will leave you feeling inspired and with the knowledge to help protect our coastal and marine wildlife.

Tours will last approximately 2 hours.

Some paths are narrow with rough terrain and will require use of stairs and kissing gate not suitable for wheelchair users. Please ensure you wear sturdy footwear (during periods of wet weather waterproof footwear is advisable) and wear clothing suitable for the weather conditions. Please bring binoculars if you have them.
Families are welcome but children must be supervised.

There are toilets at the main entrance to Pegwell Bay Country Park.

Booking is essential

Suggested donation £5 Book now

Cliftonville Outdoor Cinema: Jaws

July 28,  The Oval Bandstand and Lawns, Eastern Esplanade, Cliftonville

PROGRAMME
-8:00pm – Doors open (drinks and snacks available)
-9:15pm – Film starts (sunset 9:06pm)
-10:45 – Film ends

The Oval Bar will be onsite serving a wide selection of drinks including beer, prosecco, wines, spirits, cocktails, and soft drinks. Hot drinks, cold drinks, popcorn and cinema treats will be available at The Oval Kiosk. Deckchair seating is included in all tickets.

Tickets are issued by e-tickets. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cliftonville-outdoor-cinema-jaws-tickets-418890421527

Ramsgate’s Charlotte Court Market

July 29, 10am-4pm

Monthly market of crafts, goods and local produce

NGS Open Garden Weekend

July 29-30,Noon to 4pm, The Watch House, 7 Thanet Road, Broadstairs

This private garden in Broadstairs opens for one weekend every year as part of the National Gardens Scheme, raising money for charity

Two small courtyards brim with tropical foliage and colourful flowers – my motto is ‘more is more’! These tiny gardens demonstrate how much can be achieved in a restricted urban space. The garden has been featured in Homes and Gardens, The Financial Times magazine, The Observer magazine and RHS The Garden as well as on BBC Gardeners’ World in 2019 & 2020.

As well as the gardens, there will be a Dan Cooper Garden pop-up in our workshop.

Tickets can be purchased on the day or in advance from the National Gardens Scheme website.

Admission £5, children free Book now

Windmill Summer Fair

Windmill Community Gardens Margate, Margate

Friday 28th July, Noon – 3PM

Adult £6, under 18s free

Tickets at: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/windmill-community-gardens-margate

Ramsgate Carnival

July 29-30

Join Ramsgate Carnival as it celebrates its 100th anniversary

Saturday 29th at 1pm

The Giants Awake – East Kent has its own band of Giants. They have been sleeping for a while. To celebrate the Ramsgate Carnival a few are gathering to parade on Government Acre. Come and see this enormous spectacle!

Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th Noon-8pm

Government Acre plays host to a weekend fair – stalls, bar, funfair, entertainment

Sunday 30th at 4pm

The annual colourful carnival parade starts from Government Acre (Royal Esplanade) to circle the town heading down West Cliff Road, Queen Street, King Street, Plains of Waterloo, Wellington Crescent, Madeira Walk, Royal Parade, Paragon and St Augustine’s Road

Thanet Classics at Maurice House Summer Fete

July 29, 1.30pm-5pm, Maurice House

Fete is from 2pm till 5pm plus classic vehicles on show

Maurice House, British Legion
Callis Court Road
Broadstairs

Broadstairs Summer Fair

July 29-August 2, Victoria Gardens and Promenade, 10am until late

Family summer fair with children and adult games and rides, crazy golf, crafts, fun fair, music on the bandstand and more

Fairground rides for all the family with trade /craft stalls along the promenade

Live music on the bandstand Saturday & Sunday

Fundraising event for Broadstairs Water Gala in August

Cliftonville Farmers Market

July 30, 10am-1pm, Walpole Lawns

Award-winning Farmers Market where producers will be selling bread, cheese, honey, fruit, vegetables, wild game, fruit juices, fresh meat and much more.

Between 35 – 40 stalls each month.

East Kent Coaching

East Kent Coaching is once again offering school holiday training opportunities for young runners in traffic-free park locations throughout the summer.

Each one-hour session will include a range of running-centred activities and anyone entering school years 4 to 9 inclusive in September is welcome, regardless of ability or previous experience.

Starting on 24th July, there will be morning sessions each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at King George VI Memorial Park (Ramsgate), St Peter’s Recreation Ground (Broadstairs) and Hartsdown Park (Margate), respectively.

