Daytripping in Winter: Dreamland Margate ticks the boxes

British summer time and seasides make for the perfect daytrip, but does it still work as a December activity?

Since it opened back in May this year following a £25 million investment, the oldest surviving amusement part in the UK, Dreamland Margate has become one of the most Instagrammable destinations for colour lovers. It seems to always be on my feed, colour-hunters, meet-up groups, crafters, bloggers, attending in their hoards to get selfies in front of the rainbow ‘Born Slippy’ slides and the retro themed roller disco. To say I’ve been suffering FOMO would be an understatement, I so wanted to visit but I never quite made it before it closed down for the summer season. Booo!

But then I heard it was opening back up for Christmas with a Frosted Fairground so I hotfooted it down to the Kent coast to see what all the fuss is about. Yes it’s winter. Yes it’s cold, but if you layer up (I had my thermals under all my normal clothes) there is much fun to be had.

My 5 reasons why you should visit Dreamland Margate in winter

Short days
Margate is highly Instagrammable during the day but a fairground really comes to life in the dark and in winter it’s dark by 4pm so the fairground lights come on quicker (plus there are extra Xmas ones too.) I call that a Win. It’s also really fun to be able to go on the rides in the daytime and at night to compare, especially the legendary Scenic Railway – the oldest rollercoaster in the UK which no matter how scared you think you’ll be, you have to go on.

Ice skating
Yes, you can go to the Roller Disco in all seasons but let’s face it, skating off- season isn’t the same. It’s best done in December. Can’t skate? Neither can I. Thankfully I found a guide to help me over the course: a plastic penguin!

Banish grey skies
Going to Dreamland on a grey day is no bad thing because there’s so much colour in the rides, signage, details that it eases the depressive nature of bleak winter days.

Good vibes
While other places you visit during this time of year (shopping centres, bars, restaurants) are all playing the same old Christmas pop CDs, Margate maintains its vintage vibes by playing golden oldies rather than chart music Xmas mash-ups. There’s also live DJs and a huge stage giving it a fun festival feel. Infact it’s good vibes all round. Compact in size, friendly staff dotted around the place, rides for all levels of bravery and yummy food carts, all of which create a perfect daytrip experience.

Xmas Shopping
Swap the high-street for the boutique shops of Margate and pick up something a little more interesting. Dreamland is just five minutes walk from Margate train station, five minutes walk to the beach and seafront and five minute walk to the old town shops. A destination couldn’t be better designed. And if you are down for Dreamland, Margate has much to explore. The Turner Contemporary Margate Art Gallery is free to visit and has a quirky gift shop which is also a fab place to shop, as is the colourful and curious A Little Bit Margate.

See, daytripping is not just for summertime. And if you’re one of those folks that wants to visit Margate but can’t hack the crowds it attracts on sunny days, winter is the perfect time to experience it.

Dreamland Margate is open every day from December 16^th until 3^rd January. (Closed Christmas Day). It’s also open weekend of 9/10^th December.

Entrance is free rides and skating are paid for separately.
Tickets available from dreamland.co.uk/events

 

 

Bristol: who knew it was so cool

I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’m a Southerner. We have no clue about what lies beyond the M25 motorway that circles London. I have a Geography degree and I’m a Travel Blogger yet still I am oblivious to what life is like in a lot of other UK cities; though I am getting better.

In the last year I’ve been to Manchester (loads), Liverpool (so much fun), Newcastle (loved it), Oxford….(my oh my what an amazing burger shop Atomic Burger is*) and most recently Bristol, * there’s one in Bristol too, an utterly cool and hip place filled with creative awesomeness. I’m still not over it. I honestly assumed Bristol was a mediocre average city, with nothing special going on…but how wrong I was.

