A coastal town in count best known for its exceptional ice cream and loved by Charles Dickens has left visitors jaw-dropped and taken aback that its in the UK.
Broadstairs has been dubbed the UK's answer to Italy's Amalfi Coast - the famously stunning stretch of coastline along the southern edge of Italy’s Sorrentine Peninsula - reports the Express.
The Kent town is just an hour-and-a-half away train ride from London, yet feels a million miles away from the Big Smoke with its idyllic beaches backed by colourful homes and golden sand.
Fishing boats can be seen bobbing on the turquoise waters out to sea while a little pier curves out among the wave. A small harbour is home to a number of boats, where locals and tourists can sit and watch the comings and goings from the port.
As well as the main beach which sits in a curve bay beneath the central strip, Broadstairs is blessed with six other beaches, providing plenty of room to sandcastle, lounge and picnic.
Central Viking Bay boasts children’s rides and beach huts; rural Botany Bay has photogenic chalk stacks; while Joss Bay offers a surf school and good waves, given which side of the country it is on.
The town was Charles Dickens’ favourite holiday spot and his legacy has been continued in the form of Dickens House Museum and the kind of fresh sea air Victorians escaping the city loved to gulp down.
On a similar note, the town is a great place for a bite to eat. Aqua 43 is among the best rated chippies in the town and was recently visited by Kent Live, who bravely took it upon themselves to try it out.
"The chips were deliciously crunchy, with just the right amount of saltiness," wrote reporter Carlo Simone, also commending the décor and reasonable price.
Morelli's Gelato has sat in the middle of town since 1932 and has retained an air of mid-war years glamour ever since, serving magnificent knickerbocker glories to hungry hoards emerging from a day frolicking in the surf.
Broadstairs is packed with less obvious seaside fare as well, including a number of smart restaurants, quaint cafés and pubs. There are few greater pleasures to be found than sitting beneath a colourful parasol on the sea front sitting a cooling drink.
One of the restaurants - Stark - won Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice for 2022, having been serving up delicious Michelin star food for some time.
Visit in the autumn and at Easter to feast at the three-day Broadstairs Food Festival – a smorgasbord of fine Kentish produce and wine.
For fear of losing the particularly combination of ingredients which contributes to its magic, some locals are hoping to keep some of Broadstairs assets out of the spotlight, including their "secret beaches" hidden. Among them is Stone Bay, which is ranked highly amongst those visiting the area.
The beach is accessed via a long pathway nestled between cliffs, with the gorgeous blue sea visible in the distance as people sunbathe on the sandy beaches.
Sharing a video of the town on a particularly sunny and beautiful day, TikTok tourist @wtvryas said they "couldn't believe this is in the UK".
On 5 October 1849 Dickens, while staying at the Albion Hotel which is now the Royal Albion Hotel, penned some words in a letter to a friend in between writing the early chapters of David Copperfield.
"There has been a trifle of rain here – a spot or two. But today is one of the most wonderful and charming days I ever saw – the air so brisk and bracing as it is nowhere but at Broadstairs – the Channel so busy and alive with shipping as it is nowhere but off Broadstairs – the hotel so cosy and like a private house as it is nowhere but in Broadstairs – everything as nothing is out of Broadstairs. Veeve la Broadstairs," he wrote of the town.
