Whitstable is a British coastal gem, and not at all what I was expecting. If you live in the south-east, I’m sure you’ll know Whitstable well, but if you live at ‘the other end of the country’ it might not be on your radar. We decided to visit after it came up in conversation a couple of times as one of the best places to eat oysters, and we were bowled over by what we found.
This is our guide to Whitstable oysters, where to try them and our favourite things to do in Whitstable on a weekend, built around the Whitstable Shore Circular walk, an easy, flat loop that makes a perfect introduction to the town. If you’d like to stretch your legs further, our walks from Whitstable cover the Crab and Winkle Way, the Oyster Bay Trail and the Reculver Towers.
Whitstable is a colourful, arty seaside town in Kent, famous for its oysters. Walk the flat Shore Circular from Harbour Street past the beach huts, the Old Neptune and the harbour, and eat oysters along the way.
Whitstable is in Kent (‘the Garden of England’) in the south-east of England. It’s on the coast, just a few miles north of the city of Canterbury.
As it’s around a five-hour drive from our home in North Yorkshire, we booked a long weekend, driving down after rush hour on a Friday and back after rush hour on a Monday. As we were travelling with our dog, Linus, we needed several comfort breaks along the way. Peterborough Services on the A1 has quite a large patch of grass for exercising dogs, which is useful to know.
If you use the Dartford Crossing (tunnel or bridge) on the way, check how to pay the crossing charge on the GOV.UK Dart Charge page, and pay as soon as you reach your destination so you don’t forget.
Whitstable (‘the pearl of Kent’) is famous for its oysters, grown in the shallow intertidal waters of Whitstable Bay. The town sits near the mouth of The Swale, a tidal channel where fresh water mixes with the nutrient-rich salt water of the Thames Estuary. The shallow water warms up easily in the sun, which makes it an ideal place for oysters to grow, and Whitstable oysters are prized for their provenance and quality.
Oysters have been enjoyed in Whitstable since Roman times. The Romans loved the town’s oysters and are said to have sent them home as a delicacy.
Oyster fishing here goes back centuries, and the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company (WOFC) was formed by an Act of Parliament in 1793. At its peak in the mid 19th century, when oysters were seen as ‘the food of the poor’ because they were cheap and nutritious, the WOFC was sending as many as 80 million oysters a year to Billingsgate fish market. The company harvested the famous, and relatively rare, Whitstable native oyster.
Sadly, it wasn’t all plain sailing after that. Severe winters, overfishing, pollution and disease from imported stock all hit the oyster trade, which fell into decline, and by the 1970s the WOFC was reportedly down to its last employee. Then new owners bought what was left and began the long job of restoring the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company.
Today, as well as harvesting native oysters, the company grows millions of Pacific rock oysters in mesh bags on trestles in the intertidal zone. Rock oysters are available all year round, while the natives are traditionally only harvested ‘when there’s an R in the month’.
You can book a guided tour of the Whitstable oyster farm to learn how oysters go from seed to plate. We didn’t do one this time, but it’s on our list for next time, so check the Whitstable Oyster Company website for details.
The festival is held in summer, so check the dates on the official festival website and book your accommodation early if your visit coincides.
The options for eating oysters in Whitstable seem endless, but wherever you try them they should be super fresh. Even if you’re suspicious of oysters, Whitstable is as good a place as any to try them and experience the ‘taste of the sea’. I thought I’d eaten the best oysters in Ston, Croatia, until I sampled Whitstable oysters.
Whitstable seems to have a very healthy high street. Harbour Street runs parallel to the town’s pebble beach and promenade, and when we visited all the shops were occupied, with very few ‘To Let’ signs. You’ll find a mix of the following.
Greengrocers (at least two on the strip), butchers, a sewing machine shop, a knife sharpening service and every kind of service for your boat, should you need one.
Independent shops, gift shops, fashion boutiques, art galleries, craft shops, cafés, cosy restaurants, retro wine bars (at least two), fish and chip shops and proper pubs (lots of them).
I found Whitstable very colourful, even under the grey October skies of our visit. It’s full of multicoloured houses, shops and beach huts, quirky signs and wall murals. I’ve never seen so much leopard print being sold in the shops or worn by women and men around town! Whitstable has an arty vibe, and maybe that’s one of the reasons it has attracted famous residents over the years. Keep your eyes peeled, as you never know who you might see.
We found a good walk on the AllTrails app called the Whitstable Shore Circular. It gave us an excellent introduction to the town, with the bonus of being easy going and flat.
We followed the route on our own, but if you’d prefer a local to show you round and fill in the history, there’s a guided walking tour of Whitstable’s town and shore that covers much of the same ground. It’s one we’d consider next time.
The walk officially sets off from the top of Tankerton Slopes, the clifftop lawns on the east side of town, but we started on Harbour Street as it was closer to our Airbnb. As it’s a circular walk, it doesn’t matter where you start. There’s a pay and display car park on Victoria Street if you need one.
Walking along Harbour Street lets you check out the lovely mix of independent shops and places to eat. Make a note of where you’d like to come back to later, as you won’t want to carry shopping bags on your walk. Also look out for these.
The alleys: Small lanes and alleyways criss-cross Harbour Street, such as Squeeze Gut Alley and Skinners Alley.
