Whitstable

Whitstable is a town on the north coast of Kent in southeast England. It's famous for its oysters, and grew up in the 18th and 19th centuries as a fishing port, general harbour and seaside resort. It's nowadays governed as part of the city of Canterbury, and in 2011 had a population of 32,100 in its constituent communities. They extend from Seasalter to the west through Herne Bay to the east.

Get in

By plane

All the London airports have similar travel times to Whitstable, as by public transport you have to head into central London then come out again. (It's almost as quick to fly to Paris CDG ^IATA and take Eurostar.) By hired car, Gatwick (LGW ^IATA) or London City (LCY ^IATA) are closer: that's more of a factor on the return, when you have to consider traffic congestion on M25 to reach your flight.

By train

Trains from London Victoria run every 30-60 min, taking 80 min via Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Sittingbourne and Faversham, where the train may divide. You need to be in the portion running along the north coast to Whitstable, Margate and Ramsgate. The other portion heads south to Canterbury East and Dover Priory.

Trains from London St Pancras run hourly and take 75 min via Stratford, Ebbsfleet, Gravesend, Rochester then the same route to Whitstable and Ramsgate.

1 Whitstable station is quarter of a mile east of High St. It has a staffed ticket office and machines, toilets and a coffee machine. There is step-free access to both platforms.

By bus

There are no direct buses from London. National Express runs from London Victoria to Canterbury, change there; those buses continue to Ramsgate or Dover.

The Triangle bus runs every 15 min from Canterbury to Whitstable (30 min) then Herne Bay then back to Canterbury; and vice versa.

There isn't a bus station in Whitstable. Buses stop along High St then east along Tankerton Rd towards Herne Bay.

By road

Whitstable Beach

From London get onto M2. From west of the city that will involve cutting across from M25 via M26 to M20, then near Maidstone use A229 to reach M2. At Faversham M2 becomes A299, follow signs into town along Thanet Way. A299 continues east to Ramsgate.

Parking can be difficult in Whitstable.

Get around

The Triangle Bus is the best option along the coast between Whitstable, Tankerton, Swalecliffe, Hampton and Herne Bay. It doesn't reach Reculver.

The eastbound trains run half a mile from the coast, stopping at Chestfield & Swalecliffe and Herne Bay, before heading across the fields to Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate.

Abacus Cars are the local taxi firm, +44 1227 277728 or 277745; from Herne Bay call 283666 or 283777. There's also Uber in this area.

See below for the Crab & Winkle cycle path from Canterbury.

See

Whitstable Castle

• Stroll round the harbour and fish market, which is active daily 8AM-5PM.
• 1 The Street is a shingle spit which at low tide extends half a mile out to sea from Tankerton beach, unusually, at right angles, so you get well away from shore. Keep an eye on what the tide is doing, because it floods behind you and can cut you off.
• 2 Horsebridge Arts Centre, 11 Horsebridge Road, Whitstable CT5 1AF, ☏ +44 1227 281174. M-Sa 9AM-6PM, Su 10AM-5PM. Arts and community centre with exhibitions, talks, film and classes. They don't do theatre. (updated Jul 2020)
• 3 Whitstable Castle, 15 Tower Hill, Whitstable CT5 2BW. Grounds daily 10AM-5PM. Mansion built in 1790 then added to and added to. It was refurbished in 2010 and is not open for sightseeing, but is used for exhibitions and events such as weddings. But you can enjoy the grounds, play area and Orangery Tearoom. (updated Jul 2020)

Wakey-wakey time at Peter Cushing's Seaway Cottage

• A blue plaque at Seaway Cottage on the seafront west of High St commemorates the actor Peter Cushing (1913-1994). He lived here with his wife Helen Beck from 1959; she died in 1971. Cushing's roles included Dr Who, Sherlock Holmes, Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars, and dozens and dozens of Hammer horror films where according to the critic Robert Ebert he always stood between Vincent Price and Christopher Lee and declared "But good heavens, man! The person you saw has been dead for more than two centuries!"
• 4 Whitstable Museum and Gallery, 5A Oxford Street, Whitstable CT5 1DB, ☏ +44 1227 264742. Th-Sa 11AM-4:30PM, also W in Jul Aug. Museum in 18th-century building shows local history, seafaring, and local celebrity Peter Cushing. Adult £3, child free. (updated Jul 2020)
• 5 Herne Bay is a small resort five miles east of Whitstable. Little reason to linger, the isolated end of the derelict pier is not an uplifting sight. You come for the sake of the coast walk from Whitstable then return on the bus, or vice versa.
• 6 Herne Windmill is a smock mill built in 1789. It's undergoing restoration and remains closed in 2021.
• 7 Reculver Country Park is two miles east of Herne Bay, a length of grassy cliff-top that is an SSSI - Site of Special Scientific Interest. The imposing towers are of the ruined medieval church of St Mary, built besides a Roman fort - they're maintained by English Heritage and free to visit in daylight hours.
• See Ramsgate for the Isle of Thanet, sundered from the British mainland by the channels of the River Wantsum (which flows out just east of Reculver) and the River Stour. Or so it was until medieval times, but the Wantsum is now little more than a ditch which passing motorists won't notice.

