Living in Canterbury means that we're only 20 minutes drive from the Kent coast. In the 1960s, British holidaymakers used to flood to Kent's main seaside towns, but since it became much easier and cheaper to travel abroad for holidays, these places are no longer in their heyday. Over the past few weeks quite a few of our friends have come to Canterbury to visit us and in addition to taking them around our city, we've been showing them places on the Kent coast. From the nostalgic seaside towns to bustling tourist spots which have colourful beach huts and cute restaurants on the seafront, we really have a wide variety of coastal towns in Kent.

Whitstable

Whitstable is by far my favourite coastal town in Kent and fortunately for us, it's practically our next door neighbour. Whitstable has it all: a harbour market, a row of fantastic beach huts and a beautiful high street with shops that all follow the seaside theme. Whitstable is an extremely popular place to visit and on a Summer's day, you can grab a seat at one of the seafront bars and just soak up the atmosphere.

Herne Bay

Herne Bay is another place which is only a short drive from Canterbury. There's a bustling pier where you can go on some rides or go crabbing, as well as a Seaside Museum and Mini Golf. For lunch I'd recommend you heading to the high street and having afternoon tea at Alice and the Hatter Herne Bay: the sister restaurant to my current favourite tearoom in Canterbury. It's definitely not a typical seaside food spot, but it's got fab theming.

Margate