£2 per person just to walk the pier. £5 something to walk one way and to take the train back. It's…read morethe longest pier in the world, 1.33 miles. It goes out really far. It's not too wide, there's a few seats along the way. There's nothing along the way, you just walk. cafes, stalls and a venue are all at the very end of the pier. I'm more used to piers that gave rides and arcade on the pier itself. But this is really nice too. No fishing going on from this pier. Someone told me you can see seals from the pier, but I didn't see any myself.

For £1 you get to walk 3miles before treating yourself to food. The other option is £3 to take the…read moretrain. I did the walk simply because the sights, sounds, and smells really brought back memories of my childhood. Plus I wasn't in a rush to get anywhere. The Pier is located right in between adventure Island. It's pretty hard to miss considering it's quite massive and usually attracts the eyes of many tourists. I didn't actually see the waking option until the day of. I saw the train from a distance and my curiosity peeked. I wasn't even sure where the train was going but it was on a bridge heading somewhere. It's a beautiful experience and often times it's the locals that's venture out more than tourists. At the end, there's a few restaurants that serve fish and chips, coffee shops, washrooms and a mini museum.

Known as the 5 minute museum to locals, you can spend an amazing ammount of time in here if you…read moretake time to look at the exhibits. Entry is free, and they rotate different exhibits all around the year, and even got some of the Saxon King finds on display when they were discovered. Also featuring a planetarium, (a small fee applies), this museum is a great day out, (or at least an hour), and the small collection of merchandise they stock is reasonably priced. Each exhibit has a information card by them so you can educate and entertain, and the staff will usually have some more information that wasn't placed on the card due to space reasons.

For Southend the building that hosts Southend Museum is the last of its kind in this key avenue…read moretowards the centre of the town. Fortunately listed so hopefully this status will protect it from development if plans afoot to build a new museum on the seafront go ahead. Ok as with most buildings circa 1900 they did not build in disabled access, so where it can be provided it is, but generally the building is large but inaccessible for wheelchairs. The collections have interest for local and visitor alike, Southend's geograpical position means it has been a focus for both World Wars and displays of Zeppelins, or WWII bomb damage is readily available. This museum too has taken on board the need to interact with it's audience so an activity room with plenty of touchy-feely, and try-out is available. Upstairs a planetarium provides views into the solar system. This museum might not have the wow factor, but it does have passionate staff who know their stuff, interesting displays, and the knowledge that the display areas are too small for the huge collection behind the scenes, hence the need for a new site. This review would not be complete without mention of the Saxon King finds recently discovered north of Priory Park, that reside currently in London, but until Southend can provide adequate secure premises for the significant collection then the town will not see them back. For those contmplating a visit to the museum, do so, It is free, provides a handy half an hour stop off on the way to the shops or on the way back, a great respite if the weather is bad, plus you could learn something.

Great opportunity to see inside the house where Charles Dickens spent some time and influenced him…read moreon his stories. Lots of memorobilia about the man with guides that will tell you all there is to know about the man himself.

As an admirer of Charles Dickens, I was eager to visit Broadstairs and, of course, the Dickens…read moreHouse Museum. It is located at the beach promenade with a wonderful view over the water. We paid only three pounds admission fee each to enter this lovingly designed museum and received a flyer with details of the various rooms. At first, a very nice guide gave us a short introduction of approx. 5 min. He told us some interesting details. Photo link: http://konniebritz.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/broadstairs-2009_08_28-01_web.jpg The original of Ms. Betsey Trotwood, David Copperfield's aunt, lived in this house. She defended the green in front of the house, trying to keep it clear of donkeys. In the novel, Ms. Trotwood has the same feature. Photo link: http://konniebritz.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/broadstairs-2009_08_28-17_web.jpg Dickens often stayed in Broadstairs during the summer. He sometimes stayed in the house as a tenant. Into a desk used by him he had inserted a rack for six bottles of white wine incl. cooling. One of the rooms has been furnished as an equivalent of Ms. Trotwood's sitting-room. In other rooms, we found a lot of articles of daily use during the 19th century as well as models of some of Dicken's characters. Somehow the life in the 19th century and Dicken's novels became alive during the visit. The museum has a shop where you can buy Dicken's novels. As books in England are so much cheaper than in Germany and fortunately my English is sufficient to be able to read them, I bought quite a lot of books there. The staff offered me to put a stamp into the books reading Dickens House Broadstairs Kent Of course, I gladly accepted the offer! This nice little museum is a must go for every Dickens-lover. Text und Bilder Konnie-Neukölln Text and pictures by Konnie-Neukölln

This magical underground discovery is full of mystery…read more As you enter through the shop front and descend down the spiral staircase, you are surrounded from floor to ceiling with shells. No one is entirely sure of the origin or purpose for these designs. Interesting family visit: 1 - 2 hours. gift shop & snack bar with limited seating. Definitely worth a look!

