When people go there on holiday I just think why....

[soleenq]

Am I missing something? I live in the NW and don't think I could ever go there on holiday. I'm low income so can't afford a lot with a toddler but I don't know why there is an attraction.

Ainu?

I'm guessing it's cheap compared to other holidays and is the nearest seaside for some people. I think there's a big party and gay scene so if you're into dancing and drinking then it could be a laugh. There's a posher seaside town down the coast not far from Blackpool as well isn't there?

I've not been but wouldn't mind going for a weekend. Nobody would go there without knowing what they were going to get. If you want something calm and rural or very high end you just wouldn't go.

It's gone down hill in that time I gather.

I haven't been in a couple of decades, but people used to go for the beach, which is nice and sandy, the lights, and the pleasure beach. It also used to be a huge ballroom dancing mecca. You can get there by train (It became big before people flew) and there's lots of accommodation.

I sort of get your point about why, now, but I have a bit of nostalgia for the place still from day trips when I was young. I think of it as more of a day trip place though. It always seemed pretty grotty under that veneer of things to do, even to an 80s child who growing up on benefits.

Is it still £300 to go round the fair for a family of 4

I have taken my adult daughter to Blackpool several times. She has some additional needs and it is great for us as she has a merlin annual pass anyway so that gets her into the Tower, Mme Tussauds, sealife centre and I go free as her carer. We go to the zoo and the crazy golf too. But the big draw is the Pleasure Beach as she loves roller coasters. It's fine if you want to do stuff like that imo.

Those things still exist though going by what others on this thread are saying.
Every town/city in the UK has run down parts. If you are on holiday you don't generally go to those parts.

Check your spelling, you can barely write English.

How does that compare to somewhere like Alton Towers?
Cheaper? More expensive?

We just had a fab time there. Only went to Great Yarmouth proper once though and that was plenty.

I really really hope that some of these local councils will be brought into line by this new fangled government and be forced to clean up their own back yards. The NW is prime example of a region that is ripe for levelling up and being restored to its former glory.

Oh I love a bit of Blackpool. I also love high end places. I’m quite diverse like that.

Personally, me and the teens love a day at the Pleasure beach, stuffing our faces with sugary doughnuts and then fish and chips after. Costs a FORTUNE! It’s certainly not a cheap day out anymore.

Been to the lights a few times as well 💡.

Blackpool is what it is. Best to embrace it 🤣.

Doesn’t mean the clientele never goes to any other up market places in the world.

Dh loves Blackpool. I do not.

But then, we have Rhyl and Towyn. And then I tell myself off, because that's all some people will ever know and at least it's a holiday. And we didn't go on any holidays at all when I was a kid.

I've always wanted to go to Great Yarmouth. I live in Yorkshire.

Simple. It's cheap. I think the same about Weston Super Mare... however I regularly cycle there and spend an hour sitting on the prom.

Or Because it's cheap, you don't have to worry about the food, language, the heat, the water, foreigners, not getting MacDonalds, delete as applicable.

Seriously if you have kids especially very little ones what's the point of going abroad, they don't know the difference. You can buy food you know they like and worry about the effect of the heat or a flight has on them

I’m quite new - it’s certainly an eye opener 🤣

I'm similar, have had some great weekends in Blackpool. Also enjoy villas abroad with a private pool, all inclusive resorts, cruises, Center Parcs, Butlins and Haven.

I also enjoy Michelin starred restaurants (although haven't been to any since before children) and McDonald's.

It's great enjoying everything!

Never been so would probably go once on the basis that you have to visit anywhere once before you knock it but based on what I've seen, heard and read it sounds grim.

I have Brighton and Margate within an hour if I want a bit of traditional seaside activity and everything I have seen suggests Blackpool is much grottier and seedier than those (which is saying something), so it wouldn't be on my bucket list.

Prepared to be proved wrong though.

Blackpool is everything anyone says it is. Grim? You bet! Step one street (if that) away from the main strip and wow…

But at the same time, super fun! I took my then 9 year old son there for a weekend two years ago and we had the best time, Pleasure Beach caters for ASD well and the whole trip was cheap.

It is what it is.

I go because I spent a lot of my childhood there (my mum is from Blackpool). I think I went to the Pleasure Beach once as a child, but mostly we go to the circus, take the tram to Fleetwood for the market and to visit the Farmer Parr's, or go to the SeaLife Centre, watch Blackpool rock being made, and generally mooch about eating junk food. I also enjoy a picnic in Stanley Park and a trip to the zoo.
We don't go at the busiest times and we don't stay in the centre because we don't like too many crowds and we don't really go out at night. I'm sure there are things that I don't want to see (or have my children see), but we think about that when we are planning the trip.
I had a very fragmented childgood and we moved around a lot. Blackpool is the closest I've ever had to a hometown, and the feeling of recognition every time I go back is very powerful.

There's a massive migrant hotel on the front FYI.

I did Blackpool once in 2010-ish with SIL as a cheapy short break when ds and dniece were young - they loved the small pier, donkeys, beach and blackpool zoo where ds loved the dinosaur models and I think we did a couple of other things. We never did the expensive shows.

We stayed in a caravan which was fine, but some parts -cafes etc - were a bit run down/grubby. Don't think I would do it again, but it wasn't bad for a cheap break for young kids.

We have always gone to Blackpool for days out, went with my grandparents when I was small and take my kids now.

We always have fun in Blackpool and that's what matters to us.
Don't care if it's a bit run down, don't care if there's a few weirdos .. we have a great time there.

I go for the drugs and hookers. It's like Phuket, except you can get there direct from Salford Crescent on Northern Rail without having to change in Dubai, the fish and chips tastes better, and the pubs don't serve methylated spirits (yet... give it time).

After last time, I've sworn to never go again. Our hotel was a shit hole, wallpaper hanging off, mould underneath it, poo inside the half used toilet roll, threadbare carpet. The owner looked like she'd set her entire family on us if we dared complained. We left after 2 minutes saying we had a family emergency. She did ask if it was the room but surely she can see the state of it to see yes, of course it was the room. After the hours travelling to get there, I didn't want an argument with attitude woman infront of my children.

Couldn't walk along the prom without multi generational families walking into us. They clearly took up the whole space and weren't doing the done thing of pulling in so people could naturally pass. I stopped being polite after the umpteenth time and had a further four men, different families, shoulder barge into me as I stood my ground. They were absolutely oblivious to anyone else around them. The area was so run down, messy... Just screamed poverty and it was actually sad to see. Used to love it as a child but no, never again.

It used to be a great place for a holiday. These days it's like being in a film about the end of civilisation.