One group will be for Primary School pupils starting Year 4, 5 or 6 in September. This provides an ideal chance for children to improve their running technique and get some practice in for the Thanet Primary Schools’ Cross Country, hosted by East Kent Coaching at Quex Park, on Saturday 7th October.  There is also a group for Secondary School pupils going into Years 7, 8 and 9.

“Stepping up from primary school to Year 7 can be quite daunting,” says EKC’s Steve King. “so we’re encouraging those boys and girls to build confidence by training with slightly older ones in a structured, supportive environment.”

Years 8 and 9 comprise the ‘Junior’ age category for English Schools athletics and those pupils might begin working towards selection for Thanet district, to compete at the Kent Schools’ Cross Country Championship in January 2024.

To reserve your child’s place on any – or all – of the summer holiday running sessions, please visit http://www.eastkentcoaching.com/summerholiday2023.html or email [email protected].

Ramsgate Micro Museum

Discover the earliest ways people counted and calculated and then found a way to indicate the important “0”.

​Learn the stories of the thinkers and inventors whose ideas helped develop computing through the ages.  Find the stories of the heroes of computing including Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace in Victorian times, Tommy Flowers the inventor of Colossus in the Second World War and on through the 20th to the start of the 21st centuries.

​Other topics include the contribution made to British computing by Sir Clive Sinclair and the historic firsts in games, sounds, graphics, robotics, computer languages and much more.

July 26, 29, 30, 1pm-4pm, Church Hill, Ramsgate

Adult  or Child  £5

​Group/Family of 4   £15

​Price Includes all retro games play

Under 3s Free

Cash only

Margate Caves

1 Northdown Road

The Caves were originally dug as a chalk quarry in the 17th and 18th centuries and are 94.2m long and 12.2m tall at the highest point. Originally opened to the public in 1863, the Margate Caves re-opened for the next generation of explorers on Thursday 22nd August 2019.

After visiting the Caves, browse the gift shop and stop off at the community café, popular locally for selling a range of delicious dishes.

The Cafe is open 10am to 4.30pm on the same days as the Caves.

Summer (March-October) Open seven days per week, 10am-5pm, last entry 4.30pm

Adult £4.50

Child £2

Concession £4

Under 4’s FREE

Family (2 adults/2 children) £10 https://www.margatecaves.co.uk/

Lillyputt Mini Golf, Broadstairs

Minigolf fun for all the family, with 12 championship holes and a lucky 13th hole… a must-do activity if you’re visiting the East Kent Coast.

If mini golf isn’t your cup of tea (have a pot of tea all to yourself instead!).

Wheelchair access into Cafe and Tea Garden area.

Adults: £6 Children under 10: £5

Lillyputt Mini Golf
Victoria Parade

Daily from 10am – 5pm daily (weather permitting) Open later weekends/summer holidays/fine weather

Monkton Nature Reserve

16 acres of tranquil surroundings.

Entrance to the Field Study Centre is free, and you’ll find archaeological and natural history exhibits in the museum, a large selection of second-hand books and gifts, plus the Cabin café for light refreshments.

Modest fees apply (Family £10, Adult £5, Child £2.50) for access onto the reserve itself, featuring various habitats – chalk grassland, woodland and aquatic. Take a gentle walk around the reserve and discover lots of wildlife and wildflowers. Benches around the reserve allow you to take in the views.

There are various activities throughout the year for children including a sculpture trail, brass rubbing trail, a fossil and dinosaur trail, a fairy house trail and ‘Walk, Watch, Listen and Learn’ activity.

Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays 10:30am – 3:30pm. Last Entry 2.30pm

For more information, including details of upcoming events, please go to our website. You can also find Facebook.

Ramsgate Costumed Walks

East Cliff Walk (Meet at Albion Gardens) – On this walk you will pass many splendid Regency & Victorian buildings, including Wellington Crescent built immediately after the Napoleonic Wars during which Ramsgate had been a garrison town.

Tuesday 25th July at 7pm

The Spitfire and Hurricane Museum at Manston

Museum site, displaying the two iconic war planes, and also holding a host of objects and artefacts telling the story of life in and around Ramsgate during WWII. Central to the display are the iconic Spitfire Mk XVI and Hawker Hurricane Mk IIc.

