I went to one of UK’s worst seaside towns – one thing redeemed it | UK | Travel

Despite many seaside towns in the UK undergoing major transformations, these coastal spaces still seem to have a bad rep. Many working families still save their money to afford their yearly trip to the seaside, yet there’s a lingering snobbery about many of the UK’s staycation destinations.

Last week, consumer magazine Which? released the results of a survey of the UK’s best and worst seaside towns and villages across the UK. Second from the bottom, slightly ahead of Bognor Regis, was the Suffolk town of Lowestoft. Scoring a rather dismal 46%, it received just one star for its scenery, seafront, and food and drink options.

Seeing Lowestoft so low on the list was jarring. I visited the town back in April, and admittedly, when you arrive it doesn’t look like the prettiest of places. One of the first things you see are the vast working docks, and we waited patiently as the bridge went up and a large ship sailed past.

The town centre was also a little concrete and utilitarian. Look, it’s not the kind of seaside town where you’ll find a lot of independent shops stuffed with tat or vintage tearooms, but it had lots of useful shops and seemed busy, which is more than could be said for many high streets. It felt like a town where people live rather than just a seaside resort.

But nobody goes to the seaside for a day of shopping, so we headed to the seafront, and here’s where Lowestoft scored highly. In the Which? survey it managed to get four stars for its beach, and the South Beach area is beautiful. It has a long stretch of golden sand, clean shallow waters where we managed a very cold paddle, and there are even colourful beach huts you can hire for the day.

The seafront itself is a little retro, but frankly, it’s a style I like. We made our way into an amusement arcade and used the change machines to get lots of two pence pieces to play the machine.

We stopped for brunch at JOJO’S Kitchen & Bar, an American-style diner which does great pancakes, and had a peek inside the East Point Pavilion, a Victorian-style building built in the 1990s that has been turned into a colourful community space where you can grab a decent coffee to enjoy on the seafront.

As you stroll along the promenade, you’ll see all the hallmarks of a classic British seaside town, from the Georgian terraces turned into B&Bs to the bucket and spade shops. There were big green spaces and parking was reasonable.

Admittedly, Lowestoft does need some work, and there are regeneration programs aimed at improving the town. Its beach is a huge asset, and you can see the potential for it to become a better place to live as well as more of a day trip destination.

And while I had plenty of opinions about the town, the two youngest travel critics in the family gave Lowestoft the thumbs up, which was really the most important thing. While it’s very easy to dismiss seaside towns as being tired or stuck in the past, what many adults forget is that they’re still a magical place for kids. While my two already have a fair few air miles under their belts, there’s something about places like Lowestoft that truly delights them, and no doubt it’ll be the place that sticks in their memories when they grow up.

For further information, visit thesuffolkcoast.co.uk.

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