St Annes Beach and Seafront

Join us for a look around St Annes beach and seafront. It’s an important part of this Victorian seaside town with miles of open public land and gardens to explore. It’s an enormous natural beach (but can be dangerous so take care!) Walk the beautifully tended promenade gardens, complete with waterfalls and ducks. Enjoy traditional seaside attractions, with fun for all the family – winter and summer it’s a great place to visit!

In this video you can take a virtual walk around the seafront and promenade –

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St Annes Beach

Huge, open acres of golden sand front against a traditional Victorian seaside seafront at St Annes. It’s a lovely place to enjoy a stroll, look around the gardens, and take in the seaside vibe. Listen to children playing and soak up the fresh air and weather. Lovely at any time of the year, it really comes into its own when the sun shines!

Pitch your deckchair and windbreak for a traditional day at the sands. With buckets and spades and kites, all the family can enjoy an affordable and fun time making memories. Enjoy bouncy castles on the sand and donkey rides – it’s the stuff that memories are made of!

There’s a host of amenities and facilities here too. From food and drink – served in kiosks and cafes – to children’s amusements, pitch and putt golf, the pier, and even a little train. It’s a properly family place – ideal for all ages from toddlers to as old as you like! In the central area near the pier there’s a children’s paddling pool which is very popular in summer, and next to it an attractive bandstand.

And remember to take a stroll along the Victorian St Annes Pier too. The buildings at the landward end include arcade games and quaint memories of the past. Beyond that is the open air deck, complete with cafe and deckchairs for sunny days.

…and Seafront Gardens

The seafront promenade gardens are beautiful and well kept, running most of the way along the outer promenade. At the southern end of the seafront is an ornamental pond and huge waterfall that you can walk under, and where you’ll find resident ducks. You don’t need to paddle in the lake though, because there’s even a separate splash park too!

Directions to St Annes Beach and Seafront

St Annes is an easy resort to get to. From the main motorway network at the M55 it’s signposted and a fairly straight route. Ten minutes (or so) from the motorway network and you’re at the heart of the resort. More about getting to St Annes here.

It’s fairly easy to find your way around St Annes. The main town centre high street (St Annes Road West) is at right angles to the seafront.

The T junction between North/South Promenade and St Annes Road West is where you’ll find the central ‘seaside’ resort of St Annes seafront. It’s where the seafront hotels are, and all the traditional British seaside things. With St Annes Pier opposite the junction, in the attractive surroundings of this typical British coastal resort.

Click on the Google map below to plan your route and have a look around

Facilities at St Annes Beach

Parking…

Once you’ve arrived here you’ll want to park your car. There’s pay and display car parking at the front of the pier. The Peace and Happiness Garden is at the right of the pier as you look at it, and there’s another pay and display car park to the right of that. (Called North Promenade car park).

More pay and display spaces can be found around the Island – around the swimming pool and cinema. At the Fairhaven Lake end of the seafront is another pay and display car park – at Fairhaven Road near the Little Links Golf.

If you’re lucky you might get one of the free on-street spaces which line the full length of the promenade. In summer they’re usually full!

…and toilets!

You’ll find two separate blocks of public toilets near the pier. One block is adjacent to the bandstand (next to the Mexico memorial) and another block is at the north end of North Promenade car park. Further blocks can be found next to the Splash park and at Fairhaven Road adjacent to the car park.

Public toilets are operated by Danfo – pay with coins on entry to individual cubicles. Don’t forget your 20p and 10p pieces!

Keep Safe on the Sands

The sandy beach is so huge because of the wide tidal range of the Irish Sea. The beach is very flat, so the tide goes out a long way. But it comes back in very quickly – so beware! While the tide’s out there are miles and miles of sands for you to enjoy. PLEASE be careful, know the tide times before you set off walking and always watch the sea while you’re on the beach. People can, and do, get into difficulty. Don’t think it won’t be you. There’s more beach safety advice here

Dogs on St Annes Beach

Don’t forget, there’s a dog ban on St Annes Beach from the Pier to the boating pond during the summer season. It only applies on the main amenity beach so there are plenty of other places where you can walk your dog.

