This two-day itinerary takes in underground secrets, fascinating museums, amazing galleries and much more. 

An exterior of Powell-Cotton Museum, Quex House and Gardens in Kent

Source: Tourism at Thanet District Council.

This area of Kent boasts beautiful scenery and great attractions including the Powell-Cotton Museum, part of Quex House and Gardens. 

Authors, architects and musicians have been flocking to the Isle of Thanet’s towns of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate for years. And it’s no wonder. These coastal delights each have their own captivating narrative told through brilliant attractions. 

Here’s what you could pack into a couple of days with your group…

Day one

Morning: Start your day with a visit to one of the Isle’s biggest hidden secrets: the Powell-Cotton Museum, part of Quex House and Gardens near Margate. Located within a relaxed unspoilt estate, vistors are invited on a journey of discovery through African and Asian natural history and cultural objects learning about the expeditions of the Powell-Cotton family. Groups can tour the stunning house and beautiful gardens.

Refreshments can be arranged before heading off to your next stop

Afternoon: Head to Margate, the ‘original seaside’, where TS Eliot composed the key lines in his The Waste Land poem and the inspiration for many of JMW Turner’s artworks.

An exterior view of Turner Contemporary in Margate

Source: Tourism at Thanet District Council.

Named in honour of JMW Turner, the international art gallery features historic and contemporary works.

Visit one of the UK’s leading art galleries, Turner Contemporary, named in his honour to marvel at historic and contemporary works by national and international artists through a rolling temporary exhibition programme. Groups have several tours to choose from including a 60-minute Gallery Tour or a 20-minute Gallery Introduction. 

Accommodation options for groups: 

Day two

Morning: Explore one of Margate’s subterranean curiosities, the Margate Caves, which are in a league of their own. Hidden beneath the hustle and bustle of an ordinary road in Cliftonville, they open up to reveal a magical subterranean cavern, filled with colourful paintings and murals dating back to Georgian times and stuffed with stories of drunken gentlemen, shameless smugglers, ancient kings and local giants. 

Stop off in Broadstairs - nestled between Margate and Ramsgate, the town is known for its connections to Charles Dickens who spent almost two years in the town writing, reading, rambling and relaxing in his favourite English watering hole.

Afternoon: Head to Ramsgate, home to the only Royal Harbour in the country as bestowed on the town by King George IV in appreciation of the town’s hospitality, and where you will find yet more hidden famous connections and gems. Take a stroll around the harbour with its cosmopolitan café vibe.

A group take a tour of Ramsgate Tunnels.

Source: Tourism at Thanet District Council.

Learn about, and experience what life was like underground in the home to more than 1,000 people during the darkest period of World War Two. 

Don a hard hat, grab a lamp and wrap up warm, joining your guide as they take you into an unique civilian wartime tunnel complex including a Victorian railway tunnel at Ramsgate Tunnels. Learn about and experience what life was like underground in the home to over 1,000 people during the darkest period of World War Two. Browse the museum displays to understand more.

Groups can opt for a standard Deep Tunnel Shelter Explorer Tour which starts with a short introductory film before heading off into the tunnels where you will learn how the tunnels were built, stories of life underground and how a town below the town evolved. 

For more ideas and inspiration about visits to Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate, head to www.visitthanet.co.uk/groups

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