If you’ve never been to the Ramsgate in Kent before – one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century – you don’t know what you’re missing, according to holiday home owner Julia Champion, who wants to shout about it from the rooftops!
Television presenters’ agent and PR, Julia has always loved being by the sea and bought Picton House not only as a holiday rental but somewhere that she, friends and family could use too.
A fan of interior design who loves being surrounded by beautiful things, she has injected her style and personality into the house and made it her peaceful, comfortable haven by the sea.
Read on to get Julia’s guide to a 48 hours in Ramsgate. But first of all, a bit more about Julia and Ramsgate itself:
Tell us a little bit about you:
I am 55 years old and I live in Sydenham, south-east London, with my husband, Matt, and my children, Rosie (18) and Bella (15). I run my own management and PR agency, having worked as a producer for the BBC and a journalist before then.
I’m lucky enough to do a job that is my vocation. Being born to artist parents, I know that if you find a job you love, you never work another day in your life as it doesn’t feel like work. I work all the time, even on holiday, because I love it and don’t want to miss a thing. I never want to retire as my work is a huge part of my life and gives me a purpose.
Where is Ramsgate and why pick it for a weekend away?
With its bustling harbour and marina, awash with history and overflowing with continental charm, it’s a must-see historic port and, in my view, a hidden gem!
It has everything you could want and everything is so easy to reach. You can walk to anywhere you need to go and feel safe at any time of day.
The beach is clean and sandy, there are loads of great restaurants and pubs and things to do, and the people are friendly and welcoming. It’s not touristy or tacky, you don’t have to worry about parking and everything and everywhere is within easy reach. Margate, Broadstairs and Deal are nearby and you never run out of things to see or do.
How easy is it to get to Ramsgate?
It’s so easy to reach from where I live in London. I can drive there in one and half to two hours, so I can easily go for a day or a weekend. I always drive and can park right outside my house.
It’s quick and easy to get to on the train too, with direct trains running from London St Pancras International, Charing Cross and Victoria, taking less than two hours, making it easy to reach from wherever you are in the UK.
Why did you choose Ramsgate to buy a holiday home?
I have friends who live or have holiday homes in Whitstable and Margate on the Kent coast, so I knew those places well, but when I told my sister I was thinking of buying in Kent, she said that Ramsgate is even nicer than those places – and it is!
Once I saw Picton House, I knew it was for me. Since buying there, I have made new friends locally and also found that a lot of contacts I know through work live there and I catch up with them whenever I go down.
What condition was your house in when you bought it and did you have to do much work to it?
Oh, my goodness, it was extremely dated and shabby with a massive, smelly, tall bush obscuring the front of the house, which I removed immediately.
It was one of the worst houses in the street in terms of curb appeal, but I could immediately see that it had huge potential and that most of the changes I needed to make were purely cosmetic.
I had to change the carpets, flooring, tiling and light fittings, redecorate throughout and spruce up the garden, but the only room I had to rip out and start again with was the bathroom, where there was a lot of brown and orange going on!
I also bought quality furniture and put beautiful pictures on the walls – mainly my artist parents’ work – and put books, rugs, cushions, ornaments and houseplants around the place to make it feel homely. It’s just a 10-minute walk from the lovely beach, harbour and shops and has a cosy, welcoming atmosphere now.
What sort of people would a break in Ramsgate suit?
There is plenty to do for everyone. My friend has just been for a romantic long weekend with her husband and messaged me within hours saying it was perfect!
There are lots of restaurants and bars for romantic dinners, several good walks and shops and antiques market to mooch around with your loved ones, but there is loads to do for families too.
I have a travel cot and highchair at my holiday house so it’s suitable for families with young children. There are buckets and spades as kids love the beach, making it perfect for a week-long seaside break, not just for weekends.
Top attractions include Dreamland funfair in Margate which also doubles up as a music venue where top-name singers and bands perform, and it is just a 10-minute drive away. There’s literally something for everyone!
What’s Ramsgate beach like?
There are miles of gorgeous beaches on the Kent coast. Ramsgate beach is wide sandy and clean, but Broadstairs and Margate beaches are great too and Deal also has a great vibe, although it’s pebbly.
There are brilliant pubs and restaurants on the pier in all of these places and lots of great places to get fish and chips and ice cream all along this stretch of the Kent coast.
In Margate, the sea goes out a long way, which can be a pain as you have to go quite far out to swim, but in Ramsgate, it’s sandy underfoot and the sea comes right in, so that’s not a problem and it never gets too crowded or noisy.
Tell us your top three thing to see and do in Ramsgate
- The beach and walking around the harbour.
2. Petticoat Lane Emporium for antiques, vintage furniture, knick knacks and clothes it’s brilliant on a Sunday.
3. I also love walking in nearby Ellington Park, a 12-acre Victorian park with over 400 trees and rolling landscape, and having tea and cake at the nice café there.
What are your top three places to eat in Ramsgate?
We love La Magnolia, an authentic Italian restaurant, and Thai Orchid, both with stunning harbour views. The Harbour Brasserie on the end of the pier always does excellent food and all of these restaurants have a great atmosphere at any time of the year.
If the weather isn’t good – which it sometimes isn’t in the UK – what else is there to do it the town?
Ramsgate Tunnels, the UK’s largest network of underground civilian tunnels, which provided shelter to people in WW2, are worth a visit and The Windmill pub and the The Belle Vue do great food with a brilliant atmosphere.
There’s a cute little cinema called The Palace in Broadstairs and a great, out of town shopping centre called Westwood Cross, a five-minute drive away, in between Margate and Ramsgate, with huge branches of all your favourite shops.