Whitstable Museum and Gallery: This small museum has a good exhibition about Whitstable's oysters and fishing industry.
The Peter Cushing: Pop into the atrium of this wonderful Art Deco Wetherspoons, named after the 'Dracula' actor who lived in town, to see photos and memorabilia from his films. It still has some fantastic Art Deco decoration and lighting.
From Harbour Street, the route heads right along a residential lane, through some trees and over the railway line, which runs parallel to the beach with a row of beach huts in between. We’d once seen the back of these beach huts from the British Pullman, on a Murder Mystery lunch journey from London Victoria. The train took a circular route around Kent and back while we tried to work out whodunnit over lunch.
You then come out onto West Beach and see the lovely row of beach huts from the front. Their verandas were chained up in front of the huts as flood defences, as they’d been shut up for the autumn and winter.
Now you can walk along the pebble beach back towards the town centre, breathing in the sea air and spotting things on the horizon, such as these.
Isle of Sheppey: On the Kent side of the Thames Estuary.
Essex coast: In the distance behind Sheppey, if the light's right.
Maunsell Forts: Sea forts on stilts out in the water, built during the Second World War to protect the area from German attack, and later used by pirate radio stations in the 1960s.
Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm: Rows of turbines out at sea. On land, look out for the windmills around town too. We managed to spot a couple on our visit.
Oyster beds: There are lots of them.
As you carry on walking east, look out for the blue plaque on one of the sea-facing houses, marking where Peter Cushing lived when he was a Whitstable resident.
Shortly after the blue plaque you’ll reach The Old Neptune, known locally as ‘the Neppy’. It’s a large pub right on the beach with a big outdoor seating area, which makes it a good lunch option if you have a dog with you. When you visit Whitstable you really should try the oysters, and we enjoyed the first oysters of our trip at the Neppy, served simply with slices of lemon. They were delicious.
After recharging your batteries at the Neppy, carry on along the shoreline to a cluster of oyster-related buildings. There’s the Oyster Brewing Company (their stout is delicious with a plate of oysters), The Whitstable Oyster (a smarter restaurant linked to the WOFC, and the place to try native oysters), Pearson’s Arms (which takes dogs in the bar area) and the Lazy Lobster.
In front of The Whitstable Oyster there’s an oyster shell recycling spot, where shells are returned to the sea. In fact, something that amazed me along the whole walk was just how many oyster shells there were on the beach among the pebbles.
On the other side of The Whitstable Oyster you’ll come across the Whitstable fishermen’s huts. These old stores have been renovated as part of the Hotel Continental and make a special place to stay in the town.
Between here and the harbour there are a couple more places to eat (if you’ve resisted oysters so far), including The Forge and Keith’s Coffee Hut. Both are next to the dinghy club, so if you’re lucky there’ll be people sailing on the sea in front of you.
Carry on along the Shore Circular and you’ll reach the Sea Scrub Sauna on the edge of Whitstable Harbour, a wood-fired sauna with uninterrupted sea views. That one’s for another time!
As well as the RNLI lifeboat station, Whitstable Harbour is surrounded by wooden huts and businesses, including West Whelks Oysters and The Oyster Shed, where staff were shucking and selling oysters by the thousand. If you don’t like oysters, there are plenty of other food options in the Harbour Market, along with artisan crafts and gifts.
We didn’t have time on this trip, but a boat trip from Whitstable Harbour is on our list for next time. You can take a trip out to the Maunsell Forts, or go to see the seals on The Swale, a sheltered stretch of water not far from the harbour.
We read that the seals there have patches of copper and brown fur from the iron oxide (rust) in the sand, and that you can even take a trip on a vintage lifeboat called The Chieftain. Trips depend on the tides and the weather, so check the operators’ websites before you go.
From the harbour, the walk rejoins the beach past yet another row of beach huts. Before you reach Tankerton Slopes there are public toilets on the promenade, just before the triple rows of beach huts. Take the grassy slopes up to the top of Tankerton and collect your car if you parked there.
If you didn’t park there, head back towards town, making sure to pass Whitstable Castle before rejoining the High Street.
You could walk the whole loop in around an hour and a half, but it took us three to four hours, as we took our time browsing in the shops and at the Harbour Market stalls, stopped for lunch at the Neppy and finished with more oysters and a pint of stout at The Forge as a reward.
The walk gave us a good overview of the town and what was on offer for the rest of our weekend. We made a note of restaurants and pubs that looked good for later, such as the Royal Naval Reserve for a dog-friendly Sunday lunch. Thank you AllTrails, it was a perfect introduction to Whitstable!
In closing
Why wasn't Whitstable what I was expecting? My picture of most British seaside towns includes amusement arcades, candy floss and 'Kiss Me Quick' hats. Whitstable had none of these. It wasn't a tacky seaside resort in any way, but a colourful, friendly community by the sea, with some of the best oysters I've ever eaten.
We visited in the middle of October, well outside the high season, and there were still plenty of families making the most of the dry weather, walking the shoreline in chunky jumpers and scarves. For a first visit, walk the Shore Circular, eat oysters at the Neppy and the harbour, then head further afield with our walks from Whitstable.
I imagine it feels very different in high summer, but I'd be happy to find out!
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