Folkestone is 55 minutes from St Pancras on the direct high-speed train, an Off-Peak return was £43.10 in November 2026, and it is honestly worth a full day: a restored railway pier you can walk to the end of, more than ninety pieces of free outdoor contemporary art, and a clifftop promenade. The one thing you cannot do is ride the Victorian cliff lift, which has been closed since 2017 and is being restored.
Folkestone is a harbour town on the Kent coast, between Dover and Hythe. For a century and a half it was a port for ferries to Boulogne, and the railway ran right onto the harbour wall. The ferries have gone, but the harbour railway has been turned into a promenade, and since 2008 a series of art festivals called the Folkestone Triennial has left permanent works all over the town.
For other coastal trips, see the seaside in a day from London. Folkestone sits on the same high-speed line as Dover and the White Cliffs and Deal and Walmer, which makes it easy to combine with either.
Folkestone at a glance (checked November 2026)
- Train
- St Pancras to Folkestone Central, direct high-speed trains at 07 minutes past the hour, 55 minutes
- Return fare
- Off-Peak return including high speed £43.10 (Wednesday 18 November 2026). Advance singles from about £16. Slower trains from Charing Cross take about 1 hour 39 minutes; their Off-Peak return, not valid on high speed, was £34.60
- Last direct train back
- 22:58 on Wednesday 18 November; 21:58 on Sunday 22 November 2026
- Harbour Arm
- Open for walking every day, dawn to dusk; most food kiosks close for the winter
- Folkestone Artworks
- 92 works by 53 artists, outdoors, free, open at all hours
- Leas Lift
- Closed since 2017. The charity restoring it says it is working towards reopening in spring 2027
Getting there: high speed from St Pancras or the slow way
The fast way is the Southeastern high-speed train from St Pancras International, which leaves from the upper level at seven minutes past each hour and reaches Folkestone Central in 55 minutes. The same timings applied on the weekday and the Sunday we checked. Some trains in between need a change at Ashford and take about an hour and five minutes.
The classic line from Charing Cross takes about 1 hour 39 minutes and is cheaper: an Off-Peak return that is not valid on high-speed trains was £34.60, against £43.10 for one that is. Read the route on the ticket before you board, because the cheaper one is not valid on the faster train. Our guides to UK train tickets and the St Pancras concourse explain both.
Use Folkestone Central, not Folkestone West. From Central it is roughly a 20-minute walk downhill through the town centre to the harbour, our estimate. Coming back is the same distance uphill, which is where the cliff lift used to help.
The Harbour Arm: a railway pier you can walk
The Harbour Arm is the long stone pier on the east side of the harbour. Trains once ran along it to meet the Boulogne steamers, and in the First World War it was a departure point for soldiers bound for the Western Front. The operator says it opened to the public as a promenade in 2014, with more areas added since: the Goods Yard in 2020, Beachside in 2021 and Harbourside in 2023.
The approach is across the harbour on the railway viaduct, built in 1843 for the South Eastern Railway to a design by William Cubitt and listed at Grade II together with its 1930 swing bridge (Historic England list entry 1404114). You then walk through the restored platforms of the old harbour station and out along the arm to the lighthouse at the end.
The lighthouse is part of an extension of the pier built between 1897 and 1904, and is listed at Grade II in its own right (list entry 1392377). Historic England's description points out the granite steps beside it and an inscription recording the dates and engineers. On a clear day you can see the coast of France from the end of the arm.
The Harbour Arm in winter is a walk, not a food market. In November 2026 the operator said the street food kiosks on the arm were closed for the winter, with food only at the Goods Yard at weekends and Harbourside Square from Friday to Sunday. The arm itself stays open for walking every day from dawn to dusk.
Folkestone Artworks: what is there and how to find it
Folkestone Artworks is the permanent outdoor collection left behind by the Triennials since 2008. Creative Folkestone, which looks after it, describes it as the UK's largest urban contemporary art exhibition and lists 92 works by 53 artists, free and open 24 hours a day. A few works are reachable only when a building is open or the tide is out.
Four are worth seeking out first.
- Antony Gormley, Another Time XVIII. A solid cast-iron standing figure in the half-tide loading bay of the Harbour Arm. Creative Folkestone says the figures in this series stand in the ebb and flow of the tide and are at times partly under water. It is the only Gormley left in Folkestone from the 2017 Triennial.
- Tracey Emin, Baby Things (2008). Small bronze casts of baby clothes, left under benches, on railings and by kerbs in several places around the town. They are easy to walk past, which is the point. One on Sandgate Road has been removed for town-centre works.
- Cornelia Parker, Folkestone Mermaid (2011). A life-size cast of a local woman sitting on a rock at the end of the Stade, overlooking Sunny Sands beach, Folkestone's answer to the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen.
- Mark Wallinger, Folk Stones. Stones collected locally and set in concrete on the Leas, next to the town's war memorials.
Creative Folkestone publishes maps and routes and runs a visitor centre in the town. Without a map, many of the smaller works are nearly impossible to find. If you want to see the Gormley standing clear of the water, check a tide table for Folkestone before you go and aim for low tide.