Do

Red Sands, a Maunsell fort

• Walk along the beach. A pebble beach with groins runs along most of the seafront with a concrete path alongside.
• Boat trips sail from the harbour. Depending on conditions and length of trip, they may take in Herne Bay "island" pier, the outlying sandbanks where seals haul out, the offshore wind farms, or the two Maunsell forts built in World War II further out. (Both forts were used in the 1960s as pirate radio stations, Shivering Sands as Radio Sutch and Red Sands as Radio Invicta.) Boat operators include Whitstable Boat Tours, Oyster Coast Watersports and Greta.
• Playhouse Theatre, 104 High Street, Whitstable CT5 1AZ, ☏ +44 1227 272042. Box office M-Sa 10AM-noon. Rep theatre, the Lindley Players are the resident troupe. (updated Jul 2020)
• Crab & Winkle Way is a 7.6-mile walking and cycle route between Canterbury and Whitstable along the track bed of the C&W Railway. This opened in 1830 to bring coal and minerals to Canterbury, but has a good claim to be the world's first steam-hauled passenger railway. (The Stockton & Darlington Railway steam-hauled passengers for the opening ceremony in 1829, but for the next five years those passenger trains were drawn by horse, slower but less liable to shed wheels or fatally explode.) The C&WR used the wheezing locomotive Invicta, now in the town museum. It couldn't cope with the line's gradients, so static cable engines hauled trains uphill. The route always struggled financially, especially once the direct coastal London-Ramsgate railway arrived in 1860, but "the Crab & Winkle" continued to carry passengers to 1931 and freight to 1953.
• Whitstable Rocks Oyster Festival. Live music, oyster-eating competitions. The festival has moved from July to mid-September. (updated Apr 2024)

Buy

Invicta hauled the "Crab & Winkle" Railway

• There are many good craft shops and artists' studios, as well as a variety of small independent shops.
• Co-op Food on Oxford Street is open daily 7AM-10PM.

Eat

• Wheeler's Oyster Bar, 8 High St, Whitstable CT5 1BQ, ☏ +44 1227 273311. F-Su 10AM-4PM. Charming long-established oyster parlour, serves other seafood. (updated Jul 2020)
• Pearson's Arms, Horsebridge Rd, Whitstable CT5 1BT, ☏ +44 1227 773133. M noon-3PM; Tu-Sa noon-3PM, 5:30-9:30PM, Su noon-6PM. Cosy gastropub, the bar food downstairs is fine but it's the upstairs restaurant that scores. (updated Jul 2020)
• Whitstable Oyster Fishery Co, Horsebridge Rd, Whitstable CT5 1BU, ☏ +44 1227 276856. M W-F noon-2:30PM; Tu noon-7PM, 6-9PM; Sa Su noon-9PM. Spacious cafe has shellfish starters and fish mains. (updated Jul 2020)
• The Lobster Shack is a seafood cafe on East Quay, open daily 11AM-9PM.

Drink

Old Neptune is on the beach itself, teetering on wooden piles

• 1 The Old Neptune, Marine Terrace, Whitstable CT5 1EJ, ☏ +44 1227 272262. Su-W 11:30AM-10:30PM, Th-Sa 11:30AM-11:30PM. A rustic 19th century pub with fine ales, classic British grub and live music at weekends. It truly is on the beach not the prom, teetering on wooden piles, and the original Neppy was washed away in 1897. They rebuilt Neppy 2 from the timber strewn around. (updated Jul 2020)
• 2 The Peter Cushing, 16–18 Oxford Street,Whitstable CT5 1DD, ☏ +44 1227 284100. Daily 8AM-11PM. JD Wetherspoon pub in a former Art Deco cinema. Good selection of bar food. (updated Jul 2020)
• Shepherd Neame Brewery is in nearby Faversham and offers tours. Six of their products are badged for the town, the most distinctive being Whitstable Bay Oyster Stout.

Sleep

Fishing huts

• There's not much B&B as most visitors day-trip. The few are around High St, not along the prom where you'd expect to find them.
• Duke of Cumberland, High St, Whitstable CT5 1AP, ☏ +44 1227 280617. Good local pub with 8 rooms. Serves Shepherd Neame beers, and live music F Sa until 00:30 is audible in rooms. No parking. B&B double £90. (updated Jul 2020)
• 1 Hotel Continental, 29 Beach Walk, Whitstable CT5 2BP, ☏ +44 1227 280280. Art Deco hotel on the seafront, clean and comfy. Also rents eight beach huts. B&B double £120. (updated Jul 2020)
• 2 Marine Hotel, 32 Marine Parade, Whitstable CT5 2BE (half a mile east of centre), ☏ +44 1227 272672. Smart seafront hotel, slick and welcoming with good restaurant. B&B double £130. (updated Jul 2020)
• 3 Premier Inn Whitstable, Thanet Way, Whitstable CT5 3DB (junction of A299), ☏ +44 333 321 9145. Reliable budget chain hotel, on the retail park at junction with Thanet Way a mile south of town centre. Double (room only) £45, breakfast £10 pp. (updated Jul 2020)
• 4 Crescent Turner Hotel, Wraik Hill CT5 3BY, ☏ +44 1227 263506. Bright modern hotel above town. No dogs, though you'll hear them yowling in the adjacent kennels. B&B double £100. (updated Jul 2020)

Connect

As of April 2022, Whitstable has a 4G signal from all UK carriers. 5G has not yet reached this area.

Go next

• Margate for a different kind of coastal town.
• Faversham for the national fruit collection and breweries.
• Canterbury is a must-see, a historic city and UNESCO World Heritage Site.