Newington Library

A modest brick building tucked away in Birchington that most holiday-makers would walk straight past - and that's exactly the point. Newington Library is a working community space, not a tourist attraction, which makes it genuinely useful if you're staying at Birchington Vale Holiday Park or The Foxhunter Park and need to pick up a book, use the internet, or escape the rain on a soggy Kent afternoon.

The library holds a solid local history collection alongside the standard fiction and non-fiction you'd expect. If you've got curious kids, the children's section is decent enough to kill an hour, though they won't be dramatically wowed. Real value comes if you're interested in Thanet's past - staff are helpful about directing you to local materials.

Opening hours are tight: mornings and early afternoons only, with Thursday evenings if you're desperate. Tuesday and Saturday mornings work best if you're planning a visit. Admission is free, assuming nothing's changed recently.

Honestly? It's not worth travelling to see. But if you're camped nearby at Sandwich Leisure Holiday Park - which sits on a proper good holiday spot - and the weather turns, you could do worse. It's the kind of place that makes sense only because you're already in Birchington. Combine it with a walk through the town centre rather than treating it as a destination in itself.