Truly unique & intriguing attraction! The grotto is smaller than you might expect but the vast majority of people will still be utterly mesmerised by the mystery surrounding its origins & workmanship, you can easily spend a fascinating hour in both the museum room & the grotto itself & it is certainly worth the money. Staff were welcoming & lovely as-well :) Parking could be an issue as the grotto is located in a residential area (not much anyone can do about that) however we visited on a weekday & were able to park for free almost right outside. Perhaps take a taxi/bus on a weekend, i believe it would be worth the trip :)

having read the reviews thought we should go, its quite fascinating. Down some steps into a tunnel made of natural stone and then in the Grotto which is an incredible piece of work. Fortunately it wasn’t too busy when we went, the passages are narrow and theres not a lot of room. You need some space for a photo opportunity. As many have mentioned an excellent gift shop with plenty of choice.

Very unusual place. Well informed information still leaving questions about origin. Does not take long and could feel a bit claustrophobic so try to go when not crowded. Very good shop selling - shells of all shape size and colour

I’ve been wanting to visit the Shell Grotto for a long time and was not disappointed when I finally got here. As a shell collector it is amazing to think how long it must have took to make this grotto and the reasons behind it. All but 2 shells are from the British Isles . I loved all the information about this place and really need to come here more often to absorb all of this fascinating grotto. There is a gift shop, toilet and knowledgable staff to answer your questions. You can become a member which is so important to keep this place open in my opinion. Check opening times to avoid disappointment. Thank you , this was amazing.

Quirky attraction with rarity value, so worth seeing just for that reason. Reasonably priced. We visited in April at a time when there were no other visitors therefore we could take our time looking at all the different panels of shell illustrations. If the attraction was busy then it would be an entirely different matter.

We spent a long weekend in Margate and this turned out to be the highlight. Very interesting underground rooms, well signed with informative panels. I find it amazing that they still do not know exactly who build this place and why.. but some nice speculation on the info panels.

This is such a quirky place! We were lucky that we were alone in the grotto for almost all of our visit. It gave us time to look more closely and appreciate the effort that has gone into creating such intricate designs. I found it fascinating and I am glad that we went. I have never seen anything else like it.

It's fascinating, given nothing is known about who created it, when or why. And so much work must have gone into it, it's incredible. But visually the shells are less beautiful then I expected. I thought they would be more colourful. Consequently we only took around 5 minutes to look around. But it doesn't take away from the fascination of the place, and the giftshop is lovely. Definitely good value too.

I visited the Shell grotto in Margate with my girlfriend last weekend and I was pleasantly surprised by this site. One of the most mysterious sites that we've ever visited, the grotto consists of multiple subterranean passages whose walls are covered in numerous kinds of shells. The shell was discovered in the mid-19th century, but no one knows exactly when it was created. Some believe that it was created as a folly for an aristocrat's mansion, others think it could be Roman in origin, yet others stipulate that it was built by the Phoenicians. Regardless, the grotto is a fascinating site and the shells in it form multiple interesting figures, including a well-known Indian god. Set aside at least 30-40 minutes to explore this heritage site and the excellent shop as it's fairly busy and you may have to wait 5-10 minutes to enter. Don't forget to collect the information sheet at the entrance as you may struggle to identify the most interesting shell figures without it. An added bonus is that the ticket price is actually reasonable.

Really lovely hidden gem! The place was so cool! There were people in our party with additional needs including sensory sensitivities- the website has amazing visuals to help understand what to expect when arriving at the grotto outside all the way to the grotto itself. There is also a sensory map which points out the parts of the setting that those with sensory differences may find difficult. This helped so so much. The accessibility statement on the website too goes into great detail about how accessible each part of the setting is and how they can help if you need it, absolutely fantastic. The staff In the reception area were incredibly helpful and we explained that one of our girls may not want to go in at all and they said we could do a swap of parents if need be or if it is too much for her and we'd prefer a refund to come to them and they'll sort it ASAP. The lady also disclosed that she is autistic too which made my daughter feel more relaxed and understood immediately. Really big thank you to all, you all made it an enjoyable and relaxing experience. We all got to see all of the grotto which we thought was beautiful and definitely reccomend to all.