Trains to Herne Bay travel along the majestic north Kent coastline before coming to rest about 10 minutes from the seaside resort's sand and shingle beach. Herne Bay has been attracting visitors since the 1830s, when its first pier opened; back then, many visitors from London would travel on steamboats down the Thames, but the steamer industry declined after the arrival of rail in the 1860s. The town continued to boom through the 19th century due to the Victorian obsession with the sea air and bathing. The buildings on platform 2 are all that remain of the original 1863 station - the rest dates back to 1926.
Look out across the bay to get a glimpse of one the country's largest offshore wind farms. This is also where The Dambuster bombs were tested in 1943, a pivotal moment in WW2. Find out more about it at Herne Bay Museum, which also features fossils found on the beach.