Best seaside towns?

[Red Squirrel]

Any seaside town north of Stratford upon avon with the excepcion of whitby and maybe one or two coastal villages  in the north east deserve to be shut down. The South West truly reigns supreme for idyllic coastal nooks and crannies.

I am guessing you've never been North of Whitby then? The beaches, along with the scenery in the North of Scotland are stunning (if a little cold at times).

[pumbaa]

Ahving spent the best part of the last 3 years (with one notable exception) holidaying in the UK, I've been to a fair few places. In no particular order:

Morecambe - totally agree with Saxondale, it has no commendable features whatsoever.
Blackpool - you know what you get and to expect. Enough said.
Aberystwith - I actually quite liked it, somewhat genteel and laid back.
Tenby - It alsolutely sloshed it down the whole weekend I was there. What I saw (through the rain) was lovely. Will go back.
Barry Island - even with the Gavin & Stacey makeover, its still a run down dump.....
Ilfracombe - a little secret, Tunnels Beach. Lovely, safe for kids, black sand. You have to pay to go on it (ergo its quiet), but we spent a lovely day there, had a lovely picnic and played in the rock pools.
Woolacombe/Croyde/Saunton Sands/Braunton - yearly pilgrimage - lovely area with beautiful beaches and popular with the surfer dudes of course. Highly recommended.
North Cornwall coast (Bude etc) - again lovely beaches, and its rugged scenic countryside. Beautiful.
Perranporth - lovely beach, quite town, shit weather....
South Devon - not an area I know that well, but we have a week in Brixham planned later in the year. Did spend a day on Blackpool Sands last year, was very busy, restaurant on the beach was lovely, but its expensive to park.
Exmouth - great for pensioners
Seaton - Pretty
Lyme Regis - Hilly. Expensive. Nice. The whole Jurassic Coast is generally brilliant.
Weymouth - slightly tacky, but haed out to Bowleaze Cove for a lovely, quiet beach.
Eastbourne - See Exmouth.
Margate - I was pleasantly surprised, we spent a lovely day on the beach (had pretty much the whole beach to ourselves) and found a great cafe on the end of the jetty. Had a bit of a makeover. Try it....
Whitstable - Bit of a gastronomy destination. Beach is a bit shabby, but overall quite nice.

I live in Weston-super-Mare. Its really quite nice, provided you time your visit right (and avoid all the obnoxious midlander's who seem to frequent it during the summer). Like everything, a little local knowledge is key.

[blah blah]

If you're just after a great beach, then you cant really go wrong anywhere along the North Devon & Cornwall coasts. However I do find a lot of the towns a little run down now - Perranporth, Ilfracombe, Woolacombe could offer so much more than they do with a bit of investment but they just look a little bit tatty now. St Ives is nice but gets really busy, so try Hayle beach a few miles up the road - a massive stretch of golden sand with good waves that I've never seen busy even in the height of summer.
My favourite though has to be Croyde - again a great beach but the town/village itself has kept a certain old fashioned charm that others seem to have lost. And the Thatch is one of my top 5 pubs - great real ales & ciders and even though it is often rammed with surfers, the atmosphere just buzzes most of the day.

[Coca Fola]

Morecambe is beautiful.

[Arriba]

Lynmouth is a beautiful place by the sea. Picture postcard little town

[jutty274]

Clacton is a nice seaside town, average beach but plenty to do. I stayed in St. Oesth just up the road the holiday site i was on had a private beach that was nice & secluded & best of all right next to a nudist beach. I was there for a week with 3 kids & they never got bored once apart from the journey home.

[Notts red]

Having lived on the East Anglian coast (well 10 miles inland) for 14 years I concur with the Goat's thoughts.  Great Yarmouth is a total shit hole, Lowestoft slightly better (nice beaches) but Southwold will take some beating.

Been to Southwold and it is very nice. My wife's gran had a beach hut at Walton-on-the-naze which is/was very quaint. I'm not as keen on the east coast so tend to venture South, South-west. We often take the dog and a football down to Weston or Brean beach to stretch the legs on a Sunday.

[pumbaa]

My favourite though has to be Croyde - again a great beach but the town/village itself has kept a certain old fashioned charm that others seem to have lost. And the Thatch is one of my top 5 pubs - great real ales & ciders and even though it is often rammed with surfers, the atmosphere just buzzes most of the day.

Agree with most of that, but don't spread the message too far or the place will be inundated. I'm not convinced by The Thatch, good beer/cider selection and atmosphere, but the food (with the notable exception of the Nacho's) is geeting worse and not VFM. Off again in June for a long weekend.

Morecambe is beautiful.

I know I'm really short sighted, but its not.

Lynmouth is a beautiful place by the sea. Picture postcard little town

Another place I've only been to when its raining. Agree entirely though.

We often take the dog and a football down to Weston or Brean beach to stretch the legs on a Sunday.

Perfect location IMO. Despite all its faults, I really do enjoy a walk on Weston beach, especially this time of year.

[Notts red]

Agree Pumbaa, normally drive down through Cheddar and across Bleadon hill? A bag of chips from the Kiosk opposite the pier and a wander around Weston is much better than a boring Sunday. The Brummies are venturing further south and have now reached North Devon and beyond 

[adje]

Not really a town but Lulworth Cove/Durdle Door is a magical place

[Langers]

I know I'm really short sighted, but its not.

It really is a vile place.

[Saxondale]

Morecambe is beautiful.

Perhaps I was a little harsh on Morecombe.  It now has a nice hotel (the midland) which has done the pier / esplanade / whatever these things are called, up in a nice way and has a good cafe.  Very chic' boutique-y type thing. Some may say wanky.

It also has a statue of Eric Morecombe.

Other than that and a few nice building in between hideous 60's pre-fabs it was horrible.  The sea was grey.  Northerners probably think 'ah a proper seaside town, none of your poncey nice beaches and pretty things coz we're rock hard up here'.  I personally just thought depressing shithole.  Even my missus who loves a seaside town they forgot to close down thought it was horrific.

[adje]

Down here,Whitstable is the pick of a poor bunch!

[Family at War]

Try the Pasty's at Croyde PO

[herthab]

Try the Pasty's at Croyde PO

Do the still do the ice creams smothered in clotted cream? Spent 2 summers down there working at Putsborough beach shop when I was younger. Great place.