Come and Explore Broadstairs

"You cannot think how delightful and fresh the place is and how good the walks," Charles Dickens declared, and his favourite seaside holiday resort continues to charm.

Share the novelist's love affair with Broadstairs in the Dickens House Museum once home to Miss Mary Pearson Strong, aka Miss Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield. 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth, so look out for events taking place around the town to celebrate. Then saunter winding streets that tweak curiosity with their come-hither lanes, smugglers' and fishermen's cottages, flint dwellings, guesthouses and unusual shops.

Restaurants, cafés and bars, serving Italian, Mediterranean and Chinese cuisine, add a generous sprinkle of global temptations around town - and two irresistible ice cream parlours magic up the perfect treats. Afterwards, maybe it's time to settle down for an afternoon concert at the bandstand!

Or stretch your legs again with a refreshing clifftop stroll to seven beautiful beaches and bays, a lucky dip into seven different seaside worlds. There's Joss Bay for surfing thrills and Botany Bay for leisurely-lazy, rural peace. The main beach, Viking Bay with children's rides and little harbour is one long, sandy smile of family fun.

Come for June's colourful Dickens Festival, summer fireworks displays, August's lively Folk Week and October's scrumptious Food Festival. Always delightful, always something fresh.