Where is your favourite destination and why?
I am admittedly more in love with London every day, although I do harbour a fantasy of off-season St Tropez or Amalfi as winter looms. But I also love a British getaway, even for 24 hours, for a change of scene, or sea air, or pure adventure. I love Edinburgh, hiking in Dorset and my friend’s pub in Oxfordshire where I pretend I keep a room. But my favourite UK escape is Margate. I even love the journey: two hours on the train from Victoria feels just about ideal — time to read and reset, my two dogs curled up at my feet.
When was the last time you were there, and who were you with?
March, with my friend Chantal, who is one of my favourite travelling companions. We just have that easy unconditional understanding of each other’s rhythm and desires and fall into a kind of student carefree camaraderie on the road together. She taught me the concept of lines in the diary, time out for sisterhood, rest and the occasional runaway quest. Our daughters are best friends and I love knowing that we have something special in the diary to look forward to.
Where do you like to stay there?
I loved the pretty perfect Fort Road Hotel — the warmth of the welcome, the attention to detail, the location, the light, the sense of possibility and curiosity. And a damn cool bar. My room glowed... a joyous amber-tiled bathroom and rather decadent dog beds. When we called to ask if I could bring my lurchers they said they would rather we didn’t come without them! My kind of place.
The dogs were actually with me for all of our 48-hour trip except for a couple of hours when we were at the Turner Contemporary across the street, when they snoozed happily at the hotel. I’m always obsessed with hotel literature and libraries and here devoured the local tips and stories (I discovered TS Eliot’s inspirations for The Wasteland as well as Lewis Carroll’s fascination with Margate’s fabled Shell Grotto) amid the desk stationery. I also wanted to read every book beside my bed, all with a local and artistic bent. Such thoughtfulness can really inspire a mood and journey — to be expected from one of the brains behind Frieze art fair. I would usually always prefer to go explore rather than eat at my hotel but here those rules did not apply. We had one of the best meals of our trip at Colina on the ground floor of Fort Road after a cocktail in the underground bar. It was followed by a little live folk music at the first pub we stumbled upon.
What has been your favourite meal there?
I first went to Margate in 2015, when my kids were little, and I took a sweet little gang day-tripping one empty half-term Tuesday. Dreamland, the historic funfair, had just reopened and our afternoon there after pizza on the seafront is the stuff of mythic magic memory now. The kitsch amusement park was spookily empty in a heatwave and the kids couldn’t believe we could ride the rides as many times as desired with no queues, all sugar-high under a show-off turquoise sky. It felt like the Wonka chocolate factory of fairgrounds; in my snaps it looks like the playground of dreams, all rainbow chutes and gingerbread carousels. And our own private roller disco where admittedly I was the one who didn’t want to go home, long before we all fell in love with Flipper’s London. Aside from the beach ice creams and the candy store in town that looks like a Hogwarts tuck shop, more grown-up favourites include Angela’s in the old town (and its little sister Dory’s), which is acclaimed with a Michelin green star for its exemplary sustainable practices. I also adore Sargasso. On my next trip I’ll try some places which have been highly recommended: DIVE for tacos and the tiny Harbour Arms. And I can’t wait to try Sète, the buzzy wine bar and restaurant on Northdown Road.
What would you do if you only had 24 hours there?
I would go to: the Carl Freedman Gallery, TKE Studios, Turner Contemporary, Quench Gallery, The Margate Bookshop, and I’d eat at Sargasso.
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What is the one unmissable thing you recommend doing?
Simply catch the light. Run or walk on the beach at sunrise or sunset. Be entranced by the lone figure from Antony Gormley’s Another Time series, installed on Fulsam Rock and visible for three hours before low tide.
Is there a hidden gem you are willing to share?
Artist Lindsey Mendick’s studio. Down the rabbit hole via Gothic fairytales and Nineties pin-ups. If you know, you know.
Who do you call to have a good time there?
Robert Diament, curator and co-host (with Russell Tovey) of the brilliant Talk Art podcast.
Favourite shops?
Margate is tiny and you can walk everywhere and the best idea is simply to drift and explore. But I can’t miss an opportunity to go to the Margate Bookshop, Albion Stores clothes shop, and the vintage and antique and junk shops of the old town.
The one thing you would bring home as a souvenir?
Always vintage tees for my kids and me. And in a dream world, an art print from Counter Editions via the Carl Freedman Gallery.
Your favourite beauty spot?
The top of the big wheel at Dreamland.
Your packing essential?
My Barbour Liddesdale — oversized lightweight quilting perfect for travel days and all-weather adventures, plus it works over a little black dress and boots or hiking layers. Plus, Chanel shades, my Leica D-Lux, old Levis, running kit and Scrabble. I rarely travel without my tennis racket but maybe that’s a different trip.
A song that reminds you of the place?
I ran at dawn across the vast empty beach, listening to Hole’s Live Through This, a nostalgic, evocative favourite, especially Miss World. Courtney forever.
Your dress code for the destination?
Anything goes — I love to mix the classic and the unexpected. Sporty scruffy tomboy but with a killer vintage dress in the mix. Because in Margate, you never know. Even if I’m just going for a night or two, I’ll pack a little mood-changing luxury: my Eres silk pyjamas, Comète fragrance by Chanel, an oversized Aran cardi by Guest In Residence, and a simple black ribbon to elevate even tangled beachswept hair... And my Barbour to throw over anything for that very English timeless Princess Diana/Mick Jagger mix of nonchalance, knowingness and chic ready-for-adventure practicality!
Building you would like to live in?
I’m not sure if there’s even a bedroom but I’d like to stay the night in the clock tower/ tourist information centre on the harbour with the Tracey Emin neon up front: I Never Stopped Loving You. I am in awe of Dame Tracey — always for her art but also for her community activism and passionate advocacy for the arts and her home town. The brutalist landmark Arlington House must boast some of the best views in town. Margate for me feels both ancient and modern. You can walk with the ghosts of (art) history and embrace the gritty ambition of a seaside town with big ideas and bigger heart.
Shop the Barbour Liddesdale collection at barbour.com/uk/quilts
