Covid. Coronavirus. Lockdown. Self-isolation. Quarantine. Support bubbles. Social distancing. Flattening the curve. Stay safe. Stay well. Like the pandemic itself, this year’s glossary of key words and phrases seems to be never-ending. If I had to select a ‘favourite’ key word from the pandemic, it would obviously have to be ‘staycation‘, which is effectively just a ‘punny’ and time-efficient way of describing a holiday in your country of residence. Last year I decided to embark upon a Kent Staycation on my home turf of the United Kingdom.
I did initially express the following reservations about going on a staycation in the UK:
- I will not see the sun and it will rain. It will just be grey and bleak and miserable.
- It’s not very exotic is it?
However, these points were outweighed by the following:
- It’s really nice just exploring somewhere brand new.
- The weather might be ok.
- Greta Thunberg will appreciate my lack of air travel.
- I just need a holiday.
By some MIRACLE, I can confirm that we happened to see some blue skies on our staycation trip to the Thanet area of Kent. We had a really wonderful break and it thoroughly restored my faith in the idea of holidaying at home. Here are some of my Thanet highlights from my Kent Staycation:
Deal
Deal is a vibrant town with a number of pubs and bars and a pretty pebble beach. The town has a castle that you can wander around and, on a clear day, you can see France from across the English Channel there.
Sandwich
Sandwich is an ‘oldy-worldy’ town with plenty of historic architecture. Sadly the town has no connection with the lunchtime staple, which is actually believed to be named after John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who requested meat between two slices of bread to avoid interrupting a gambling game.
Whitstable
A visit to Whitstable’s harbour is a must for seafood lovers – the town is famous for its oysters but there are tonnes of market stalls offering fresh cockles, mussels, winkles and the latest catch coming in from the vast number of fishing boats in the harbour. The town’s high street is also worth a visit, as it is lined with quirky shops and restaurants.
Margate
Margate is a traditional English seaside resort, with a sandy stretch of beach, fairground amusements and a plethora of ‘chippies’ (fish and chip shops). The stone pier was built in the early 1800’s and the Harbour Arms pub at the end of the pier has an extensive range of local real ales and ciders – rhubarb cider pictured below!
Botany Bay and Kingsgate Bay
Botany and Kingsgate are two stunning bays with the notorious Kentish white cliffs. The English coast has such a distinct saltwater and seaweed smell that I’ve never smelt elsewhere in the world and this is a great place to experience it. We were really lucky that the weather was perfect when we went to visit these beaches and so I was able to get some lovely shots.
Canterbury
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Canterbury is incredibly picturesque, with cobbled streets and medieval architecture, including the beautiful cathedral dating back to 597 AD.
Ramsgate to Broadstairs
The coastal walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs is a lovely, easy walk which offers views over the area’s white chalk cliffs.
Let me know in the comments below if you’ve been on a staycation recently! If you live in the UK, you may be interested in reading about some other Staycation ideas as follows:
Love your positive take and promotion on a staycation.
Thank you! I think 2020 has definitely made me realise that travel begins at home and I’ve really enjoyed seeing what my home turf has to offer 😀
It looks beautiful. We’ve been doing lots of staycations and long weekends too. We went to Kent this weekend and stayed at Leeds castle, and visited Tonbridge and Knole Park. I really want to go back and do the coastal areas of Kent that you’ve visited as I’ve never visited before. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks! I think I was really lucky to see some half decent weather, after such a lovely spring it’s been so hit and miss since then hasn’t it! I’m going to have to follow your lead with the inland Kent locations as I’ve not been to Leeds Castle. It’s definitely been nice exploring more of the U.K. this year 🙂
Wow all these places look so stunning! Would love to visit these someday. Out of curiosity – how many days to cover this? Are they all in the Kent area? Haven’t been on any sort of vacation for the past 7 months.
Thanks – I think I was very lucky with the weather, you can’t ever guarantee a blue sky in the British summer 😂! I travelled around this small area of Kent for about five days but it was all at quite a leisurely pace so you could definitely do it in less time than this (providing you have a car for travelling around). Hope you manage to get away soon, do you have any plans for a trip or looking to wait until the pandemic is slightly more under control?..whenever that may be!
International travel is still banned in India until things get better. But sometime next year definitely planning a trip. I would love to do this in the leisurely manner definitely.
It definitely surprised me, I’d never really thought of Kent as a holiday location – I usually would have considered the standard U.K. coastal destinations of Cornwall/Dorset/Devon so it was nice to go somewhere a bit different! And so many bizarre place names over here haha I travelled through the village of ‘Tiddlywink’ last weekend would you believe! Hope you manage to get away soon once(if!) the pandemic ever manages to calm down!!
Great pictures and love the turn around in thoughts from trather not to yeah lets do it.
Thank you! This year has certainly made me remember that travel starts at home and exploring the U.K. a bit more has been lovely 🙂