Top 10 UK piers
Jun
The seaside pier – a symbol of traditional British summers. We’ve handpicked ten of the best in the UK for you to visit
Southend Pier
Stretching 1.33 miles into the Thames Estuary, Southend Pier holds the record as the world’s longest pleasure pier. Battered by fires and storms over the decades, it remains a beloved symbol of the Essex seaside, carrying visitors by railway to its distant head.
Cromer Pier
Jutting into the North Sea off the Norfolk coast, Cromer Pier is a classic Victorian structure home to the famous Pavilion Theatre, one of Britain’s last end-of-pier shows. Lifeboat crews also operate from its tip, blending seaside charm with genuine heroism.
Brighton Palace
Opened in 1899, Brighton Palace Pier is perhaps Britain’s most iconic seaside structure. Stretching over the English Channel, it bristles with amusement arcades, fairground rides, and candy-floss stalls, drawing millions of visitors each year. A symbol of British seaside culture, it has survived storms, fires, and the passage of time with enduring, gaudy brilliance.
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth’s Britannia Pier has entertained seaside visitors since 1858, surviving storms and wartime damage to remain a beloved Norfolk landmark. Its theatre has hosted generations of variety acts and summer shows, keeping alive the tradition of classic British seaside entertainment against a backdrop of the North Sea.
Clevedon Pier
Clevedon Pier in Somerset is widely regarded as the most beautiful pier in Britain. Its elegant Victorian ironwork, built from shipyard rails, arches gracefully over the Severn Estuary. Rescued by local campaigners in the 1980s, it’s now a Grade I listed structure, a testament to community determination and Victorian engineering artistry.
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare’s Grand Pier rose dramatically from the ashes after a devastating 2008 fire, reopening in 2010 with a striking modern pavilion, packed with rides and attractions for families visiting this classic Somerset resort.
Worthing Pier
Worthing Pier is one of the south coast’s most graceful and understated seaside structures. Opened in 1862, it stretches calmly into the English Channel, offering fine views along the Sussex coastline. Less brash than its Brighton neighbour, it retains a gentle, traditional charm, with a southern pavilion that has hosted entertainment and refreshment for generations of visitors.
Llandudno Pier
Stretching gracefully into the Irish Sea from the elegant Victorian resort of Llandudno, this magnificent pier is the longest in Wales at 2,295 feet. Opened in 1877, it curves gently around the Great Orme headland in a setting of quite exceptional natural beauty. Its ornate tollgates and pavilion speak of Victorian ambition and craftsmanship, and it remains a cherished landmark.
Southwold Pier
Southwold Pier in Suffolk is one of Britain’s most charming and characterful seaside structures. The original pier opened in 1900 but fell into disrepair over the decades, reduced to a stub by storms and neglect. Remarkably, it was lovingly restored and extended in the early 2000s, reopening in 2001 to great acclaim. What makes Southwold Pier truly special is its delightfully eccentric Under the Pier Show, a collection of hand-crafted novelty machines created by artist Tim Hunkin, blending wit, invention and seaside whimsy in a way utterly unlike anywhere else in Britain.
Eastbourne Pier
Eastbourne Pier is one of the finest and most elegant Victorian piers in Britain. Opened in 1872, it stretches nearly a third of a mile into the English Channel, its ornate ironwork and distinctive domed pavilions catching the eye from the promenade. Surviving fires and storm damage over the years, it remains a proud centrepiece of this refined East Sussex resort.
