From Blackpool to Bournemouth, these quintessentially British institutions celebrate a lot more than fish and chips and amusement arcades<\/p>\n
Perched in our glass-fronted eyrie, 300 metres out to sea, we watch a murmuration of starlings rise and fall and swoop around us. When the show is over, we turn our attention to the food. I have a bespoke vegan menu based on the best early summer ingredients: jersey royals, asparagus, strawberries. My boyfriend orders off the weekly changing \u00e0 la carte: slow-cooked beef dumplings followed by butter-poached halibut.<\/p>\n
We are at Ebb, a restaurant at the end of the pier in Worthing, West Sussex, which opened in May. Its art-deco design and fine-dining dishes are a far cry from the fish-and-chip shops and ice-cream parlours more commonly found on seaside piers. But traditionalists need not despair: downstairs at Perch on the Pier, fish and chips \u2013 as well as tofish (tofu) and chips \u2013 are always on the menu, with a knickerbocker glory to round things off in fine retro style.<\/p>\n
Worthing pier, which opened in 1862, is one of Britain\u2019s surviving 19th-century pleasure piers. \u201cThe seaside piers around the coast of Britain stand as a powerful reminder of the achievements of Victorian engineers and entrepreneurs,\u201d says the National Piers Society website. \u201cHowever, of the 100 piers that once graced our coastline, only half survive, and several of these face an uncertain future.\u201d The society campaigns to preserve the piers for everyone\u2019s enjoyment, and has saved several that were at risk of demolition.<\/p>\n
Worthing may well be the foodiest pier in the UK, but they all have their charms. Here are 10 well worth a stroll out to sea.<\/p>\n
Bangor\u2019s 458-metre (1,500ft) pier stretches out halfway across the Menai Strait, backdropped by the Eryri mountain range (Snowdonia). To coincide with its 130th anniversary this year, the Pier Master\u2019s House at the entrance has been turned into a holiday let (from \u00a3140 a night, sleeps six). The pavilion at the far end is now a cafe, and the smaller Victorian kiosks dotted along the pier house independent businesses selling gifts, artworks and local food. There is a programme of weekend events over the summer, from busking and children\u2019s fun days to a dog parade.<\/p>\n
Bournemouth pier (first opened 1856, current structure 1880) boasts the world\u2019s first pier-to-shore zip wire, a 250-metre dual line starting from the end-of-the-pier tower. As well as the PierZip, it has RockReef, an indoor climbing centre with 28 climbing walls, an aerial obstacle course, a vertical slide, a \u201cleap of faith\u201d and caving tunnels. The pier is the best place to watch Bournemouth\u2019s Friday fireworks (10pm, until 28 August), and there is regular live music at its Key West restaurant (until 28 August). The town\u2019s other pier, Boscombe (opened 1889), is next to free bouldering obstacles and slacklines, and near the beach volleyball courts.<\/p>\n
Britannia pier won the coveted 2026 Pier of the Year award, taking over from last year\u2019s winner Llandudno, and beating runners-up Herne Bay and Swanage. The 250-metre pier was built in 1858, but as with many of the original Victorian piers, it has been damaged, demolished, rebuilt (in 1901), burned down and reconstructed over the years. The current owners bought it in 2022 and have spent \u00a32.2m restoring and upgrading it. Its attractions include a theatre, fun fair, arcades, fish and chip shop, pub and nightclub. Holidaymakers can also visit the town\u2019s Wellington pier, further south along the seafront, which opened in 1853 and has a bowling alley, arcade and ice-cream parlour.<\/p>\n
While Penarth pier dates back to 1894, as a landing jetty for the steamships in the Bristol Channel, its art-deco pavilion wasn\u2019t built until 1929. This former dancehall has recently been restored and is now a cinema and arts centre, with year-round film screenings, art exhibitions, live music, workshops and talks. Coming up this month is a jazz brunch, a drawing workshop, and a knitting and crocheting social, alongside summer blockbusters The Odyssey and Minions & Monsters. There is a cafe in the pavilion, and a coffee shop, ice-cream parlour and chippy elsewhere on the pier.<\/p>\n
