My first trip to Ramsgate
Since coming to London I have arranged trips to different parts of the country, and most of them are coastal towns because I love the sea a lot. Travelling along the coast can make me more inspired and energetic. Starting this year (as of Feb 2025), I have made some trips so far, of them Ramsgate is the place I first visited.
Ramsgate, like other parts of Kent, can be reachable by High Speed rail operated by Southeastern. A day trip is of course possible but I prefer staying overnight to allow myself to have “me time” and even catch the sunrise when running. Some people also visit the other parts of the Isle of Thanet (Broadstairs and Margate) by bus or hike too.
There are not so many options within the town but staying in other parts of the isle mentioned above is also an alternative. In Ramsgate, the most affordable one is no doubt Travelodge. If you are lucky, you will have a sea view in your room. I was allocated in a family room facing the street but being close to rooftops of many houses attracted me to sketch them.
Under such a cold weather with temperature below 5c, I either spent a little time walking along the coast, ran a bit in the morning (heat generated from my body) or looked for some restaurants or cafe. Surprisingly Wetherspoons here is facing the sea, and there is a coffee shop on the top of the cliff, as well as a cafe bar with very good nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice)! Winter is cold, but a trip allows me to slow down my life not to do many things in a day.
I didn’t expect too much on architecture before going. Especially the two art deco lifts located on the both side of the town. Nowadays we can just simply walk up and down through the slopes or steps. I wonder why they built beautiful lifts along the coast, but imagine in the past people didn’t have any freedom to choose the causal, comfortable and even sporty dressings; they needed to be gentle all the time. Now we can feel free to dress casually and even walked anywhere with flip flops or running shoes. Thanks to the Victorian dress reform!
Most of the places in Ramsgate are walkable, but I hope next time when the weather is much warmer and drier, I can run or walk to Margate and Broadstairs.
