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Broadstairs
Coastal town in Kent, England

Broadstairs

Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about 80 miles (130 km) east of London.

Plan a trip to Broadstairs→From Oostende

It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of about 25,000. Situated between Margate and Ramsgate, Broadstairs is one of Thanet's seaside resorts, known as the "jewel in Thanet's crown". The town's coat of arms' Latin motto is Stella Maris. The name derives from a former flight of steps in the chalk cliff, which led from the sands up to the 11th-century shrine of St Mary on the cliff's summit.

Get in

Getting to Broadstairs

Trains from London Victoria run every 30-60 min, taking 1 hr 50 min via Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Sittingbourne and Faversham, where the train may divide. You need to be in the portion running along the north coast to Whitstable, Margate and Broadstairs, continuing to Ramsgate. The other portion heads south to Canterbury East and Dover Priory.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Dickens House Museum

    Cottage frequented by Charles Dickens and now a small museum.

  2. 02
    Crampton Tower Museum

    Small local history museum in a water tower disguised as a castle.

  3. 03
    North Foreland is a headland atop

    The lighthouse was first lit in 1691 and is now automated.

Do

Things to do

Other beaches near Broadstairs are Botany Bay, Joss Bay (for surf), Stone Bay (sandy in spite of the name), Louisa Bay (no dogs May-Sep 10AM-6PM), Kingsgate Bay and Dumpton Gap. At low tide you can walk between several of the beaches, but the high tide comes right up to the cliffs.

Eat

Where to eat

Cheap eats: Albion St and Harbour St are wall-to-wall with cheap takeaway or sit in places. The strip extends inland up High St and southwest along York Rd.

  1. 01
    Morelli's Gelato

    14 Victoria Parade CT10 1QS,.

  2. 02
    Posilippo Pizzeria

    14 Albion St, Broadstairs CT10 1LU (by Dickens House Museum),.

  3. 03
    Thai Four Two

    42 York St CT10 1PB (corner with Oscar Rd),.

  4. 04
    The Tartar Frigate

    Downstairs is a pub with live music.The upstairs restaurant serves mostly seafood but there's a good vegetarian and vegan menu.

  5. 05
    Kebbells Seafood Bar

    8 Victoria Parade, Broadstairs CT10 1QS (next to Dickens House Museum),.

How locals move

Getting around Broadstairs the local way

  • Get inBroadstairs is 2 miles from the channel port of Ramsgate with ferries from Ostend in Belgium (for car passengers/coaches only though - no foot passengers).

From Wikivoyage: Broadstairs, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.