Roker pier is distinctive for its red-and-white striped granite lighthouse, completed in 1903. After extensive restoration, and closures due to storm damage, pier and lighthouse are now open for guided tours (\u00a314 adults\/\u00a310 children, to 27 August). Visitors walk the length of an underground tunnel to reach the lighthouse \u2013 the route the keeper used in bad weather \u2013 then climb to the top to take in the views. For post-tour refreshments, the pier\u2019s former toilet block is now a gin bar, Tin of Sardines, with brunch and tapas menus served on the terrace in the summer.<\/p>\n
England\u2019s only Grade I-listed pier opened in 1869 to receive paddle steamer passengers from Devon and Wales. It is made from discarded wrought iron railway lines shaped into eight arches, nearly 15 metres high. In 1980, during a campaign to save it from demolition, the then poet laureate John Betjeman described it as \u201cthe most beautiful pier in England\u201d. \u201cClevedon without its pier would be like a diamond with a flaw,\u201d he said. The pier was duly saved, and now its Victorian pagoda is a cafe, its toll house is a museum and gift shop, and there is a modern restaurant, the Glass Box. The sea view from the porthole room is streamed live 24\/7.<\/p>\n
The oldest pier in Wales (1865) was designed by Eugenius Birch, a renowned seaside architect best-known for Brighton\u2019s now-ruined West pier. Today, Royal pier is billed as \u201cthe number one destination for competitive socialising in Aberystwyth\u201d, with three bars and a nightclub. There is a host of activities in the Billiard Bar, including shuffleboard, augmented-reality darts, footpool and interactive mini golf; the Upstairs Bar has seven pool tables; and the Inn on the Pier is a restored Victorian boozer, with stained glass and custom tiles. DJs play chill-out tunes in the pier garden over the summer, and the Pressure Nightclub is open until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays.<\/p>\n
Blackpool is the proud home of three piers: Blackpool North (1863), Blackpool Central (1868) and Blackpool South (1893). The Grade II-listed north pier is the oldest surviving Birch pier, and has an art-deco theatre, a two-tier carousel, bars and an arcade. It was sold in June and is open until at least the end of the year before a promised \u00a310m refurbishment. The central pier has Blackpool\u2019s Big Wheel, a funfair and a show bar with live performances. The south pier has a more high-octane funfair, with a rollercoaster, a freefalling swing and a reverse bungee ride, and is next to Blackpool\u2019s Pleasure Beach for more adrenaline-fuelled fun. Its many food and drink options include the Gin House and a loaded jacket potato stand.<\/p>\n
Gravesend\u2019s pier opened on the Thames in 1834, and is the oldest surviving cast-iron pier in the world. It was once a hub for steam packets to London \u2013 more than 3 million passengers used it between 1835 and 1842 \u2013 and today there are still occasional summer sailings to the capital with Uber Boat by Thames Clippers. Just by the entrance to the pier is the ancient Three Daws pub, which was licensed in 1565 as the Three Cornish Choughs and renamed in 1745. This old smugglers\u2019 haunt, which has three underground tunnels, now hosts a summer beer and music festival (7-9 August) and an Oktoberfest (18 September).<\/p>\n
The Isle of Wight once had an incredible 11 piers, and four still survive: Ryde (the second-longest in the UK, after Southend-on-Sea in Essex), Sandown, Totland (for sale) and Yarmouth. Sandown (1879) is a particular paradise for families, whatever the weather. There is the Aztec-themed Lost World indoor crazy golf, with lighting and sound effects; the Magic Island indoor adventure play area; and Superbowl 10-pin bowling. The end of the pier has rides such as dodgems and teacups (Easter to September only); there is a cafe, ice-cream kiosk and burger bar; and Scruffy Jacks bar shows live sport.<\/p>\n