Folkestone

Folkestone is a town on the Kent coast, in the South East of England.

Folkestone Harbour

Folkestone Beach

Understand

Folkestone is a member of the Cinque Ports, having been incorporated as a Corporate Limb of Dover. In 1629 the local inhabitants obtained a licence to build a port, prior to which, fishing boats were entirely reliant upon the natural protection of the natural harbour formed by the Pent Stream.

At the end of the 18th century the city became prosperous because of an increase in the fishing and shipping industries and, in the middle of the 19th century, Folkestone was one of the chief resorts of southern England, aided by the construction of the railway line from London. Numerous Victorian Hotels, including "The Grand" and "Metropole" are testament to this, together with no less than three railway stations.

Today, though, Folkestone remains as a faded shadow of its former grand self. Since the 1950s it has fallen into decline due in part to competition from Dover, the advent of the Channel Tunnel (with many new jobs in the area because of it convening in Ashford) and the ubiquitous package holiday.

Sandgate is a village at the west end of the town which has a popular beach.

Get in

By car

The M20 links Folkestone with Ashford, the A259 runs south along the coast to Hastings and the A20 heads up the coast to Dover.

By train

From France

• 🌍 Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, Satnav: CT18 8XX (M20 motorway, junction 11), ☎ [phone]. Vehicle shuttle train from Calais. The crossing takes around 30 min. You will pass through all passport controls before you board in Calais; the same applies on the return journey. The terminal has an indoor waiting area with restaurants and cafés for departures. Vehicles arriving from France pass a filling station before exiting the terminal. For more information, see United_Kingdom#By_car. (updated Jun 2018)

From within the UK

🌍 Folkestone Central station is in the town centre and is served by trains from London, and other towns in Kent. Fare and timetable information is available from Southeastern, tel. [phone].

Get around

By bus

Stagecoach is the bus company that operates in Folkestone. Timetables and fares are available from Stagecoach Buy your ticket from the driver when you board the bus. A £9.50 Mega rider plus ticket gives you unlimited travel within the Folkestone area for a week

By taxi

• Folkestone taxi, ☎ [phone]. 

See

• The Channel Tunnel Entrance. Observe from the hills to the northwest of Folkestone - the shuttle trains loading cars and lorries before their undersea trip to France. The Channel Tunnel is described as one of the "Seven Wonders of the Modern World". 
• 🌍 Battle of Britain Memorial. A very touching memorial dedicated to the men who fought and died in Britain's most desperate hour. Vintage airplanes are also on display. (updated Jan 2018)

Do

• Lower Leas Coastal Park. Open all year round, this is a wonderful seaside park containing an amphitheatre that provides free entertainment (mostly music and theatre) all throughout each summertime. Arrive early if you want to find a good seat! There is a large children's adventure play area along the seafront, suitable for most ages. The beaches throughout Kent, including Folkestone and Shepway have won awards for cleanliness and adhere strictly to European water quality standards 
• Ride the Cliff Lift. Victorian engineered water-powered carriage ride, open weekends for transport between The Leas promenade and the stony beach/Lower Leas Coastal Park. (This lift is always under threat of closure, and so I would check before planning to use it). 
• Sports Facilities. There is a large swimming pool (with a flume) at the sports centre behind Radnor park, where there is also one of Kent's only dry ski-slopes. 
• A recommended itinerary: there's nothing better than on a warm sunny weekend day in summer than to spend a morning browsing shops in the town centre, take a walk down the Old High Street into the artist's quarter, spill out into the harbour - get some locally caught fish and chips or some wonderful locally-caught seafood from the harbour stalls and then walk to the right, around the shore to the coastal park, stop by and listen to great live music in the amphitheatre, walk up the Zig-Zag path or take the Victorian lift up to the relaxing Leas promenade for some fantastic panoramic views of the coastline, pop into the Grand or Metropole for a refreshing drink in sophisticated surroundings and look at some artwork. In the evening, visit any of the restaurants in the town or nearby Sandgate and catch a show at the Leas Cliff Hall or in the more intimate Silver Screen Cinema in the town centre (next to Waterstone's bookshop).

Buy

Eat

There are a number of cafes in Folkestone, particularly at the top of the Old High Street.

• 🌍 Rocksalt restaurant, 4-5 Fish Market (on the harbour), ☎ [phone]. An excellent place for seafood. Its prices are fair, and the service superb. There is a terrific view of the sea from every table, and there's a balcony. 
• 🌍 Django's Cafe Bar, 17 Rendezvous St, ☎ [phone]. It sells a wide range of food, and is great for sitting outside in the summer. 
• 🌍 Oriental Buffet, 18-20 Rendezvous St, ☎ [phone]. All-you-can-eat Chinese food. 
• 🌍 Kalala, 2 Castle Hill Ave, ☎ [phone]. All-you-can-eat Chinese food. 
• 🌍 Papas Fish Restaurant and Takeaway, 110 Sandgate Rd, ☎ [phone]. Excellent fish and chips. Friendly service. (updated May 2016)

Country pubs nearby:

• 🌍 The Gatekeeper Inn, Canterbury Road, Etchinghill (Either jnc 11 or jnc 12 on the M20), ☎ [phone]. Open seven days a week for lunches and evening meals. A 16th-century coaching inn, village pub and highly popular restaurant. Terrific food, real ales, oak beams & cosy atmosphere. Piped music questionable. (updated Apr 2016)

Drink

One of the most popular drinking establishments in the town is the former Baptist Galleries building, and before that a Baptist church, now a magnificently restored Wetherspoon pub, complete, some say, with its own resident ghost! Bar vasa along the sea front between sandgate and seabrook is a superb trendy bar to have a drink at with friends and family and you have the fantastic view of the sea across the road. This trendy bar has out side seating for the summer weather or a cosy warm seat inside on a cold winters day.

Sleep

• 🌍 Holiday Inn Express Folkestone - Channel Tunnel, Cheriton High St, ☎ [phone]. On its own on edge of business park but good convenient stop over for channel tunnel and Dover ferries. (updated Apr 2016)
• 🌍 The Grand Burstin Hotel, Marine Parade, ☎ [phone]. Built next to the harbour, this hotel has declined somewhat since it was built in the heydays of 1970s. Renovations have however shaped up the hotel to be a good mid-range option. (updated Apr 2017)

Go next

Folkestone has easy access to a number of areas:

• Canterbury – the famous cathedral housing Beckett's remains, a museum celebrating Chaucer's Canterbury tales, a number of Roman things, as well as some decent shops and cafes
• Dover – the remains of a Roman villa, and the white cliffs experience museum
• Hythe – small town with canal and access to Port Lympe zoo and a petting farm
• France – zip across the channel to Calais

Routes through Folkestone

END ←	UK  France	→ Calais
London ← Hythe ←	W  E	→ merges with → Dover
Hastings ← Rye ←	W  E	→ merges with and