As well as the collection, the Museum has a small shop and the café (open 7 days a week from May 18th) serves teas, coffees and quality hot food, with an outside seating area.

Visitors are welcome to sit on the benches in the Allied Crew Memorial Garden to relax and reflect, in an evocative atmosphere.

Visitors are able to book a flight in the Spitfire Simulator. The Spitfire Flight Experience costs £30 for 30 minutes. Book your flight from their website here.

Free entry Donations welcome

Shell Grotto

Grotto Hill, Margate

Discovered in 1835, Margate’s Shell Grotto is an astonishing find; 70ft (21 metres) of winding passages decorated with 4.6 million shells.

The walls are covered in images of gods and goddesses, trees of life and patterns made from the shells of whelks, mussels and oysters.

Some think it is an ancient Pagan grotto, others that it is simply an ornate Regency folly; but with no definitive explanation or history, the Shell Grotto is Kent’s greatest mystery.

Group Visits are to be Pre-Booked – https://www.shellgrotto.co.uk/

Open 10am to 5pm, daily during school holidays.

Adult £4.50

Concessions (Students, Seniors (over 60), Registered Disabled, Armed Forces (serving and veterans) £4

Child (4-16) £2

Under 4’s FREE

Family ticket (2 adults & up to 2 children) £10

Dickens House Museum

Celebrating Charles Dickens’ long connection with Broadstairs (1837-1851). It is housed in the cottage that was Charles Dickens’ inspiration for the home of Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield. According to the reminiscences of Charles Dickens son Charley, they regularly had tea there with Miss Mary Pearson Strong, and her belief of her right to stop the passage of donkeys in front of her cottage became the donkey incident for the character of Betsey Trotwood.

2 Victoria Parade

Adult £4

Child £2

Family (2 Adults & 2 Children) £10

Concession (Students. Anyone unable to access upstairs) £3

Crampton Tower Museum

Friday – Sunday plus Bank Holiday Mondays 2pm to 4.30pm (last entry 4pm)

Crampton Tower Museum is a family-friendly museum celebrating the life and work of a Victorian engineer, transport and local history.

Crampton Tower Museum, on The Broadway, is a fascinating small museum, partly housed in a flint tower adjacent to the Broadstairs Railway Station. The tower formed part of Broadstairs’ first public water supply.

Adults £3, Child (4-16yrs) £1.50, Family Ticket £7.50 (2 Adults & 2 Children).

See website for details of events throughout the year.

Ramsgate Tunnels

Ramsgate’s Tunnels tours take you deep underground to unlock the story of a hidden city, which evolved from the largest and only known Civilian Deep Shelter Air Raid Precaution scheme authorised by Central Government.

The military story is told elsewhere, but very little remains of the civilian story of a front line town under some of the heaviest aerial bombing in Britain.

Adult £9

Senior/Disabled £7

Child £6

Family ticket (2 adults, 2 children) £22

A 50p booking fee applies to Adult & Senior tickets to cover online charges

Dreamland

Park opens each day at 10.30am for 6 weeks of summer

Programme of live music,  rides, including the Scenic Railway and The Big Wheel, plus slap-up street food, free film screenings and more, summer by the sea is sorted!

Check out the opening times here: https://www.dreamland.co.uk/opening-times/

This Museum Is (Not) Obsolete

Ramsgate interactive museum in Church Hill celebrating experimental and obsolete electronic technology, scientific, telecommunication and musical technology

Various interactive displays and educational material on the history of experimental, scientific and DIY electronics.

History of obsolete lab equipment, telephony, toys, sound, vision and much more

Good for all ages

Visits by pre-booking system 

Tickets £5 Under 13’s FREE

RAF Manston History Museum

Aircraft, displays, photos, models and cafe

10am to 4pm Mon-Fri
Last entry 3:15pm

10am to 4pm Sat-Sun
Last Entry 3:15pm

Adult: £5.50
Child: £2.50 Under 5’s Free
Concessions: £4.50
Carers: £2.50
Family (2 adults and up to 4 children): £16

Thanet Treasure Trails

Are you looking for something to do with family and friends or seeking a fun day out with the kids at the coast? Explore Margate and Broadstairs on a self-guided trail. Trails are done in your own time at your own pace.

