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Parks and the outdoors in Blackpool

7 parks, gardens, beaches and walks in and around Blackpool.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

Parks and the outdoors in Blackpool

  1. See

    Blackpool Pleasure Beach

    One of Britain's largest and oldest amusement parks, with ten roller coasters including the Grand National, a listed racing wooden coaster built in 1935, the world-unique Steeplechase roller coaster, and Britain's tallest roller coaster The Big One which is over high. Other rides include the 1930 Ghost Train which gave the rides their name, and Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machines, the oldest amusement park ride in Europe, being built in 1904. As well as the adult rides, children's rides area, and side-stalls, the park also has some excellent architecture. It began as a Victorian funfair, adding permanent buildings in the 1930s in Art Deco style, such as the station of the Roller Coaster ride, and the White Tower at the south entrance to the park.

    Apr-Oct: daily 11AM-5PMAdult £35, child £30

  2. See

    Blackpool Zoo

    The zoo in Blackpool Tower closed in 1969; it was a cramped unhygienic affair, the site of Alfred's mishap with the lion. This larger zoo opened in Stanley Park in 1972. There are great ape enclosures, wolves, wallabies, penguins, meerkats... and dinosaurs, rare in the wild nowadays.

    Daily Nov-Mar: 10AM-4PM, Apr-Oct 10AM-5:45PMAdult £15

  3. Drink

    Rose & Crown

    Very central place with Continental-style eating and drinking, large outdoor seating area. Also main afterparty pub for Rebellion Punk Festival audience after Winter Gardens close for night. Non-Pubwatch venue so bouncers make their own rules and can bar you for nighttime permanently even no official ban (won't be around daytime).

    Daily 11AM-11PM

  4. Do Not mapped

    Blackpool Illuminations

    A lights and laser show stretching for 6 mi along the Prom, from Starr Gate in the south to Bispham in the north. The Lights, founded in 1879, are usually on from the end of Aug to early Jan, with a celebrity switch-on. (In 1977 they were switched on by the racehorse Red Rum.) You can walk or drive the route (south to north is recommended for driving, suggested donation £5 per car) or take a tram, which sounds cool but the view from within the trams is limited.

  5. Do Not mapped

    Heritage trams

    Tour the Promenade, starting from the Tower. The standard tour is a one-hour ride north to Bispham then south as far as Pleasure Beach and back to the Tower.

    Late Mar-Dec: Weekends and some weekdays£6-8

  6. Eat

    Beach House

    Upmarket but relaxed bistro with global offerings.

    Sun-Thu noon-10PM, Fri Sat noon-1AM

  7. Do

    Winter Gardens

    They host many shows including the Blackpool Fringe.

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Blackpool (CC BY-SA 4.0).