I recently enjoyed a three night stay in Blackpool, a seaside town that in my opinion is extremely underrated, there are so many places to visit and activities to take part in that it actually became a struggle to fit them all in. I don't think Blackpool has the greatest reputation but I've had nothing but good experiences and have made a ton of memories that will last a lifetime. This was my second overnight stay, the first being in 2015 after finishing university. It was mine and my boyfriend's first mini holiday we had taken together and because we had such a good time the first time around we were dying to go back to do it all over again. This time we stayed in a Travel Lodge right next to the Pleasure Beach, meaning we could see the theme park, water park and beach from our window and didn't have to walk very far for a great day out. Having said that though it is quite a long walk from the south pier to the north pier, one end has the Pleasure Beach and the other has the Blackpool Tower so it is highly likely you'll be doing this walk at least once during your stay. I think we actually walked it multiple times a day as we wanted to visit the arcades quite a lot.
Although I wasn't able to do everything I would have liked, such as the Horror Crypt and Dino Mini Golf, we did visit a big chunk of the attractions. I thought I would write a list detailing a few of my favourite places and my recommendations.
Blackpool
Tower Dungeon
The
Blackpool Tower Dungeon isn't to be missed if you're planning a trip to Blackpool any time soon.
It's an incredibly fun experience that lasts for about an hour. You walk through a series
of rooms where fully costumed actors comedically tell scary and historical stories to
make you laugh and maybe even jump a little bit from time to time
too. The actors are amazing at what they do, they'll involve you in
the 'act' whilst also making you feel completely at ease, which as a
quiet and reserved person made me thoroughly enjoy my experience. I
enjoyed it so much that I even bought the optional photos at the end, which I don't normally do.
Pleasure
Beach
The Pleasure
Beach is one of my favourite theme parks in the UK, it has a really
good mixture of rides, including Valhalla, one of the best water rides I have ever experienced. Whilst I was there I also got the opportunity to ride
Icon, their newest roller coaster for the first time which was
actually extremely fun and one of the best roller coasters I've ever
been on in terms of feeling safe and secure. Also worth mentioning is that the park was pretty much
empty during the time I visited. I would highly recommend planning a
visit for the beginning of June as we didn't have to queue at all and
went on all of the rides multiple times. We also had plenty of time
to sit down and eat some amazing chocolate crepes and hot dogs as well as visiting all of
the on-site arcades.
Sandcastle
Water Park
I'd never
been to Sandcastle Water Park before so this was a brand new
experience during my most recent visit to Blackpool. I didn't know
what to expect but it looked so incredible on their website that my
boyfriend and I were dying to give it a go. Last year during a
holiday to Tenerife we were fortunate enough to visit Siam Park, one
of the world's best water parks, and since then have both been craving
another water park experience. Obviously Sandcastle Water Park in
Blackpool is nothing like Siam Park in Tenerife but we were both
really excited to give it a go and to see what it had to offer.
One of the
most unique and unexpected things was that you can actually hire a
swimming costume. As we didn't originally set out to visit the water
park and I struggled to find a decent swim suit in town I ended up
taking full advantage of this option and was pleasantly surprised
with the outcome. It cost £3.50 with a £5 deposit to hire a suit
for the whole day which I think is amazing value for money, especially if you don't
want to panic buy a brand new suit that you don't necessarily feel
that great in. It's definitely a service I wouldn't hesitate to use again if I ever needed to. The park itself was also amazing, the main pool is a decent size with a little lazy river, there is also a deeper pool with a wave
machine and there are a ton of amazing slides dotted around the
building too, some of which went unexpectedly fast. If you're
interested in going I'd recommend checking out their website as it's
quite detailed and includes a map of the indoor park.
Pasaje del
Terror
This is a
truly amazing and terrifying experience that I would highly recommend
to anyone who loves horror films and who doesn't mind being scared
half to death. They describe it as an 'interactive walk-through horror
attraction', so basically you willingly walk through a series of dark
rooms and corridors whilst actors dressed as horror film villains, such
as, Michael Myers, Freddy Krugar and Jason Voorhees jump out, follow
and terrify you as you run and scream your way to the door at the
other side. It's extremely hard to explain or say anything more about as it's a completely unique experience unlike anything I've
experienced before. Although it's only actors and none of it is
real, they do an incredibly good job at making you forget that, so
much so that it feels incredibly real and will at times actually make
your heart pound with fear. Halloween is one of my favourite Horror
films and Michael Myers is one of my favourite movie 'bad guys' and
during our way through the attraction I felt like I got a
sense of what it might feel like to be one of his victims, the actor or actors that play him do an incredibly good job at portraying
his character.
Coral
Island Arcade
In my
opinion Coral Island is the best arcade in Blackpool. As well as it
being huge, it's also pirate themed and hosts a pirate themed family
pub as well as loads of arcade cabinets, grabber machines and games.
There are some games that actually give out a decent amount of
tickets too, which often isn't the case in these sorts of places. I
got a little bit addicted to a fair ground themed clown game, where
you throw a ball to knock down as many lit up clowns as you can to
score points and win tickets. It was an incredibly fun and great way to
spend the evening after visiting the other local attractions. We're
not big drinkers or party animals so this was a great alternative to
clubbing without just going back to our hotel.
Blackpool
Tower Circus
The Circus is an amazing experience that I have seen twice and loved both times, there was a four year gap between the two performances I saw so it has changed slightly this time around but the stunts and performances were just as brilliant as I had remembered them being. I would highly recommend going to see this, especially if you've purchased the big ticket, as it's one of the only things on in the evenings and one of the best things included. The first time I saw the show I was entering it completely blind, I'd never really been to a circus before so I didn't know what to expect and it completely blew me away, the quality and death defying stunts had me entertained from start to finish and I will definitely being visiting it again in the future.
I hope you enjoyed reading about some of my favourite places to visit in Blackpool, I would strongly recommend buying the big ticket that includes the Circus, The Blackpool Tower Eye, the Dungeons, the Ballroom, the Sea life Centre and Madame Tussaud's. It's only £46 per person for the six attractions which is incredibly good value for money, especially when you consider how much it would cost if you were to purchase them individually. During our stay we purchased the big ticket as well as buying tickets separately for the Pleasure Beach, Water Park and a few other smaller attractions that I think are vital to the Blackpool experience.
Although I haven't included The Sea Life Centre or Madame Tussaud's on this list they are still great experiences and well worth the small amount they cost as part of the big ticket. If I was to have one complaint though it would be that I would much prefer to see the Queen Victoria pub from Eastenders in Madame Tussaud's rather than The Rovers Return from Coronation Street (but that's just a nit pic from a huge Eastenders fan).
One last thing worth mentioning is that I would recommend booking your hotel and activities in advance. We only paid £74 for a three night stay, that together with the big ticket and a few other activities meant that we were able to have an amazing mini break at hardly any cost.
Thanks for reading, I hope I've given you some good recommendations that help you plan any future visits to Blackpool. Be sure to let me know in the comments what your favourite things to do in Blackpool are or if you're planning a trip anytime soon and what you're looking forward to the most.
No comments
Post a Comment