Deal is a beautiful, peaceful seaside town in Kent, connected by train from London. Why do so many women we know start their romances here, arrive on honeymoon or celebrate anniversaries?

Part of the charm lies in the quiet laneways and beachfront bars. The Royal Hotel is the ultimate draw, though. Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton stayed in this 18th-century-hotel. (Prices are just over £100 a night for this famous couples’ retreat – check your dates in our booking box, right).

Deal is eight miles from Dover, and about 25 miles from France, which you can see on a clear day. It has a Tudor castle by another of history’s great lovers, King Henry VIII and is so ancient it’s in the Domesday Book.

Deal is where Captain James Cook first set foot, on his return to England from Australia. Charles Dickens also came here. Daniel Defoe wrote about it, and so did Samuel Pepys in his diary.

Deal is not much changed since Dickens wrote about it in Bleak House – ‘The long flat beach, with its little irregular houses, wooden and brick…’ Jane Austen also wrote about it briefly in Persuasion. Most importantly it is the setting for Ian Fleming’s 1955 James Bond classic, Moonraker, where a rocket is built just outside the town.

If you’re a fan of the Carry On series, wander around this pretty, peaceful town long enough and you’ll soon see a blue plaque celebrating actor Charles Hawtrey.