Blackpool is the grand dame of British seaside resorts, a six-mile stretch of Lancashire coastline that grew from a few sea-bathing lodging houses in the 1830s to a full-blown working-class pleasure capital by the late nineteenth century, and has been reinventing itself, with occasional stumbles, ever since. It lies on the Irish Sea coast in the North West of England, about 230 miles north of London, 55 miles north-west of Manchester, and 50 miles north of Liverpool. For generations of British families, a week in Blackpool meant the Pleasure Beach, donkey rides on the sand, a climb up Blackpool Tower, fish and chips at Harry Ramsden's or Seniors at Thornton, and an evening drive down the promenade during the Illuminations. The resort still delivers on all of those, plus a surprising cultural programme that includes the world's oldest major ballroom dance championship, one of the most heritage-loaded theatre complexes in Britain, and a three-pier Victorian seaside that English Heritage regards as internationally significant.
Book an airport transfer to Blackpool
Fixed-price private transfers with English-speaking drivers. Meet-and-greet included.
Getting to and around Blackpool
The local airport is Blackpool Airport (BLK), on the southern edge of town at Squires Gate, but after the collapse of Jet2's scheduled service in 2014 and a decade of limited offshore helicopter and general aviation operations, BLK does not currently host commercial passenger flights from major UK origins. Most visitors fly into Manchester Airport (MAN), 60 miles south-east and reachable in 75 to 95 minutes by direct Northern or TransPennine Express train to Blackpool North station, with a single walk-up fare of roughly GBP 18 to 28 depending on advance booking. From MAN, Avanti West Coast trains also run via Preston, where a 10-minute cross-platform change gets you to Blackpool North. Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL) is 55 miles south and slightly less convenient by public transport; some visitors use Manchester's National Express coach connections instead. If you do end up using BLK for private or charter purposes, a taxi into the resort centre is a short five-minute ride at around GBP 10 to 14.
Once you are in Blackpool, the Blackpool Tramway is your primary tool for getting around. One of the oldest surviving electric street tramways in the world, it runs 11 miles north-south along the promenade from Starr Gate in the south (adjacent to the Pleasure Beach) to Fleetwood Ferry in the north, calling at all the key landmarks: Pleasure Beach, South Pier, the Sandcastle Waterpark, Central Pier, Blackpool Tower, North Pier, Gynn Square, Bispham (for the Illuminations tableaux), Cleveleys and Fleetwood. A single is roughly GBP 3.20, a day pass GBP 6.50, and a family day pass around GBP 16, all payable by contactless. Blackpool Transport also runs a comprehensive local bus network; the Palladium and Catch 22 night services cover the late-night pub-to-hotel runs. For longer trips, Blackpool North station connects to Preston (25 minutes), Manchester (75 minutes), Leeds (two hours), and York; Blackpool South serves the coastal line via Lytham St Annes.
The promenade itself is the main stage. The Golden Mile, the resort's amusement-rich core, stretches from Central Pier north to North Pier and is lined with arcades, rock shops, donut stands, fortune tellers, a handful of chip shops that have been frying since the 1950s, and the Coral Island indoor amusement complex. Blackpool Tower, the resort's defining landmark since 1894 and a smaller cousin of the Eiffel Tower at 158 metres, houses the Tower Ballroom (where BBC's Strictly Come Dancing is filmed), the Tower Circus, the Tower Dungeon, and an observation deck known as the Tower Eye with a glass-floored SkyWalk. A Tower Eye ticket runs about GBP 18 to 22 for adults; a combined Tower + attractions pass offers better value if you plan to do several. The Comedy Carpet on Tower Headland, a 2,200-square-metre public artwork embedded with 160,000 granite letters spelling out jokes from 1,000 British comedians, is a free and unexpectedly moving piece of civic art.
Rent a car in Blackpool
Compare 800+ rental companies. Free cancellation on most bookings. 23–54% reward rate.
Affiliate partner widget — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Things to see & do in Blackpool
The three Victorian piers give Blackpool its skyline. North Pier (1863) is the oldest, quietest, and most elegant, with its pavilion theatre still hosting summer variety shows. Central Pier (1868) hosts the Ferris wheel, waltzers and adrenaline rides; expect GBP 4 to 6 per ride. South Pier (1893) caters to teenagers and thrill-seekers with extreme rides and traditional penny arcades. Entry to walk the piers is free; ride wristbands cost GBP 15 to 25 for all-day access on each. Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Europe's sixth-most-visited theme park and anchor of the southern end, is a separate ticket entirely: a one-day unlimited ride wristband runs GBP 35 to 45 online in shoulder seasons and GBP 50 to 60 on summer weekends. Its headline attractions include The Big One (at the time of its 1994 opening the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster, still a 235-foot Arrow-built steel monster), Valhalla (a water dark ride), the 1923 wooden Big Dipper, and Infusion. Book online for discounts.