The Leas, and the lift that is shut
The Leas is the long clifftop promenade west of the town centre, with lawns, a bandstand and wide views over the Channel. Below it, the Lower Leas Coastal Park runs along the foot of the cliff to the beach.
The Leas Lift is a water-balanced funicular railway built in 1885 that carried people between the seafront and the Leas. It is listed at Grade II* (list entry 1061185), which covers the waiting rooms, pump room, track, cars and machinery. Its charity says it has been closed since 2017 and is being restored with a £4.8 million National Lottery Heritage Fund award. Its latest news, read in November 2026, says it is working towards reopening to the public in spring 2027, and that once restored it will be one of only three water-balanced lifts left in the country.
Do not plan your day around the Leas Lift. It is not running in November 2026, and a target for reopening is not an opening date. Check the Leas Lift charity's news before you travel, and plan to use the Zig Zag Path instead.
The Zig Zag Path between the beach and the Leas
The Zig Zag Path is the alternative to the lift, and an attraction in its own right. Historic England lists it at Grade II under the name Pulhamite Caves (list entry 1389102). It was built in 1921 as an easy ornamental walk, without steps or steep slopes, between the Upper and Lower Leas, and one of its purposes was to provide work after the First World War.
The path is made of Pulhamite, an artificial stone, and climbs a face about 50 metres high in switchbacks. On the way up are seating bays, a rock arch about eight feet high, a grotto of three linked caves and a much larger cave with two openings. Because it was designed without steps or steep slopes, it is the practical route up for a pushchair, though it is a long way round.
A day in Folkestone, in order
- Arrive at Folkestone Central on a mid-morning train and walk down through the town to the harbour, looking for the first of Emin's bronzes on the way.
- Cross the viaduct and walk the Harbour Arm to the lighthouse. Look down into the loading bay for the Gormley figure.
- Walk back to the Stade and the fishing harbour, find the Mermaid at the end of the Stade, and eat near the harbour.
- Follow the seafront west along the Lower Leas Coastal Park, then climb the Zig Zag Path to the Leas.
- Walk the Leas eastwards past Wallinger's Folk Stones and the memorials, and return to Central station through the town.
That is five or six hours at an easy pace, with lunch. In summer it fills a day; in winter, with short light, it fits comfortably into a day with time for the Old High Street, or for a short hop along the line to Dover.
Folkestone with children, and in bad weather
Children usually like the Harbour Arm, the beach at Sunny Sands below the Mermaid, and hunting for Emin's baby clothes, which works as a treasure hunt with the Creative Folkestone map. The Zig Zag Path's caves are the other success. Younger children may tire on the hill back up to the station.
In heavy rain or a strong wind, Folkestone has less to offer than a town with a big indoor attraction. The Harbour Arm is fully exposed and the art is all outside. On a wet day, Canterbury or the castle at Dover would be the better choice. For the railway part of the trip, see railcards for visitors before you book: a Two Together card takes a third off the fare for two adults.
Is Folkestone worth it in a day?
Yes. It is one of the easiest seaside day trips from London, with a fast direct train and almost everything in walking distance. It is better than Margate for walking and outdoor art and worse for an indoor gallery: Margate has Turner Contemporary, Folkestone has no equivalent.
Plan the evening first. The last direct train back on the Sunday we checked was at 21:58, an hour earlier than on the weekday. Our page on getting the last train back explains why that matters if you hold an Advance ticket. If you want a longer stay on this coast, the miniature railway to Dungeness starts at Hythe, just west of Folkestone.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the train from London to Folkestone?
The direct high-speed train from St Pancras to Folkestone Central takes 55 minutes and runs once an hour at seven minutes past. Trains from Charing Cross on the classic line take about 1 hour 39 minutes and are cheaper, but their tickets are not valid on the high-speed service.
Is the Leas Lift in Folkestone open?
No. The Leas Lift has been closed since 2017 and is being restored by a charity, which said in November 2026 that it is working towards reopening in spring 2027. Use the Zig Zag Path, a step-free switchback path from 1921, to get between the beach and the Leas.
Where is the Antony Gormley statue in Folkestone?
It stands in the half-tide loading bay of the Harbour Arm and is called Another Time XVIII. Because it is in the tidal area, it is partly under water at times. Go at low tide to see the whole figure, and look down from the arm rather than trying to reach it.
Is Folkestone Artworks free?
Yes. All the works are outdoors in public places and free to see at any hour. Creative Folkestone, which cares for the collection, publishes maps and routes, and a small number of works can only be reached when a building is open or the tide allows.
Sources
- Creative Folkestone - About Folkestone Artworks (checked November 2026)
- Creative Folkestone - Antony Gormley, Another Time XVIII (checked November 2026)
- Leas Lift - Back on track as Leas Lift carriages return home (checked November 2026)
- Historic England - The Leas Lift, list entry 1061185 (checked November 2026)
- Historic England - Pulhamite Caves (the Zig Zag Path), list entry 1389102 (checked November 2026)
- Historic England - Folkestone Harbour Viaduct and Swing Bridge, list entry 1404114; lighthouse, 1392377 (checked November 2026)
- National Rail - Journey planner: St Pancras and Charing Cross to Folkestone Central, 18 and 22 November 2026 (checked November 2026)