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Hello ST, long time no see. I have been off my MTB for almost two years getting my shoulder fixed, and its nearly ready. Had to stay more or less out of bike sites as it was all getting a bit depressing at times. Anyway. At least now I know what a Latarjet procedure is.
Towards the end of July some friends and I are staying a weekend in Ramsgate to celebrate my birthday. Beyond booking an Airbnb I haven't really got much of a clue why there or what we'll actually do. I was thinking maybe a bit of fatbiking on the beach might be a thing? On account of I can only do pretty non-gnarly things for a while yet, some of the crew are not MTB types, and probably other excuses for saying I don't want to ride too far or too scarily. Would anywhere be able to hire out about 5 of those? (I guess it could be a couple more, but I expect some will sit it out entirely. What I'm saying is I totally have more than 4 friends honest).
Biking aside, anyone else got any good recommendations for things to do around there, places to eat and drink, walk to, boat rides or something? I think we need some good food delivered one night, and at least one bit of reasonably fine dining if possible. Doesn't have to be s****y, just be excellent food and drink.
Cheers for your ideas. If my bike hasn't rotted away, I might be hitting a bit of Swinley blue route this weekend, and if my arm falls off again then we can probably cancel the first question. My first bit of non-road riding in a long time!
I don't think there's much off roading in the area. The beach is small and will likely be busy and closed to cycling at this time of year, if you can even find somewhere to hire a fat bike.
The coastal path is a nice ride but mostly paved. iirc it's a 30-40 mile loop round to Reculver and back across the middle on country lanes.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">There's also a nice ride between Sandwich and Deal and maybe down towards Dover but not sure how accessible that is from Ramsgate, I've only started from Deal.</span>
Hope this isn't too disappointing but it's not really a mountain biking destination. Maybe a real local will have some more suggestions for you.
Cheers kelron. I didn't really pick it with biking in mind exactly (for a start, i wasn't originally timetabled to be allowed to do this yet) so it's not the end of the world. Will have a think about the other ride you mention though, we could drive to that if necessary. Thanks again.
Why on earth have you chosen Ramsgate?! Ravensgate Arms is great if you like craft beer, can't think of anywhere else to recommend for beer or food (wouldn't really recommend wandering around after dark tbh lol). Better off getting the train to Canterbury!
Notable for having the biggest Wetherspoon in the country! The building itself is actually really nice.
haha zilog, thanks for that - I think! If the worst comes to it we'll just get some crates of booze and stay in the house!
Btw I still have both arms. 10km of benign trails can't beat me yet!
I'm local to the area but Margate. Don't go out much and no reason for me to go to Ramsgate. I don't know about the beach being closed to cycling. Parts of the promenades are round Margate/Minnis Bay way, but never seen anything saying no riding on beach itself. Though definitely avoid beach cycling on a hot sunny weekend. Margate beach was heaving this weekend just gone. There's no trail riding in Thanet. A few bridleways dotted around and footpaths are fair game (farm tracks). Though I ride off road in Thanet quite regularly, I rarely venture round Ramsgate way. For better trails, there's Covert Woods in Barham near Canterbury, Blean/Clowes the other opposite side of Canterbury, and Kings Wood further afield near Ashford. Some nice places to eat in Broadstairs. Haven't actually eaten out in Ramsgate that I remember.
My folks live in Ramo and i was brought up there many moons ago... i don't think its as rough as it used to be when i was a kid. Have been out and about there a lot at all times of night and day and never have any trouble. Admittedly there are a couple of places i'd avoid but they don't look too welcoming anyway so you wouldn't be tempted to go in (unless you like sunburnt skinheads with football club tattoos).
You can get a boat ride out to sea the seals in pegwell bay (some are on powerboats so i suppose they hoon about a bit on the way there), or if you are lucky there are sea kayak tours that go out that way too. You can also SUP / kayak / paddle on the stour about further inland.
Other stuff to do would be explore the local coastline if the weather is nice, some pretty varied coastal ecology from mudflat (if you are a twitcher pegwell bay is an SSSI and great for supporting waterfowl) to chalky rockpools / mussel beds and beaches.
Half decent pubs in the area are the belle vue in pegwell, and maybe the wetherspoons just as its the old pavillion on the beach. There are a few smaller cafes and bars fronting onto the harbour in the old arches.
There is a pretty good restaurant that i would recommend in Ramsgate, called the empire room. We went there a few months back and it was delicious, plus the portion sizes were crazily big (which gives it an even bigger tick in my book).
I'd head to margate and broadstairs for a look round. In Margate you have the The turner museum which is free and fairly decent. There are also a few decent independant coffee shops / cafes too e.g. curve roasters.
In broadstairs there are a few niceish beaches (viking bay, minnis bay, joss bay) and a few pubs. Always worth a pint at the tartar frigate as its right on the beach on viking bay.
I'd also hit canterbury if you have time...
There's a direct train between Ramsgate and Chartham, where you can pick up a nice loop that runs through King's Wood, Crundale, Mystole etc and back to Chartham. It's very, very dry and drifty right now and the trails are in optimum condition.
If you do social media then check out Kent Trails on Facebook.
About 10 miles south of Ramsgate you've got Betteshanger Country park, with BMX, MTB and smooth tarmac road loops, bike hire and cafe.
As for other stuff to do, you've got the new art gallery place (it's shit), the tunnels and Dreamland at MArgate. Best thing around is the Hornby Visitor Centre. Dover castle worth a trip if you like that sort of thing, Walmer castle much prettier and smaller if posh gardens and scones are your bag.
Just posting to say thanks, got more than I thought I would there! Need to start planning and booking some of this next.