Beyond the pier-and-tower core, Blackpool has surprising depth. The Winter Gardens, a seven-hall Victorian entertainment complex on Church Street, hosts the annual Blackpool Dance Festival (May, the world's oldest major international ballroom championship) and the British National Ballroom Championships (November), as well as the Conservative Party Conference in conference years. The Grand Theatre, Britain's "National Theatre of Variety" by Frank Matcham (of Coliseum and Hackney Empire fame), is a 1,200-seat Edwardian jewel still hosting touring productions. Madame Tussauds Blackpool, the original seaside Tussauds, and Sea Life Blackpool cover wet-weather days at GBP 18 to 25 each. The Sandcastle Waterpark near South Pier has the UK's largest indoor waterpark with 18 slides at about GBP 20 to 25. Further inland, Blackpool Zoo is a surprisingly good 32-acre site with gorillas, elephants, big cats and a new orangutan habitat at GBP 22 to 28.
Top tours & experiences in Blackpool
Book ahead — the popular ones sell out.
Affiliate partner widget — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Neighborhoods & food in Blackpool
Blackpool's tram system deserves a short note of its own. The heritage tram fleet, which includes restored Balloon, Boat and Bolton 66 cars from the 1930s-50s, shares the rails with the modern Bombardier Flexity 2 fleet introduced in 2012. On Illuminations weekends, the Flower, Western Train, and HMS Blackpool themed illuminated trams run a special route and sell out in advance; tickets are around GBP 10 for a 30 to 45 minute evening ride with a ticket inspector in full period costume. These are the last survivors of a British seaside tram culture that once operated in Southport, Morecambe, Great Yarmouth and Southend, and British seaside historians treat them with something approaching reverence. A visit for any tram-interested traveller is worth an hour at the Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire afterwards, two hours away by car.
Food in Blackpool is a mixed bag but at its best is genuinely good. The signature dish is fish and chips: the cod-and-chips at Seniors in Thornton-Cleveleys, the Cottage Fish Bar in Bispham, or the century-old Yorkshire Fisheries on Topping Street in the town centre will run GBP 9 to 14 and beat most of what you'll find on the seafront. Other Lancashire specialities to seek: meat-and-potato pie with mushy peas, butter pie (a meat-free Catholic Lancashire classic), Bury black pudding at any proper breakfast, and Lancashire cheese. For a sit-down meal, Michael Wan's Mandarin, Kwizeen on King Street, and the restored Town House at Talbot Gateway are reliable choices at GBP 25 to 45 per person. A pint of Lancashire cask ale, Thwaites or Moorhouse's, costs GBP 3.50 to 5 in most pubs, noticeably cheaper than London or Birmingham. The Ramsden Arms, the New Road Inn and the Pump and Truncheon are good traditional pubs; for craft beer, Reddys on the South Shore and The Layton are better bets.
Powered by Stay22 — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Practical info & when to visit
Practical notes. The currency is pound sterling (GBP); contactless card payment is universal and preferred almost everywhere, including on trams, buses, piers and arcade token machines. English is the dominant language; local Lancashire accents can be thick but are always friendly. Time zone is Europe/London, shifting an hour forward to British Summer Time from late March to late October. Safety is generally fine; as with any resort, the late-night promenade between Central Pier and North Pier can get rowdy with stag and hen parties on summer weekends, but violent crime is rare. Keep phones zipped away on the promenade after midnight and use licensed taxis or Uber (which operates here) rather than unbooked cars. NHS healthcare is available for UK residents and EHIC/GHIC holders from qualifying EU countries; private travel insurance is recommended for all other visitors.
Seasonal planning is central to a good Blackpool trip. The Blackpool Illuminations, the six-mile stretch of themed light displays between Starr Gate and Bispham that has run every autumn since 1879, typically switch on in late August or early September and run through early January, making Blackpool the only major British resort with a proper autumn and winter tourist season. The switch-on concert at the Tower Festival Headland is free and routinely draws 70,000 people. October half-term and Christmas Eve are particularly busy. The core summer school holiday period, mid-July to early September, is the other peak. Shoulder seasons (May, June, early September) offer better weather than the average British beach resort thanks to the Gulf Stream and dramatically lower accommodation pricing. Winter, apart from Illuminations overlap and dance festival weeks, is quiet and a few attractions close; bookings at the better restaurants become easier and hotel rates drop by half.