Explore: Dreamland, Margate

The Kentish seaside town has been famous for it's family holiday retreat for over a hundred years and Dreamland has been a centre of amusements ever since the 1880's.


Officially named Dreamland in 1920 the site featured many iconic rides for all to enjoy and launched the Scenic Railway, a wooden rollercoaster with an operator on the ride driving the train and controlling the brakes.

However over the years Dreamland went in to turmoil and the park closed in 2003. It was later re-owned, re-developed and re-launched in 2017, opening with new rides and attractions but still featured the iconic Scenic Railway.

At the beginning of September I went to Margate and it brought back so much nostalgia from when I visited the place as a child. There is plenty of parking at Dreamland and further along the seafront in Margate where you can take a short walk and enjoy the views.

Dreamland is free to enter and houses amusements games where you can win tickets, a roller disco, various food joints from local businesses, a big stage where they host live acts, film screenings, and of course rides to enjoy.




















There is plenty of food options at Dreamland, from your typical theme park attraction foods through to local companies setting up stalls and selling different types of food and drink and most of them cater to all. I had a crepe from a stall when I was there and it was so yummy; filled with Nutella and chopped bananas I thoroughly enjoyed eating it. There are plenty of places to sit in the park but my favourite was sitting just underneath the giant Dreamland letters (see top photo); you get a great view of the park and can people watch.

To go on the rides you will have to purchase a ticket that allows you to ride them. Tickets can be purchased at the main building before you enter the park and I'd honestly recommend this to make your experience even better. After walking around the park and seeing all of the rides I ended up buying tickets for the Ferris Wheel and of course the Scenic Railway. The Ferris Wheel is perfect on a cloudless day you get a beautiful scenic view from the top and can see for miles.

The Scenic Railway is the most popular attraction, as you can imagine, and the queue can get pretty long depending on the time of day but it is a very good ride. I didn't have to queue for too long, and they ask you to place bags and loose items in a storage box before you enter the coaster. Strapped in safely the driver then takes you on the ride of hills and dips and you go round longer than you imagine you would. It's a very fun ride and a perfect roller coaster for children, not too scary at all. The driver of the roller coaster loved to encourage the riders to woop and put your hands in the air as we went down hill and they made it a lot of laughs.

Also when I visited they had different events going on throughout the park. Round the back of the park they had a BMX experience going on, where two young lads where performing stunts and tricks on their bikes off the top of a van and over a ramp etc. It was very impressive to watch and their crew was filming them too. Their stunts were very fun but also nerving to watch, one of the riders flipped his bike upside down and he bounced off a yoga ball. It certainly got a huge round of applause by those watching.






























Dreamland is a great day out for all ages and there is plenty to do in the park and around the sea front of Margate. Why not check out the Turner Contemporary Gallery or some of the local bars and restaurants, look out for live acts performing on the roof at the harbour pier!

This is a town that I love to come back to again and again and I hope you enjoy your visit if you go.

What's your favourite thing about Dreamland and Margate?

Enjoy x