The charity shops in Ramsgate are second-to-none as well and there are some lovely independent shops, such as Alchemy for clothes and McGillan and Woodall for gifts, art and jewellery.
Does Ramsgate have much history?
According to Visit Ramsgate, the town began as a fishing and farming hamlet. Its earliest reference is in the Kent Hundred Rolls of 1274-5 as ‘Ramisgate’.
In 1820, King George IV set off from Ramsgate with the Royal Squadron en route to Hanover. He was so impressed by the hospitality he received at the Kent port that he decreed it be declared a Royal Harbour– a status that’s unique in mainland Britain.
During the Napoleonic wars, British troops were quartered at Ramsgate before embarking for the continent. Climb up Madeira Walk to Ramsgate’s East Cliff to see Wellington Crescent, a reminder of this period.
Ramsgate’s harbour is a defining characteristic of the town. Its construction began in 1749 and was completed in about 1850. Because of its proximity to mainland Europe, Ramsgate was a chief embarkation point both during the Napoleonic Wars and for the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.
Here’s Julia’s top tips for a weekend in her beloved Ramsgate:
Day one (Friday):
When I drive down to Ramsgate on a Friday, I usually try and set off mid-afternoon to miss the traffic and it usually takes 1.5 – 2 hours from where I live in London.
I can park for free in the road outside my house, which is a massive bonus as this isn’t the case in so many seaside resorts, when I’m only a 7-10 minute walk down the hill to the beach, shops and harbour.
I usually crack open a bottle of prosecco or wine and sit outside in my lovely, enclosed, private garden – taking in the peace and quiet and listening to the seagulls overhead.
For dinner, we might go the Belle Vue pub in Pegwell Bay, which is a short walk away, and sit outside in the beautiful garden area overlooking the sea. On a clear day, you can sometimes see France! If the weather isn’t so good, Seabird in The Broadway does great cocktails and food.
Day 2 (Saturday):
On Saturday morning, I try to have a lie-in, then go and stock up on provisions at a local supermarket (there’s an Aldi and Waitrose nearby), then make a cooked brunch with fresh coffee from my coffee machine.
I might have a nice walk around nearly Ellington Park – stopping for tea and cake at the café there.
In the afternoon, we love to mooch around the shops. The charity shops are great and I always pick up nice gifts, greetings cards, art and jewellery at McGillan and Woodall in Queen Street, or pottery and plants at Potters next door (you can park in Waitrose car park for free for 90 minutes which is a couple of minutes’ walk away, even if you don’t shop there).
There is also a lovely shop selling clothes, shoes and accessories called Alchemy and if I go with my sister, she heads straight the haberdashery shop which she says is the best shop of its kind she’s found anywhere (she’s a keen dressmaker, crochets and does crafts and so do I).
My kids love Dreamland, a vintage funfair in Margate. They like going skating afterwards and getting a waffle with chocolate sauce, strawberries and cream, along the sea front. If you time it right, they have some great music acts at Dreamland, which is a venue in the evening, and Margate Soul Weekend and Ramsgate Festival of Sound are really popular times to go.
There’s the sun deck of the massive Wetherspoons – the Royal Victorian Pavilion -which is right on the beach and it’s as cheap as chips. You can walk down the steps and straight onto the sandy beach if you fancy a swim, a sunbathe or a paddle.
For a relaxed dinner on Saturday night, we’d stroll over the La Magnolia, the Italian or Thai Orchid on Harbour Lane – they both have stunning views and do delicious food, then we’d take the short walk back to my house and stay up drinking and chatting.
Day three (Sunday):
On Sunday, I love to go out for brunch in one of the lovely cafes in the arches of Ramsgate Harbour and watch the world go by. There are so many interesting people that hang around there. One guy has fake grass on his boat and adorable rabbits running around on deck!
If the weather is good, a beach day is in order. Ramsgate beach is long, wide, sandy and clean so that’s my favourite, but Broadstairs, Margate and Deal are all within easy reach too.
The Royal Harbour Brasserie at the end of Ramsgate pier is great for lunch with a massive seating area outside with stunning views over the harbour and all the bays. It feels like being on the deck of a ship and the food and vibe are great there.
If the weather is not so good, we often sit inside as the views are still great and it’s really cosy. Alternatively, we’ll take a drive to the Petticoat Lane flea market which is full of amazing furniture, antiques, vintage clothes, mirrors, ornaments and knick knacks, then go for a roast at The Windmill pub near the train station, before heading back to London in the evening.
And finally, where to next for you and your family?
I absolutely love to travel and it’s probably my greatest extravagance! I was born and brought up in Suffolk, and have many happy memories of family days out in Southwold, Aldeburgh and other places in Suffolk but so many parts of the UK can’t be beaten – especially on a sunny day!
I had a very special once-in-a- lifetime holiday with my daughter, Bella, in 2021, to an incredible boutique hotel called Kalukanda House in Sri Lanka where we went on safari, trekked through the rainforest, kayaked in the sea, went to elephant and turtle sanctuaries and had the best time ever!
I love holidays with my close family, but I also think holidays with long-time friends that you might only see once a year can be brilliant, because you can pick up where you left off and spend precious time catching up on what you’ve been up to, talking and talking and enjoying things together that you don’t get a chance to do for the rest of the year, because of distance or time.
I’m very lucky in that my husband never stops me doing anything and we trust each other completely so we each have holidays with other people as well as with each other.
I’d love to take my family to Koh Samui, Thailand, in December in that awful week after Christmas and over New Year, where no one is around so I can’t do a lot of work and the weather is miserable.
I crave the sun and the sea in the winter and being with the people I love the most.
Julia’s holiday home, Picton House, has three bedrooms and sleeps five people, with two nights in October costing £355.
