The UK has many beautiful seaside towns, but Folkestone has always been a personal favorite of mine. It features Cretaceous fossils from over 100 million years ago, colorful houses floating on the sea, streets full of artistic flair, fresh seafood, and a long coastline.
🚄 Transportation | 45 minutes from London
Take a train from Stratford International, and you can reach Folkestone Central in about 45 minutes. Friends in central London can also depart from St Pancras.
🌈 Colorful Houses | Public art hidden in the harbor
Walking from the Creative Quarter toward Folkestone Harbour, you will pass through a colorful neighborhood built on a slope.
What attracted me most near the harbor were a few brightly colored little houses: pink ones floating on the water and orange ones standing on the opposite bank, looking like miniature models from a fairy tale.
I later learned that they are actually a public art installation titled "Holiday Home" by British artist Richard Woods, created in 2017. The artist scaled down holiday homes to one-third of their original size and placed them in unexpected locations around the city to explore issues surrounding housing and holiday homes in the UK.
🥾 Cretaceous Coast | Searching for ocean memories from 100 million years ago
The other side of Folkestone is its stunning natural history.
Folkestone Warren, on the east side of the town, is a famous fossil site in the UK. About 100 million years ago, this area was an ocean where ammonites, shellfish, and other marine life lived. After long geological changes, their remains were preserved in the rock layers, becoming fossils that we still have a chance to find on the coast today.
If you enjoy geology and natural history, you can set aside time to explore the coast near Folkestone Warren and Copt Point. You have a chance to find Cretaceous marine fossils like ammonites here, but be sure to check the tides and trail conditions in advance, and do not approach unstable cliffs or dig into the rock layers.
🦐 Seaside Life | Seafood, old bookstores, and ice cream
Folkestone is perfect for a slow, full-day stroll.
For lunch, I recommend Chummys and Bob’s Seafood near the harbor. The crab at the latter is especially worth trying; the crab meat is carefully picked and packed back into the shell. Two of us girls bought about £20 worth of seafood and were very satisfied.
If you like British pubs, you can go to The Ship Inn for fish and chips. The batter is crispy, and the chips are delicious too.
In the afternoon, take a walk along the beach at Sunny Sands, then head back to the Creative Quarter to browse independent bookstores, vintage shops, and cafes.
I also highly recommend an ice cream shop called Herbert’s. The vanilla and peach swirl cone is a summer flavor I still remember to this day.
🌅 Sunset | The most romantic dusk on the English Channel
For dinner, we chose the Spanish tapas restaurant El Cortador in the Creative Quarter. The sangria, paella, and fried calamari were all quite good.
After dinner, walk slowly along the seaside toward Folkestone Beach. Unlike Sunny Sands, this is a pebble beach. Then, walk along the old railway-turned-Harbour Arm toward the lighthouse to wait for the most beautiful moment of the day.
The sea breeze gradually cools down, and the sky turns from golden to pinkish-purple, finally merging with the deep blue sea. Some people are walking, some are chatting, and others are embracing for a long time by the sea.
From the ancient ocean of over 100 million years ago to today's ferries, colorful houses, and people walking by the sea, the coast of Folkestone has witnessed so many stories from different eras.
And what I love most is still that ordinary summer evening. The sea breeze blows, and it seems no one wants to leave.
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