Broadstairs, United Kingdom Hotels, Vacations, Tourism

Said to have been established on the profits of smuggling, BROADSTAIRS is the smallest, quietest and most pleasant of Thanet's three resort towns, overlooking the pretty Viking Bay from its cliff-top setting. The town's main claim to fame, though, is as Dickens' holiday retreat: throughout his most productive years he stayed in various hostelries here, and eventually rented an austere dwelling overlooking the bay from Fort Road, since renamed Bleak House (July & Aug daily 10am–7.30pm; Sept–Dec & mid-Feb to June daily 10am–6pm; £3) and opened to the public. It was … more »