Blackpool (a busy seaside resort in Lancashire)
Blackpool is one of England’s most popular northern seaside resort, known for its wide sandy beaches and of course Blackpool tower.
The town has been known for decades as the home of its ‘Blackpool landladies’ who run hundreds of local bed-and-breakfasts. The 5pm rule years ago meant many guests were ‘booted out’ after breakfast (no matter the weather) and not allowed to return until ‘high tea’ at 5pm!
If at the coast, keep away from nesting birds and never walk on sand dunes. Learn how to keep dogs safe by the seaside (check beach bans before travel). Join the campaign to ban flying rings, to help local seals.
The History of Blackpool Trams
Blackpool tram has a proud history, but spent years running older slower cars that creaked along the seafront. Today it has had a revamp, with wider platforms and new trams that go at higher speeds and are more accessible.
They have spacious low floors for step-free boarding, modern ticketing systems and upgraded tracks. It transports around 5 million people a year.
Blackpool Tower (not just ballroom dancing!)
The Blackpool Tower took seven years to build, and is indeed modelled on the Eiffel Tower, and known for its ballroom-dancing competitions. The floor is designed to sway in high winds. It opened back in 1899.
The ballroom sits inside the Tower complex, and it feels like entering a brighter, slower era. Expect ornate décor, a famous dance floor, and music that suits everything from a gentle waltz to a proper spin across the room. Even if you don’t dance, the atmosphere makes it worth the visit.
The Promenade (walks on breezy days)
Blackpool’s seafront promenade is where everything makes sense. You can walk for ages, with the sound of traffic, gulls, and the sea all stacked together. It’s wide, open, and built for wandering, so you can drift between piers, arcades, and coffee stops without thinking too hard.
On a breezy day it feels brisk and clean, even when the town is busy. In addition, the promenade makes Blackpool feel accessible, since you don’t need a plan to enjoy it.
Alas the town is one of the few seaside resorts that still offers donkey rides for children. Unlike abroad, donkeys here are inspected for welfare, but most parents now are choosing to move on from donkey rides.
The history of Blackpool rock
Blackpool is where sticks of rock were created, made by folding and stretching coloured toffee or sugar crystals into hard sticky sticks, which will pull all your fillings out! Keep rock, candy floss and pebble sweets away from young children, due to choking hazards.
The upcoming sugar tax means that many brands will likely go bust (unlike soda drinks, it’s likely more complicated to make them with artificial sweeteners). Blackpool Rock was first sold around 1902 (or created in the 1870s) when Ben Bullock began to make sticks with words like ‘Whoa Emma’ at his Yorkshire factory, after a holiday in Blackpool.
Sticks of rock fell out of favourite during the sugar-rationing of World War II, and men were not around to do the heavy lifting of the sugar mix. Typical ingredients of a modern stick of rock are refined sugar, glucose syrup, flavours and the colours E153, E100, E122 and E129 (the two red ones are linked to hyperactivity in children).
Blackpool illuminations (light pollution issues)
Although astronomers are aware that the Blackpool lights bring in substantial tourism income, they are concerned over plans to create an artificial ‘aurora borealis’ (northern lights) by way of a 1KW laser to shine in the sky.
This would not just blight the night sky, but ruin views across the county (and also for Merseyside, Cumbria, North Wales and even Isle of Man).
Lytham St Annes (a quieter coastal resort nearby)
Lytham St Annes sits close enough to feel like an easy add-on, yet it has a different tone. It’s calmer, more residential, and more about slow walks and tidy views. After a day in Blackpool, it can feel like turning the volume down.
Because it’s so close, it works well as a contrast rather than a replacement. You can do the bright, busy parts first, then take a breath by the sand dunes and prom at St Annes.