Here are some of the aspects I loved and am going back for…

VINTAGE SHOPS

There are SO MANY vintage clothes shops in Bristol, it would take more than a day to visit every one and spend some quality time browsing through them all.  Make a note to pop to Park Street, Stokes Croft and Gloucester Road. I’m gutted that I didn’t have  as much time investigating them as I wanted, but it’s a reason to go back. The store I spent most of my time in was Stokes Croft Indoor Market, because it was huge and reminded me of Snooper’s Paradise in Brighton which is filled with kitsch curiosities. When I was a student Snooper’s was where I spent my loan on treasures like a Cadbury’s Creme Egg handbag.

Amidst the well-priced vintage fashion at Stokes, there’s a huge amount of ‘global’ treasures including artefacts from Africa, Indian, China…making it a Craft and Travel lover’s paradise and museum in one.

SPIKE ISLAND

Bristol is a big city and Spike Island is far out, but if you’re an art lover it’s a creative space that hosts quirky exhibitions and a regular programme of evening events. When I visited, the Lubaina Hamid exhibition a retrospective of the British African artist’s work was showing. One entire room was dedicated to an installation called Navigation Charts which featured 100 wooden painted cut-out people representing slaves. On the reverse of each cut out was their name and something about them, representing real life slaves and what their ambitions in life really were.

Disguised amongst Navigation Charts

The exhibition like all at the artspace was accompanied by a programme of events and on the weekend I visited they hosted an evening of African coffee with fresh doughnuts, a DJ and spoken work installation. There’s a creative cafe within the main building too so even if you’re just a bit curious or just want to go somewhere for a coffee away from the central crowds, Spike Island is worth the trek.

STREET ART

Brizzol (as it’s affectionately known as in local West Country speak) is the hometown of Banksy but he’s not the only one who knows how to make good use of a stencil and spray can. Bristol is one giant street art exhibition, you’ll most likely even see it in action while you’re there. There’s no point me listing where to go, it’s engrained in the city, just look around yourself. Or if you’re thinking ‘but I don’t have time and I need some cool content for my Snapchat’, then embark on a street art tour of Bristol. You won’t be disappointed.

WATERFRONT

OK. Maybe I’m a little biased. I favour any destination that has water – I have no desire to travel to landlocked places, I’ve done the odd desert but hands down I need water in my life: sea, river, pond, lido…I’m not fussed! So anyway the waterfront in Bristol is bustling with markets, cafes, landmarks, new builds, a steam train which runs some weekends and which I got to ride – yay!, trendy cinema (The Watershed where I caught Oscar winning Moonlight – it has huge comfy seats but get there early to nab a good one as it’s free-seating), and most famous of all, you’ll get to see the most Instagrammable view in Bristol: a stretch of rainbow coloured houses and no matter how many unicorn residences you’ve seen on The Gram, it’s worth hunting out.

Palestine Museum & Cultural Centre

A museum run entirely by volunteers inside a makeshift space, I discovered this place from a placard on the street with an arrow pointing ‘This Way’, so of course, I followed it. Inside there’s a wealth of information about Palestine but it’s not all political and newsy though you’ll certainly get some education. There’s costumes and clothing, illustrations, textiles, jewellery, photography, recipes and anecdotes. You’ll mostly likely find a huddle of men inside too sat on sofas chatting away, this is a hang-out as much as it is a public museum and it’s free to get in so there is no excuse not to check it out.

Just another cool spot in Bristol waiting to be shot

There’s plenty more going on too: the impressive walk around the quaint Clifton area, the epic Suspension Bridge, nightlife (if I’d known how busy it gets I would have got there earlier in the evening), the legendary Boston Tea Party coffee shops for a cake break and great street food which I dined on twice. So all in all I can strongly say that there is heaps to do in Bristol, thou shalt not get bored here on a weekend city break, that’s for sure.

Words and photos not enough? Watch some more visuals of Bristol in this teeny tiny film of mine.

Are you a Bristolian, mocking my ignorance of this fine English city? Have you never been but I’ve convinced you to go one weekend? Have I majorly not mentioned the coolest thing in the city? Let me know in the comments.