Why Deal keeps turning up on 'best seaside town' lists

For a town that has never tried very hard to be a resort, Deal has had a lot of attention lately.

When The Times put together its 2025 guide to the best seaside towns to move to, it chose Deal as the most appealing place on the whole Kent coast. The paper singled out a high street that manages to be both upmarket and down to earth, and a close-knit community that has held its own against the growing number of weekenders from London.

Time Out included Deal in its round-up of the 20 best day trips from London for 2025, picking it out in particular for its food and drink. And in the consumer group Which?'s 2025 survey of UK seaside towns, based on visitor ratings, Deal came third of the Kent towns listed, praised for having become a destination for food lovers.

The attention hasn't let up in 2026. Coast magazine put Deal first in its list of five coastal areas to watch this year, noting that the town tends to be overlooked in favour of trendier neighbours such as Margate and Whitstable, yet keeps appearing among the best places to live in the UK thanks to its conservation areas and independent shops.

What the lists get right

The things these write-ups keep coming back to are the things locals love too. The High Street is packed with independents: butchers, fishmongers, bakeries, bookshops, galleries, delis and cafés, with the Saturday market filling the north end each week. The seafront has a small, old-fashioned amusement arcade on Beach Street, but it isn't a resort strip of them. There's also a long shingle beach with fishing boats pulled up on it, and a 1950s pier with a café at the end.

Then there's the history, which is everywhere you look: two of Henry VIII's castles within a short walk of each other, the Georgian lanes of Middle Street, and the Timeball Tower, where a ball still drops at 1pm every day, as it once did for ships offshore checking their clocks.

What a list can't tell you

A newspaper list can tell you a town is lovely. It can't really tell you what it feels like to wake up there. The best of Deal happens at the edges of the day: the sun coming up out of the sea, the town quiet except for the gulls, and the evening light on the painted houses as you wander back from dinner. That's why we think Deal is best enjoyed with at least one night's stay.