to think that "eating fish and chips" is just lunch/dinner, not a holiday activity?!

[PyongyangKipperbang]

Seen this on a few threads lately, and when I asked a couple of years ago about ideas of what to do in the evening on hols in the UK, this was the line trotted out most! "Walk along the promenade eating fish and chips". For a start I hate eating when walking, its messy and inconvenient and secondly, what about the other 6 evenings in a week or are we meant to do it every single night?

In most places these days you can't "eat fish and chips on the front" anyway because you get mugged by fucking sea gulls!

Indeed. Having just spent a week at the seaside with two 12 year olds and a 16 year old it was lovely to see them get excited about simple activities such as crabbing, rock pool fishing, fish and chips at the harbour and playing cards in the pub.

That sounds like the sort of activity from another age to me; maybe the 1950s. When a day trip to the sea was an exciting and rare thing, and fish and chips a special treat.

I’m with the OP. Walking and eating would not be enjoyable to me. And I hate fish and chips 😬

My partner had a crap weekend at work the other week so we drove to mine (near the sea) and had fish and chips sat cross-legged on thr grassed cliff top overlooking the North Sea… it was lovely!

You missed out sitting on the pier - eating fish & chips.
In my case, Cromer Pier and Fish & Chips from Mary Jane’s 😀

Tell me you're under 40 without telling me...fish and chips (or sausage in my case) by the sea British seaside standard luxury. Ditto sandcastles, filling the moat with sea water, eating crisps and drinking coke outside the pub your parents are in, sand all over the back of the car and in the sandwiches, donkey rides, crap arcades with 10 machines, first one see the sea gets an ice-cream...ahh take me home country roads

I asked my girls, now in their 30's about eating fish and chips on holiday. They both got very excited recalling a trip when they were about 8 and 10. We sat on the prom at Weymouth and watched fireworks that were put on in the bay. Magic!

You seriously don’t think people do this activity now. And the simpler things in life can be the best

Exactly! And a trip to the seaside is rare and exciting for us- no car, bog all money so I have to save up for it.

The seagulls at Brighton are fucking brutal. I once tried to eat some chips on Brighton beach and was surrounded by a horde of the bastards dice bombing me.

Agree fish and chips are great on seaside holiday. We’re mostly veggie so have chips n chips.

No, I do. It’s just not something I’ve ever done. Not saying it’s not nice.

I live near the sea and I see lots of holidaymakers on the beach or the cifftop with their takeaway boxes of fish n chips - it's tradition!

I remember sitting on the beach as a kid on holiday doing the same.

I live by the sea and I love getting fish and chips from my favourite place with outdoor seating overlooking the sea. It doesn't happen every week, so when it does it's an occasion and I love watching the tourists tuck in to their fish and chips.

Fond memories of a fish and chip shop in Lelant, Cornwall and then finding a bench overlooking the sea at Hayle..best fish and chips ever..

If we are doing a beach holiday in uk we may find a bench, low wall or area of beach sit and have some fish and chips.

It's a nice activity - would only would do it in once in 7 days. We eat ice creams on walks as well.

It's one of many activies we might do - if it's not for you don't do it.

We often do evening walks - might find a pub garden or do an evening meal.

I have to say we don't generally like eating on beaches - to many all day beach days in childhood eating sand in sandwiches but chips on promenade bench or if no wind a beach is rare exception.

I agree with you. You asked for an activity, not a meal.
'Have fish and chips, then go for a walk' would be a suggestion, albeit not a particularly helpful one as you don't have to be a genius to realise that going for a walk is something you can do without needing local input for something a bit more interesting/original, which I assume was why you bothered posting!

Did you miss the bit where she talks about things to do after you’ve eaten?

Exactly this !
I don't usually bother eating fish and chips at home as they usually disappoint , but fish and chips by the sea are something else !

It's part of the experience of a british seaside holiday, all places have this sort of stuff - food and drink that just tastes better at that location.

If someone asked me about things to do in my favourite holiday spot in France I woiud say get a tielle (octopus ragu patty) and chilled Orangina and eat with sitting with your legs dangling over the side of the harbour, or get a plate of seafood from the market and eat it outside a local market bar with chilled glass of white wine. Local food is part of the experiences that make that holiday special.

A piping hot parcel of fresh fish and chips, eaten sat on the seafront is great IMO, even better if it is sunny but a bit chilly.

Eat slower. 🤷‍♀️
It is part of the experience, not the whole.

Be less miserable. You will live longer.

Aka a Yorkshire fishcake. Available in pretty much every fish and chip shop in Yorkshire. Its what I get if I want the fish and chip experience but not a whole portion.

But here, fish and chips are great just about everywhere and not that expensive as fish, chips and mushy peas is under £15 with the portion so large it serves 2.

The seagulls in Redcar are quite civilised. Unlike Whitby 20 miles down the coast where they're brutal.

"wondering why on earth fish and chips by the sea is seen as so special. It really isnt!"

Sometimes I honestly wonder what some people expect from life.

A lovely hot meal you didn't have to cook yourself, sitting on a beautiful beach, besides the sea. You're with the people you love, nobody has to get up for work or school the next day. Everyone's relaxed, has had a fun day and is winding down watching a glorious sunset. No washing up, a wander home to your digs for a good night's sleep in a bed you won't have to change yourself. A whole new day of seaside fun to look forward to tomorrow.

These are the days you will look back on from your nursing home and your mouth will water at those fish and chips and the memory of being with the people (perhaps now long gone) will be what made your life worth living.

If that isn't special then you are tired of life.

So don’t eat them.

May be I am greedy guts but so many of my best holiday experiences are food related.

The amazing market hall in Toulouse where we would go every morning to got a chocolatine and eat at the counter of the market coffee bar with a 1 euro fifty coffee.

The over friendly, chaotic brunch place in a Boston suburb where the food kept on coming and the whole place stopped to watch the English people eat creamed wheat.

The covered food market in Porto where we just bounced from stall to stall buying small plates of food and glasses of wine all night.

The crammed wine bar in Sete where you simply hollered over the seafood stall down across street and they brought out platters of seafiod for the tables to share, well in to the night.

The tiny bar in Seville where they cooked the tapas on the bar ona small two ring gas burner and chalked up your bill in front of you.

The mandarin ice cream, the best I have ever eaten in my life, at small cheese festival that took over a while town in Northern Italy.

It's not just dinner.

There's these things called benches which tend to be along promenades in seaside towns.

My parents were always really snobby about fish and chips so as an adult I take great delight in eating a big portion of chips and a veggie spring roll on the beach, ideally it's a bit windy and the kids are running around. Lovely.