Find the nearest See & Do in Broadstairs
Heading to Broadstairs and looking for something to do or a place to visit nearby. Coast Radar is not just a list of beaches but we bring you the whole Broadstairs coast including castles, lighthouses, piers, museums, beautiful gardens, seaside towns, National Trust and other heritage properties.
When on an information page you can also use our tools to search for nearby Broadstairs seaside towns, and the surrounding coast for the best beaches and places to stay and eat.
Finding the best things to see and do on a Broadstairs day out with your family or friends is easy – simply explore the links below, to find the closest hit the jump to my location compass or use the search bar to plan where your next Broadstairs activity could be.
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- Bleak House, formerly known as Fort House, is a large house on the cliff overlooking Viking Bay in Broadstairs. It is thought to have been built around 1816. The house was the site of the North Cliff Battery and was used as a coastal station for observing marine activity. Charles Dickens lived and worked in Bleak House during summers holidays with his family spent from 1837 to 1859.
- A light was first exhibited at North Foreland, Broadstairs in 1499, but the first real lighthouse was built by Sir John Meldrum in 1636. The lighthouse consisted of a two storey octagonal tower made of timber, lath and plaster with an iron coal burning grate on top. This tower was destroyed by fire in 1683. A temporary measure of a single candle in a lantern hoisted on a pole proved, not surprisingly, ineffective and the present structure was built in 1691; originally the tower was 12 metres tall constructed of brick, stone and flint. In 1698 the lighthouse is recorded as using 100 tons of coal a year. North Foreland Lighthouse came into the hands of the Trustees of Greenwich Hospital in 1719, they used the surplus from the light dues for the upkeep of the hospital for the benefit of seamen. They enclosed the fire in a glazed lantern in 1719 but this was removed in 1730 after complaints from shipping. In 1793 a further two storeys were added to the tower and the coal fire was replaced by 18 oil lamps. Trinity House purchased the lighthouse in 1832. In 1890 a separate room known as the lantern house, was built on to the top of the tower to accommodate the light.
- Dickens House Museum was once the home of Miss Mary Pearson Strong on whom Dickens based the character of Miss Betsey Trotwood in the novel “David Copperfield”. The house is a museum to commemorate the Dickens’ association with Broadstairs.
- Joss Bay Surf school is located on Joss Bay beach which is the home of Kent Surfing and one of the most popular surf spots in the South East of England. We offer Surf Lessons, SUP Lessons, Surf Hire, competitions and loads of other activities!
- Revolution Skatepark first opened early in 1998, and today is an indoor skatepark and climbing centre for Skateboards, BMX, Rollerblades, Scooters and all types of Indoor Climbing.
