Blackpool - What's It Really Like?

eeeeeee

morecombe i must admit isnt brilliant and best avoided ,, southport is lovely the tide goes out for miles and it is easy too get stuck on the mud ... though theres a wiffy sewage smell on a bad day ... but on the plus side ... nice little pier some great little cafes( not badly priced ) fun fair is a little price and a little lame tbh

Torry_Quine

Another vote for Whitby here. In my opinion it's way better than Blackpool, I visited once for a day trip and I won't be back. :eek:

meer53

Whitby/Scarborough/York for me, every time, Blackpool would be a huge no for me.

York is a fabulous day out. We go regularly, we're less than an hour away.

Go to The Minster, Castle Museum, Jorvic Centre, or just wander the shops, no competition as far as i'm concerned.

Once stayed at the Norbreck Castle, never again. It's dire.

worried_jim

Have to declare that I love Scarborough and it's surrounding area and would recommend over Blackpool until the cows come home.

sillygoose

Well for a few days I like Blackpool! it has happy memories as a young lad being taken their by my dad for the occasional weekend, cheap B&B and a big bag of change for the computer games consoles.. happy days.

Went last year with my 7 and 9 year olds and had a great time, the weather was good so the beach was fun, smaller amusements on the front and piers as treats such as go-karts and Ferris wheels. Did the pleasure beach which was expensive but 1st time my eldest had been somewhere where he was over the height limit for the big rides - all I heard was AWESOME! AWESOME!...

The waxworks are good, lots of modern characters everyone knows and complete with stages, your allowed to get in close and do photos.

Tower was closed but should be open now, they were putting some new attraction up top.

The circus is still amusing, trams interesting. The aquarium thing is good too.

The odd site of strangely dressed adults out on the street as various stag/hen parties go around.

The thing with Blackpool is with kids for a short break, its somewhere the weather can't spoil because there is so much to do, such as the swimming centre with all the water chutes, there is a huge indoor play centre and so on.

I can tell you what miserable is, try a fortnight in Kilder Water when you pick the wrong week and it doesn't stop raining for all 168 hours and everything to do is outdoors!

Complaints? well you can't buy a 'proper' meal anywhere or anything that hasn't come out a deep fryer.

Can be rowdy groups in the evening, especially if their is a football match on but the Police are well used to dealing with it and seemed to come out in big force and pen them rigidly in a sports bar.

If you find a 'family' hotel it doesn't have to be tatty, unclean or expensive. The one we used was very clean and quiet, great facilities.. stayed in far worse and it was preferable to Holiday Inn's and such my company put me in for work.

Everynamestaken

I went 4 years ago when I was 19, and I went on a "lads do", and it was definitely not my favorite place. Alot of trouble and police everywhere, and it was cold. You can usually have a good laugh with people on nights out in takeaways etc, but all very threatening in Blackpool. From the welsh, to the scousers, and got grief at the bar "where u from then, think fast". That was at 8pm, in what we thought was a family friendly sort of bar.

Guess that's what happens at 4 when you get stedheads out on the drink all day from various parts of the country.

I wouldn't mind going to the pleasure beach again though, but from the sound of your original post, you may not like it.

Everynamestaken

Also, how can I forget walking across the pier, and getting stopped and been told to put a pound on this dart game. When I won a prize, he said. "you need one more pound". He was extremely threatening and when I phoned my friends up, he gave me a cuddly toy, ha.


Scarborough is much better by a country mile. A lovely seaside town.

bex2002

We have stayed at the norbrek castle as part of an event 3 times and it is a complete dive, we would have not stayed there after the first time if it wasnt for my partner being ill and needed a room nearby and not treking backwards and forwards between hotels. Even the event organiser has refused to go back there again as they couldnt organise a !!!! up in a brewry. I would look at trip advisor - the last time i looked on there the comments hadnt got any better. I certainly wouldnt reccomend going there.

Kantankrus_Mare

Oh dear.............I am going to Blackpool for the weekend in a few weeks time.

Mind you.........Ive been before and know what Im letting myself in for. Must be about 20 yrs ago.

My daughter (17) hasnt been though and wants to go and everyone should experience it once at least :rotfl:

Only good thing is we are not staying at afore mentioned hotel and the one we are staying in will cost us nothing thanks to club card vouchers

dontone

worried_jim wrote: »

Have to declare that I love Scarborough and it's surrounding area and would recommend over Blackpool until the cows come home.

I agree with this, Scarborough is lovely. Myself and DH go for an overnight stay every year, we stay in one of the hotels on the North Bay.
We used to go to Blackpool quite a bit, but the last couple of B&B's were a bit rubbish and scruffy (one even tried to charge us an extra tenner each for a sea view :eek:) We aren't pub people there, the last time I went on a pub crawl there was with work, and we sunk into the carpet in the Tower Lounge (scruffiest place ever!!) and a skinhead went up to an Aisan colleague of ours and bit a chunk out of his cheek :eek:
I could quite happily stay in Scarborough for a week, but Blackpool is strictly a day out place.