Kent, England: A Travel Feature

Operating weekly between May and October, the service will fly into Kent International Airport on the southeast coast of England. Just over an hour's drive from the outskirts of London, this airport is an attractive alternative to Heathrow and Gatwick. Particularly because it's so quiet, which means no long waits to get through customs. But it's also situated by some beautiful places, which are well worth exploring.

Kent is a county -- the British equivalent of a state -- whose history goes back 2,000 years. Home to Roman invasions and the place where St. Augustine first came ashore to establish Christianity in Britain, that history can still be seen today in Richborough Roman Fort and Canterbury Cathedral.

The Cathedral, just 16 miles from the Kent airport, is one of the area's most popular tourist spots and with good reason. The name is known worldwide not only as the mother church of the Anglican community and from Chaucer's famous Canterbury Tales, but also as where Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in 1170. More than that, it's an impressive building and one that can easily rival the likes of Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral.

Closer to the airport, there's even more history to be found in Broadstairs, a coastal town that was the favorite holiday retreat of Charles Dickens. Bleak House, where he wrote David Copperfield, still stands, overlooking the beautiful Viking Bay below. The Dickens House Museum on the cliff top was once the home of Miss Mary Pearson Strong, on whom Dickens based much of the character of Miss Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield. The author's links with the town are celebrated every June during the Dickens Festival, which sees performances of his plays and parades of costumed Dickensian characters.

It's easy to see why Dickens fell in love with this town, with its array of quaint shops, narrow roads and seven beautiful beaches that offer a range of activities from surfing to donkey rides. During August, the town is filled with music from international Folk Week, which attracts over 100,000 visitors each year. Some of the best folk acts from the UK and Europe perform. Even better, many of the performances are free to attend.