Broadstairs Folk Week Festival Beaches Tourism Broadstairs Kent UK

Broadstairs Tourist Information Crampton Tower Museum

Broadstairs has more of a village seaside resort feel than Thanet neighbours Ramsgate and Margate. Indeed all these three main Thanet coastal resorts are carving out their own unique tourist appeals based on their links with sea, literary and artistic notables and their own local histories.

The name of Thomas Russel Crampton is particularly pertinent to Broadstairs, and the town's local history museum based in the old watertower near the station is named after him. This Victorian engineer was one of the best in his time. Remembered for his locamotive and railway designs, Crampton was the first to lay a working telegraph cable across the English Channel! He strayed into numerous industrial fields in his day including gas and water works. Examples of Crampton's designs and exhibits on this innovative engineer are on show in the Crampton Tower Museum.

Crampton Tower Museum, The Broadway, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 2AB. Telephone 01843 871133. The museum is open from the third Saturday in March until the last day of October, from 2.00pm to 5pm. Special openings can be arranged out of season and outside of normal hours for groups by prior arrangement. Small admission charge. A 5 inch gauge mini railway is on-site, great fun for children, plus the museum organises weekly town tours commencing Saturdays at 2pm. Contact the museum for details.

Broadstairs Tourist Information Centre, Dickens House Museum, 2 Victoria Parade, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 1QS. Tel. 0870 264 6111.

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Broadstairs Folk Week Festival Broadstairs Kent

Broadstairs' popular folk week folk festival runs in mid-August annually. The folk acts performing during the festival are impressive (see folk act lsitings via the festival's webguide). A big marquee is errected for the headliner acts, plus other performances take place across Broadstairs' many pubs and restaurants.

Alongside folk performances there's craft and music fairs, fun events like circus trick learning for kids, workshops, ceilidahs, dances and more. Well worth visiting Broadstairs during this acclaimed Kent Folk Festival.

Broadstairs Folk Week, Pierremont Hall, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 1JX. Office hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Tel. 01843 604080. (see webguide right for forthcoming Broadstairs Folk Week details).

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Broadstairs Kent Beaches Attractions Viking Coastal Trail

The chalky white cliffs of Broadstairs are an iconic feature on many areas of Kent's coast and give the resort a real edge. Two of Broadstairs' beaches - Stone Bay and Botany Bay have blue flag status, whilst main beach Viking Bay has a Quality Award. All the beaches on this stretch of the Kent coast are endless sands, interrupted by chalk cliffs. Main beach Viking Bay has numerous facilities and attractions including a harbour pier, cliff top prom, chalets, toilets, first aid, adjacent parking and sunlounge and deckchair hire as well as amuseuments. Lifeguards operate during peaks summer, plus no dogs are allowed on Viking Bay in the summer season between May and September.

Push north to Blue Flag Stone Bay beach, perfect for a spot of rock pooling. Stone Bay is a little quieter, offering 200 metres of sands, with adjacent cafe and toilets including disabled toilets. Access is via Broadstairs Harbour. The 27 mile long Thanet Coast Viking Trail pushes on up past Stone Bay on the Eastern Esplanade towards the North Foreland Lighthouse (dating from 1499) and on towards more Broadstairs beach bays around Kingsgate including Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay. Look to the Visit Thanet and local Broadstairs Tourist guides for more information on beaches.

At the southern end of main beach Viking Bay the Bandstand, Promenade and Victoria Gardens area with adjacent Lillyputt Mini Golf is a bustling area in peak season especially. Lllyputt Mini Golf, Victoria Parade, Broadstairs, Kent. Tel. 01843 861 500.

To the North of Viking Bay around Broadstairs Harbour and Harbour Street area sit a cluster of top attractions including Broadstairs Pavilion and the historic Palace Cinema (formally the Windsor Cinema). Broadstairs Pavilion, Harbour Street, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 1EU. Tel: 01843 600999. Palace Cinema (formally the Windsor Cinema Broadstairs), Harbour Street, Broadstairs, Kent CT10 1EU. A mix of independent and mainstream cinema is on offer in this 111 seater cinema which was originally a museum of armour dating from 1911. The one huge screen fills the width of the building. See film showings coming up via their webguide.

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Revolution Skate Park & Kent Surf School Broadstairs

If you're holidaying or visiting Broadstairs with teenagers, checkout Revolution Skate Park within relatively easy walking distance of Broadstairs Station. This impressive indoor and outdoor skate park is closely linked to the local surf school operating out of Viking Bay. A skate and surf shop is on the skate park site, and there's climbing and BMX sessions available too.

See photos of this fab skate park and details of surfing lessons via the webguides. Viking Bay sees some good swell, and makes for an ideal spot to learn to surf.

Revolution Skatepark & Kent Surf School, Oakwood Ind Est, Dane Valley Road, St Peters, Broadstairs, Kent CT10 1SW.

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