This guide covers nine places on the north Kent coast: four in Whitstable and five around Herne Bay, including Reculver and the Oyster Bay Trail that links them. It helps you choose by the day and by what you want to see. The cards below link to each place’s InKent page.
Whitstable Castle and Gardens
Whitstable Castle is on Tower Hill. Sources date its first Gothic tower to about 1790, and it grew into a Georgian and Victorian house. It is now a community venue with gardens, an adventure playground with a pirate ship, tearooms and events.
- Opening: the gardens list 8am to 6pm daily. The tearooms list Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm. Check before you go on event days.
- Cost: no entry charge is listed, and Whitstable.co.uk says the gardens are free and open to all. The castle’s own pages do not describe tours, so ask at reception or ring 01227 281726 about them.
- Parking: the car park uses number plate recognition. The castle’s contact page says to register your vehicle within 20 minutes of arrival at reception or the Orangery and lists free parking for up to three hours, while its home page names the tearooms as the second registration point, so ask when you arrive.
- Access: wheelchair-accessible entrances and paths, accessible toilets and Blue Badge parking near the entrance.
Whitstable Community Museum and Gallery
This is a volunteer-run charity museum in Foresters’ Hall, 5A Oxford Street, telling Whitstable’s story through diving, fishing, shipwrecks, shipbuilding and oysters. It lists a preserved whelk boat and Stephenson’s locomotive Invicta among its displays, and hands-on activities for children. Its own site lists Thursday to Saturday, 10.30am to 4.30pm all year, and Wednesday to Saturday in school holidays, with extra dates announced on Facebook. Adult entry is £4 on its own site. Entry is free for students with a card, under-19s and local residents (CT1 to CT6). The main entrance is up two low steps, with wheelchair access at pavement level to one side.
The Horsebridge Arts Centre
The Horsebridge is a charity-run arts centre at 11 Horsebridge Road, near the seafront and the old Horsebridge landing platform, over three floors. It has two ground-floor galleries with a changing exhibition programme, a shop of work by local makers, and classes, talks, films, theatre and monthly jazz. It lists Monday and Wednesday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm, and shows no Tuesday hours, although its page footer says 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, so phone before a Tuesday visit. There is a lift to all three floors. There is no free parking nearby. The closest car parks are Keams Yard and Victoria Street, and the centre suggests the train or bus. We found no published entry price.
Whitstable Harbour
Visit Canterbury’s harbour pages describe a traditional working harbour with wooden huts and independent businesses selling everything from fresh seafood to handmade crafts, pleasure boat tours that normally run from April to October, a sea sauna and the South Quay Shed, a venue combining retail, leisure and food. It is open access, and the huts and businesses keep their own hours. Plan around the tides, which the pages say are published a week ahead. The Gorrell Tank car park (CT5 1BZ) is opposite the harbour and fills up in summer and on bank holidays. The harbour area is flat with wide paths and a ramp from the car park. The South Quay Shed has a lift to its upper floor, and the public toilets on South Quay include a Changing Places facility.
Herne Bay Pier and the clock tower
Herne Bay Pier is run by Herne Bay Pier Trust, a registered charity. The pier head has a small village of craft and gift huts, a food court, a helter skelter and old-fashioned fairground horses, and Visit Canterbury notes free fishing and crabbing. The pier lists daily opening from 8am, weather permitting, with shops from 11am and closing at 3.30pm in winter, and rides and attractions at weekends, bank holidays and school holidays. Its pages differ on hours, and give no admission price or accessibility statement, so check before you go.
The Grade II listed clock tower on Central Parade was built in 1836 to 1837 in Portland stone, paid for by a donation from Mrs Ann Thwaites, according to the list entry reproduced by British Listed Buildings. It stands on the seafront with an adventure playground and the bandstand close by. We have no opening times or access details for it.
The Seaside Museum
The Seaside Museum is Herne Bay’s volunteer-run local museum at 12 William Street, managed by Herne Bay Museum Trust. Its collections pages list Roman Reculver, tusks and fossils, seaside pastimes and the Dambusters prototype bouncing bomb, alongside a changing exhibitions programme. Its own site lists Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, and admission of £4, with £3 concessions and under-16s with an adult free. The museum asks visitors travelling specially to ring ahead on 01227 367368.
Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
The twin towers of a medieval church stand on the cliffs east of Herne Bay, beside the remains of a Roman fort in the Saxon Shore chain. Coastal erosion has taken much of the site. English Heritage lists free entry and says the exterior can be viewed in daylight hours. The North Tower interior opens only on selected days between April and October, so it is not open in winter. Disabled access to the grounds is by a long slope from the car park. The car park next to the site is paid and not run by English Heritage, and Reculver Country Park beside it is not managed by English Heritage.
Oyster Bay Trail
The Oyster Bay Trail is a National Cycle Network route of 8.1 miles (13 km) between Whitstable and Reculver, passing through Herne Bay. The Walk Wheel Cycle Trust describes it as largely flat, following a concrete, shared-use promenade, with about three-quarters traffic-free. The main on-road section runs along Herne Bay seafront, which is traffic-calmed with a 20 mph limit. Walkers and cyclists share the path. No charge for using it is stated.
Choosing between them
- History: Whitstable Castle, the Seaside Museum, the clock tower and Reculver.
- Indoors: the two museums and the Horsebridge.
- Walking or cycling: the Oyster Bay Trail, which links Whitstable, Herne Bay and Reculver.
Planning the day
Use the Oyster Bay Trail as the spine of a day: Whitstable at one end, Reculver at the other, and Herne Bay between.
Getting there
The Horsebridge says there is no free parking nearby, and Whitstable’s Gorrell Tank car park fills up in summer. Use the operators’ journey planners for current train and bus services.
Frequently asked questions
Is Reculver free?
English Heritage lists free entry. The car park next to the site is paid.
Can I go inside the Reculver towers?
The North Tower interior opens only on selected days between April and October. The exterior can be viewed in daylight hours all year.