MARGATE  – The Missing Masterpiece (Murder Mystery Treasure Trail)

Daring detectives you need to reveal the truth of a horrible heist! This self-guided detective mystery trail takes you on a patrol around the heart of Margate. Examine the evidence around the lighthouse, follow up on witness reports at Turner Contemporary and the old town before chasing down the crook along the seafront and the promenade, of the sandy beach.

Start location for trail is Stone Pier, Margate CT9 1JD

This trail is approximately 2.5 miles long (loop), takes 2 hours to complete and is suitable for all ages from 6 – 106

BROADSTAIRS – Spy Mission Trail

Can you solve the clues set on buildings, permanent features and monuments to crack the code and save the day like a true Secret Agent? The trail explores the sea front area, through two parks and the high street. Bustling with sandy beaches and fascinating history, the Trail will show you Broadstairs in a new light, with one or two Dickens’ related clues!

Start location for trail is Albion Street Car Park, Broadstairs CT10 1NE

This Trail is approximately 1.5 miles long, takes 2 hours to complete and is suitable for all ages from 6 – 106

£9.99 each to download

Rascal Bay Adventure Golf

Manston Road, Ramsgate

Designed in Sweden, the adventure encounters pirates, cannons, an octopus, snakes, skulls, a cannibal’s cooking pot, a crashed jeep, rocks, a volcano, dinosaurs, waterfalls, dinosaur eggs, a treasure chest, crocodiles and two rafts that the whole family will love!

Also available for parties, corporate events and private hire.

To book online, click here.

Adults: £8.75 Children: £6.50 Groups: £32 (4 adults) Family: £25 (2 adults + 2 children) Under 3s £3

Open Mon-Fri 10am-5pm Sat & Sun 9am-5pm

Little Seaside Town

High Street, Ramsgate

A centre for children and families, unlike traditional soft play centres, it promotes imaginative role play in a stimulating play “town” environment.

Each themed set is full of play props, costumes and toys to encourage children to explore and make believe. Everything at Little Seaside Town has been carefully designed to be as realistic as possible, so they can experience and act out real life scenarios.

2 hour session charged at £7 per child. Babies £1.50. All adults will be charged £1.50

Website

Open 7 days per week 9.30am – 5.30pm

Dinky Town Thanet

Pysons Road, Ramsgate

Check Facebook for latest opening times/prices.

Monday – Friday 10am – 3pm (Last entry is 2pm) £3 per child

No booking system – operating on a walk in basis only

Dinky Town is a children’s indoor play centre created to enhance the fun and educational experience imaginative role play brings to a child’s early years.

Dinky Town is suitable for those from walking up to around age 7. Website

Kids Bright House

Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday 10am-3pm; Wednesday & Friday 10am-5:30pm *

Kids Bright House is a family-run, indoor play area for kids from 0 – 11 years.

This is a place for kids to have fun, and mums to relax, have a cup of coffee or tea, and socialise. We also offer fresh, delicious food at our cafe.

There is a baby area for babies under 2, and a host of other indoor fun for children over 2.

No need to book

Toddler group and Tortoise visit every Monday 10am-12pm & Thursday 12:30pm-2:30pm

For more information  See Here.

Free Adult with:

Babes-in-arms £2

Child £6

Extra Adults £1.50 each

Sandwich & Pegwell Bay National Nature Reserve

Sandwich Road, Cliffsend

Of international importance for its bird population.

The site includes Pegwell Bay Country Park, a little gem with stunning sea views, a play area and picnic spot with mobile refreshments nearby – perfect for family fun in the fresh air

Coastal Explorer Packs

Family adventure trails – Activities, challenges, games!

Don’t just visit the beach, explore it! Coastal Explorers packs are filled with equipment to help you discover our rich heritage stories and natural coastal designations. Learn essential explorer skills such as how to make a sundial and use a compass, or delve into the bag for the marine identification gear and become a real rocky shore researcher! Also make sure you check out this guide to Rock Pooling from the Thanet Coast Project

Everything you need is in the pack and contains enough resources for at least half a day of awesome adventure.

Fantastic for families and groups, but versatile enough for anyone, hire a bag for just £5 plus proof of ID at-

Margate – Visitor Information Centre, Droit House, Stone Pier CT9 1JD (Wednesday – Sunday 10am -5pm)

Broadstairs – Lillyputt Mini Golf, Victoria Parade, CT10 1QL (Open daily 10am – 5pm weather permitting)

Please contact Thanet Visitor Information Centre on 01843 577577 or email [email protected] for info