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!

I have happy memories of family holidays in the east neuk of Fife where once or twice we'd drive to a wee chippy and get fish suppers. Usually sat in car to eat it (as even summer evenings in Scotland can be a bit chilly) but we'd park so we could watch the crashing waves. Simple but very happy times (1980s).

Edited to add that I don't remember any other dinners or lunches, so the fish supper trips were definitely special to me.

AIBU to think that "swimming" is just regular exercise, not a holiday activity?

Seen this on a few threads lately, and when I asked a couple of years ago about ideas of what to do in the days on hols in the UK, this was the line trotted out most! "Go in the sea and swim". For a start I hate getting changed on the beach, its cold and inconvenient and secondly, what about the other 6 afternoons in a week or are we meant to do it every single day?

Some people don't think an 'experience' has to be this huge thing. It can be as simple as sitting and watching the sun set in a different place or enjoying some local food in the fresh air.

If you don't like it, fair enough, but obviously many people do.

There's a caff that does pretty good fish & chips on the coastal path near us. However, I've only eaten there once because the bloody seagulls swoop down to raid people's plates. This is generally a pretty successful strategy, as they tag team each other and while you're concentrating on fending off one, another charges in from the other direction.

So cold chips Even more exciting.............

Ate fish and chips on the beach at Sennen Cove as the sun was starting to go down last week, then had a paddle. It was magical.

It is as much an activity as going out for dinner is generally - and I would consider that an event. A lovely thing to do on a UK holiday by the sea.

Your take is a bit joyless.

Eating hot fish and chips, lots of salt and vinegar, sharing portions, smelling the sea, looking over the horizon as the sun goes down- what's not an experience about that? It's not the same as sitting in a restaurant, although you could enjoy fish and chips in a restaurant overlooking the sea too...

Lol, i'm not posh, just political.

I would count it as an activity as it's usually followed by a walk along the beach, taking your shoes off and dipping your feet in the water. Skimming stones or just people watching. Fish and chips (with lots of salt and vinegar) taste delicious outside. I wouldn't walk and eat them but I'd find a park bench. Easy, low key and yummy. Maybe a wee stop in an ice cream shop after or the local pub for a pint.

The loveliest fish and chips I ever had was outside at the seaside, it was years ago and i have never forgoten it, so fresh and tasty.

It used to be a cheap alternative to dining at a restaurant, but these days fish and chips cost an absolute fortune. If I’m paying over £40 for four of us eating fish and chips out of a plastic tray wondering around outside, I’d rather choose to eat indoors off a plate for a few pounds more.

I think you have to see this through children’s eyes, not adults. They presumably eat at tables (at home, restaurants, school etc.) so to eat on a bench or walking down a pier, or sitting on a beach is a novel experience. It sounds really weird, but I have a very early memory of eating a whole tomato ‘like an apple’ at a train station (I suspect the train was delayed, I was hungry, and there were limited options, probably from some shopping done for a picnic the next day). It was such an unusual thing to eat not sitting at a proper table!

And/or a gherkin! I love fish and chips. Preferably sitting on the beach with a ginger beer and channelling Julian from the Famous Five by commenting how much better food tastes when eaten outdoors.

Obviously it isn't going to take an entire evening but it is definitely something to do at least once on a seaside holiday in the UK. Along with getting a 99, going crabbing, venturing into the sea shrieking at the cold, having a pasty if in Cornwall, having a cream tea if in Devon or Cornwall, having crab sandwiches and expressing extreme shock at the extortionate price (if in Cornwall), building a sandcastle, making a picture with shells and seaweed Art Attack-style and writing in the damp sand with a stick.

When looking back at special memories with DH most ours involve food, and not always fancy meals, can be very simple but in a lovely location

We live in a seaside place and get fish and chips almost every week - it’s infinitely better when we haul our lazy bottoms down to the village beach. I don’t think we have ever had it on our own holidays though 🤣

Ahh #Fish is round the corner from me! We love it!

But lots of people obv enjoy it so maybe just let them and don’t do it yourself if it doesn’t appeal 😂

No necessity to eat the batter. I'd expect a fish restaurant to be able to provide a piece of fish cooked in breadcrumbs or plainly instead of in batter, anyway. In the thread I was talking about it was made plain that the fussy children would eat chips, just not fish in any form. That was what surprised me. Fish fingers were a staple when I was growing up.

I agree with OP. Though I'm biased as I prefer chips with curry sauce and sausage or saveloy and pineapple fritters 😋😋🤪.
Also, I live in a tourist dependent town on the south coast. When the weather is like it has been recently, it is a great place to be. Sunbathing, swimming in the sea, the bars and cafes are full of cheerful relaxed people. Locals and tourists alike. It has a Mediterranean resort vibe.
However, the rest of the year, the town is quite bleak. Pretty much like 'Every day is like Sunday' by Morrissey.
It bugs me when people think it's great living by the sea. It is even more depressing when it is windy and wet and dark. Walking on the beach in crap weather is certainly a miserable 'experience'. Regardless of whether you are eating fish and chips or fresh doughnuts or nothing at all.

And yes, the seagulls here are particularly vicious, so eating outdoors is not advised.

Of course it is! You're outside, sitting in the sea air, smelling the smells, looking at boats, listening to the seagulls, people watching, and eating what the sea has provided. It's a multi sensory experience and all the better for it

Seaside fish and chips is almost unfailingly leagues better than any home chippy. I barely ever have fish and chips at home. By the time you're back from the chippy, it's all a soggy mess yet the fish is dry.

We always have fish and chips at the seaside. We don't walk with it, but we sit on a nearby bench or a harbour wall, and it's great.

Exactly. This is what life is all about - nice times with people you love.

I've been known to choose holiday destinations on the strength of the local chippy. As for all this business about "sitting in", I'm afraid I don't really see the point. If it's got indoor seating, it's probably not quite the real thing.

The proper way is to queue outside some tiny, nondescript shack, then find somewhere to sit on the beach or the harbour wall, keeping one eye on the seagulls. Anything else rather spoils the flavour.

I was at a seaside town on Thursday evening, walked along the prom then sat on the beach to eat a fish supper, listening to local pipe band practising and being stared at by seagulls.

Splendid!

we will be going on holiday to Devon for 2 weeks, self catering. We won't be eating out much due to cost, but we will have fish and chips by the beach one evening. We did it last time and it was lovely. Just because something only takes an hour, it doesn't mean it's not special. We don't live by the coast so it's a bit of a treat for us, and we won't be going out many evenings (mostly just daytime). I'm not sure what is wrong with giving that as a holiday experience. It's not something I would post on social media or similar, but we'd plan it as a family.