I moved to Margate 20 years ago and they have improved the Grotto year on year . It's superb now…read morewith a nice entrance and a great gift shop for cards/ shells / stone jewellery . Quite a mysterious place . Endlessly fascinating . How it was even made underground . And why ? It's not a huge exhibit but you must go .

This place is quite lovely! Paired with a walk along the coast and then a quick cup of tea and…read morecake, this adds to the perfect afternoon. My boyfriend and I made a stop here during our wander in the town and thoroughly enjoyed yourselves. Unfortunately we couldn't get a tour of the place. It turns out that whether you can tour depends on whether they're too busy or not. During our particular visit they apparently had too many meetings. But the gardens were very relaxing the solarium was a great place for tea. The tea brands are decent quality and their carrot cake was perfect. My bf had the latte, which was quite tasty. Don't expect to spend an entire day there, but certainly it's a great spot to chill out at for an hour or two.

Located on Tower Hill, Whitstable Castle is a small but beautiful landmark, equally stunning in…read moreboth the summer months and under the snow blankets of winter. The Castle's Gardens are lovely to walk through and a great place for children. Whitstables various fetes and festivals have been held here in the past but currently the castle is being re-furbished after securing much needed funded. When in full working order the castle is available for weddings and parties and I have had the pleasure of hiring this venue twice.

Interesting place to visit if you're in the area or really interested in anything to do with the…read moreRAF, WW2 or history. Lots of aviation pieces that show how certain parts of planes and helicopters are built. Plenty of photographs to display RAF Manston over the years. The museum also shows how people would have lived around the area during World War 2.

This place literally, knocked my socks off. A cousin of her Ladyships, surprised me with this…read moreplace, when we were staying with them in Broadstairs. Wow, soon as you walk in the door, there is a whole WWI plane sitting there. I probably, spent the first half hour, just walking around looking at that, and some of the cool stuff along the walls. This is also, the souvenir area, so I just had to purchase one of the hip flasks. I bought the one saying PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF, there was another option, KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON. After spending money and time in this area, it was off to another area, with all types of aircraft, WWII, and later aircraft, jets, helicopters, (see pictures), etc. There was also, some awesome firepower outside. A tank, a jet and so many other historical weapons of war. The ladies, were with us, remarking "this is kind of a guys place." Couldn't agree more, would be a great place to visit if you have a boy or two in your family. Seriously, I could've spent all day here, but it was only our second or third day in England, so there were many more places and pubs to visit, and I was forced to move on.

For the past couple of years, Thanet council have put on Margate's Big Event…read more Held over 2 days in June, the event hosts air and ground displays, that are free for the whole family. Other than the amazing airshows (which have had the RAF Red Arrows make an appearance), the area around Palm Bay, Cliftonville is transformed to allow Live music performances from bands while street performers and other acts entertain the family. There is also a Fairground, Beer tent, food and drink village.

If you're staying in good ol' Canters for a few days, I'd definitely recommend a visit the Marlowe…read moretheatre. During my undergrad years here, it was actually still under renovation and well, I'm shallow and new buildings always excite me. Marlowe is no different, it's definitely ready for big crowds and summer time drinks outside the patio. They've made a large patio and even decorated it with a happy theatre mask which is creepy at night, and if you're a bit drunk and high. (Students will most likely be that!) Inside the theatre itself is a theatre worthy of big big productions, I think they have 4 levels of seats, somehow, we managed to bag front row centre tickets to see Sarah Millican (to be fair, we booked 18 months in advanced!) The only qualms I have is that they definitely cater to the the locals and not students because the prices for drinks are STEEEEEEP. £4.10 for a frigging single oj and vodka. (I might just go the to student bars beforehand, thanks. If any of you feel the same way, and not local to Canterbury, drop me a line and I'll direct you to the uni campus so if you do want to drink like a student and give the liver a wake up call, you'll know where to go-also SNAKEBITE. Gets you absolutely carparked.)

I have not watched a theatre performance there but spent an evening there when Tap Dogs was on in…read more2002. Cannot really remember how exactly the interior looked like but there must have been some upper rear stalls. Don't miss out the Theatre Pub next to the theatre. Anyway, nicely located in the town centre. Update 2012: The originial Theatre Pub doesn't exist anymore. The old theatre has been refurbished and now has a very modern appearance.