Things to do in Herne Bay

Top Things to Do in Herne Bay

Things to Do in Herne Bay

Tours near Herne Bay

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Top Attractions in Herne Bay

These rankings are informed by traveller reviews—we consider the quality, quantity, recency, consistency of reviews, and the number of page views over time.
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What travellers are saying

  • Nathalie H
    96 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    I'll start with negatives, the map shows areas you can walk to but were blocked (map need updating). Two of the talks didn't happen ravens & bisons, wildcats were more of a Q&A. The one way route is helpful is some ways but not when you want to get to a keeper talk if your on the other side of the park and the cafe could do with more menu items. The Postives: good collections of animals, big enclousers espcially for wolves, otter, artic foxes etc. This would have been a three star review but the reason it's four stars is that Boki the bear made my day, he's runs to guests (he was hand reared) always happy to see humans and will put a smile on your face when you meet him.
    Written 12 January 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • 3FoxesTravel
    Canterbury, UK4 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great place for a picnic and run around. Lovely coastal walks and good place to ride bikes with kids.
    Written 16 June 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • chris g
    London, UK426 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Having been to Canterbury a short visit to Herne bay approx 10 miles then back to London
    On our arrival plenty of parking clean surroundings and on the pier lots of attractions for kids and plenty of coffee shops and eateries
    Pleasant gardens along the promenade front and pebble beach with safe swimming
    Nice place to visit
    Written 29 August 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Sandra E
    Kent, UK52 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great little museum, friendly volunteers, lots to see with changing exhibitions upstairs. Will definitely visit again
    Written 2 February 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Peter S
    Rome, Italy3 953 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Review of Herne Bay Beach and Promenade

    We had a couple of nights in Herne Bay with the day in between spent in Sandwich. In the evenings we explored Herne Bay – a first time for us in this small seaside town. We had images of William Turner’s dark marine paintings in mind when you first consider seaboard Kent, but the town barely existed in Turner’s time and his local paintings were mainly further east and closer to the North Sea (and elsewhere).
    The association of the artist and the Thames Estuary remained, however, but probably before the first of the steamboats from London began carrying holidaymakers to the pier in Herne Bay. By then Turner had become something of a recluse. What would he have made, 170 years later, of the turbines in the windfarm 8km offshore? Probably sketched them and then painted them in his studio – dark, violent marine backgrounds, of course.
    Our first evening we’d parked the car at the eastern end of Central Parade in front of the long line of tall and well-preserved period houses set back from the beach - gorgeous images of a classic 19th C. seaside town. The houses are up the slope from the road and over-look the long shingle beach that stretches 3km through the centre of town. A new concrete wall runs between the road and the beach and, as we saw later with the gates set into the wall, part of local sea defence/flood control measures.
    We hopped the wall and walked the wide pavement above the beach into town. It was cool and there was only the occasional dog-walker on the beach. The distant sea looked distinctly uninviting at that time of the evening. The tide was out. You couldn’t see distant Essex and, at the time, neither did we see the windfarm. Contemporary reporting suggests that it will eventually supply electricity to 282,000 local homes when the proposed extension is completed.
    What we could see as we headed into town was an offshore island of steel trellis work, platform and a small central building that was obviously once part of a pier. This is the seaward remains of the second pier – constructed of wrought iron in the 1890s - that replaced the original 1830s wooden pier. A severe storm in 1978 took out more than half the length of the Victorian Pier, thereby isolating the docking port from the remaining landward section.
    Like much of seaside Britain, holiday-town Herne Bay reached its peak during the Victorian years – proximity to south/east London, the arrival of steam rail (and the excursion steamboat) and the idea of ‘holidays by the sea’ quickly attracted families. More than two generations later, the descendants of those same urban families discovered the Mediterranean coast and low-cost airfares did the rest. Walk the town of an early evening and that sense of history is all around you in the original Victorian architecture that remains.
    Recent investments – renovating, extending, matching old and modern features/architecture – are equally clear in the gardens, bandstand, sea wall and a new harbour for small boats with a long protective seaward jetty. From the end of the jetty the stark remnant of the pier remains out-to-sea. Ask yourself? Would you travel to see a pier? How important is a pier? Realistically, it … is … never … going … to … be … rebuilt. Instead, the town has a new swimming pool and a cinema. Some good choices then.
    Herne Bay has a heritage clock tower too. It’s on the seaward side of Central Parade and opposite a line of eateries typical of English seaside towns everywhere. The tower is spectacular and clearly out-of-place. It stands 23 m high, isolated and with an area of paving on either side. Design clearly reflects a love of Greco-Roman architecture which makes it unique along this part of the seashore – as if it was a left-over from the Roman occupation of Britain 2,000 years ago. The tower is slender and segmented with pillars that dominate. (There’s the foundations of a Roman fort 7 km east of Herne Bay at Reculver - but no pillars remain.) The clock tower reflects an endowment from Londoner Ann Thwaytes and her enthusiasm for the times she spent in the town during the 1830s. She contributed £4,000 towards the tower (equivalent to £132,000 in today’s money). Rich lady.
    For our second evening we parked the car at the western end of the promenade and walked back towards the centre where the landward end of the pier remains … with 150 m of decking? It was locked, and we couldn’t gain access. The evening was cool. Everyone, it seemed, was in the arcades that stretch east-west along the promenade – coloured lights, noise, music, moving images/machines and all kinds of stimuli - what’s not to attract you inside. (Well, all that noise, lights, etc.) Outside, cars were cruising and changing places. What would those Victorian time travellers from the mid-19th C. have made of it?
    Two swallows … ‘a summer doesn’t make’ and its much the same with a handful of hours mooching along the esplanade. But this is a delightful place to be of an evening. We enjoyed the open museum images, the relative peacefulness of the place (the noisy six/eight-cylinder fraternity excepted) and that juxtaposition of the ancient and modern – a 200-year-old community with modern energy resources off-shore. And we enjoyed a meal in a gorgeous traditional fish&chip restaurant that we found on the first evening too. What’s not to like about the place.

    Peter Steele
    25 September 2023
    Written 26 September 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Karen A
    5 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Though the towers have scaffolding up, the building looks amazing. English Heratidge were on site to answer anyone questions. Fantastic views from the top.
    Written 25 August 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Ann H
    York, UK2 464 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    We visited this sunken garden in March so probably not at its best. The area offers plenty of seating and different species of plants to enjoy whilst taking in the fresh sea air.
    Written 12 March 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Theresa G
    Canterbury, United Kingdom39 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful walk along here. Lots of lovely dogs and excellent views. Great for adults and kids and dogs
    Written 12 January 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • AnnA
    39 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A lovely little theatre - very welcoming and very well run. It was our first visit and we were impressed with the variety of productions on offer, at a very reasonable price.
    Written 11 October 2019
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Edward C
    London, UK15 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Here he would have looked at his "boys" flying in at 60ft at 230mph with a bouncing bomb about to be dropped, spinning backwards, into the sea off Reculver in 1943. A great thinker and doer.
    Written 17 March 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • Lyn F
    Margate, UK10 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Loved this beautifully made bronze statue made honour an exceptional woman. She’s mounted at ground level so you can imagine her as a person and see her expression. Such a tragedy that she was lost so young, ending up in the sea off Herne Bay. She’s easy to find, next to the beach, just to the east of the pier.
    Written 17 February 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
  • lisa
    Whitstable, UK254 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Went with my daughter and grandchildren. Great day out !
    These guys do the most fabulous conservation work,!
    From the bears to the red squirrels 🐿️ and everything else ❤️
    Written 7 October 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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