Deal - why you’ll love this low-key Kent seaside town
Lovely Deal is on the rise and here’s why it makes a great destination for an Autumn mini-break
Welcome to the first of my mini-break guides. Over time, I’ll feature great British getaways all over the country. We kick off with Deal, in Kent.
While other resorts in Kent – hello, Margate – and around the south coast of England get all the traffic, little Deal, just along from Dover, is quietly turning into one of the region’s most stylish destinations.
We decided to get away for a few days recently and absolutely loved it. Deal is a historic coastal town sandwiched (pun intended), between Dover to the south and Sandwich and Ramsgate to the north. Julius Caesar landed nearby in 55BC and Henry VIII fortified it with a castle in the Tudor era. It became a busy port (it was where Captain Cook landed on return from Australia) and a smuggling hotspot. Much of that history is in The Deal Museum.
It feels very Dickensian and no wonder, as the author featured Deal in Bleak House, unfortunately describing it, “The long flat beach, with its little irregular houses, wooden and brick, and its litter of capstans, and great boats, and sheds, and bare upright poles with tackle and blocks, and loose gravelly waste places overgrown with grass and weeds, wore as dull an appearance as any place I ever saw.” Little bit harsh, Charles.
Arranged with a promenade spanning a quiet beach, even in summer, its focal point is a long pier, which, while it doesn’t win any beauty points for its austere design, does have a good café at the end of it, which makes a great spot for early-morning coffee.
The beach is pebbly, which explains why it doesn’t get the traffic somewhere like Broadstairs or Margate does, but to be honest, I’m Club Pebble – if you can sort out your waterproof footwear, so you don’t hobble out of the sea like the Little Mermaid with knives in her feet, you’re laughing, because you don’t get sand stuck all over you, your towel, your kids and your car. Kingsdown Beach does have some sand, though.
The old town is made up of beautiful higgledy-piggledy lanes with fisherman’s cottages, now lovingly-restored and turned into inevitable holiday lets which rival anything I saw in Cornwall and the seafront has a mix of grand old buildings, lively pubs, good restaurants, fish and chip shops and a lovely original ice-cream parlour.
We loved 81 Beach St, an excellent restaurant on the seafront, with London-quality dishes at unpretentious prices and Deal Pier Kitchen at the end of the pier was great for coffee and lunch. The pubs are also good for food and drink including the The Zetland Arms, Le Pinardier, the Royal Hotel, The Ship Inn, which is straight out of a Dickens’ novel and The Rose, which is straight out of London.
The rest of the town has a fairly thriving high street and local population, which is also good, because you don’t get the sense you’re in a fake-village-resort that completely closes down in the winter. That’s why it’s a good place to visit off-season too, as you can indulge in some hearty seafront walks, or cycle and visit Deal, Walmer and Dover Castles.
We stayed in pretty Riley Cottage, which was one road back from the beach. It was all wooden floorboards, cute kitchen with butler’s sink and beautiful bathroom with roll-top bath. It’s small, but perfect and the kids’ attic bedroom had a thoughtful collection of toys included. The owner, Ally, is a former interiors stylist and you can tell. It was beautifully-renovated and super-comfortable, so I’d recommend it.
In conclusion, if you like your seaside towns quiet, which we do, then this really is a Good Deal. But if you want more action, then you’d probably agree with Dickens.
Deal: The Travel List
Where is it: Deal is on the Kent coast, between Dover and Ramsgate.
How to get there: You can take the train direct from London Charing Cross, or drive along the M20 via Dover, or the M2/A2 via Canterbury.
Where to stay: We loved Riley Cottage, one road back from the beach. Visit www.dealholidaylets.co.uk
Where to eat: I recommend 81 Beach Street, for high-end food at regular prices.
For more information: Visit www.whitecliffscountry.org.uk
The British Travel List is the sister newsletter to The Royal List. It is a weekly guide to my favourite places to visit and stay around the country. I am an experienced travel and lifestyle journalist who writes for British and Australian newspapers and magazines and I am passionate about British travel. For more of my work, visit kerryparnell.com