Have a look at the glorious sandy beach on a beautiful summers day in this aerial footage taken by Quadographer13

Head South Along St Annes Seafront

Follow the seafront southwards with the sea on your right and you can walk right round the coastline. You’ll pass Fairhaven Lake and and if you carry on, eventually arrive at Lytham.

Whether on foot or by car, travel south along the coastal route and you’ll pass The Island complex. Here there are restaurants and a cinema, plus outdoor children’s amusements, gift shops and a cafe. Unusually, the gift shop and cafe is housed in stationary railway carriages!

You’ll also pass the RNLI all-weather base. The annual Lifeboat Day is held here. In the same building is the RNLI shop.

There’s also a cafe in another building on the opposite side of the boating pool. It was designed by the same architect as the boathouse so looks somewhat similar, but has no connection with the lifeboat.

Next to the RNLI building is a boating lake where you can have all kinds of safe fun, messing about in the water.

Next on your coastal path are St Annes Beach Huts. In pastel shades they line the wide promenade footpath and are incredibly popular with holiday makers. Behind them, the miniature train runs around the site of the Little Links golf.

Further south you’ll reach the much larger Fairhaven Lake. Again, here the coastal footpath heads around the water’s edge, or by car the highway follows the seafront.

Finally, the road rounds the corner inland to the crossroads at the White Church, where you pick up Clifton Drive. Turn left to return to St Annes town centre, or turn right for a short drive to Lytham.

Go Northwards along St Annes Seafront

The long, straight roads of North and South Promenade provide an attractive drive (or walk) along the seafront at St Annes. North Promenade (with the sea on your left) takes you in the direction of Blackpool.

Beyond the pier you’ll pass large properties along North Promenade. Some are in private ownership, others are apartment blocks. Most are residential, either period properties or a variety of more recent architectural styles.

Sand Dunes

These properties at North Promenade have spectacular views across the large sand dunes which flank the seaward side of the road. Naturally formed, these provide at least some protection from the westerly winds and airborne sand, blowing from the huge, golden sandy beach that lies beyond. The sand dunes are an important, natural sea defence.

Did you know? That Christmas trees are collected from Fylde Coast homes every January? They’re used to strengthen and extend St Annes sand dunes.

The next short clip was filmed in early Spring, at the corner of North Promenade and Todmorden Road –

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Things for Children on St Annes Seafront

Paddling Pool

In Spring 2022, improvement works were carried out to the paddling pool next to the pier. A ramp was installed along with a new handrail. It’s also been resurfaced with a non-slip material to make it more accessible for people of all ages and abilities.

Splash!

St Annes Splash Park and outdoor water play area was brand new for 2019, it opened on 3 April. Guarded by dolphins, it’s a safe, play water park for little ones on St Annes Promenade.

It’s usually open daily from 10 till 4pm, 7 days a week, between April and September, subject to the weather being suitable. Entry to Splash is £2.00 per child for a single 1 hour session. You can book online here or at the entrance to Splash!

Splash with thanks to your Friends

The Promenade Gardens Friends group began working in partnership with Fylde Council on this community project way back in 2016. They’ve created the fully inclusive facility on the Promenade Gardens in St. Anne’s.

The project cost around £259,000 and was achieved through funding from Fylde Council plus grant aid raised by the friends group. Monies were also secured from LCC Environment and Community Projects Fund, Lancashire Environmental Action Fund, Section 106 contributions, the LCC Local Members Grant Scheme and local business donations.

The Splash Park joins the child friendly rides, bouncy trampolines, train, kiddies’ playground, paddling pool, pier and award winning beach. Not forgetting the cafes, gift shops, ice cream parlours and lovely ornamental gardens!

Saving St Annes Train

The miniature railway has been popular with young and old for many years. It’s a magnet for little ones begging mummy and daddy to take them for a ride on the train. Many thanks to friend of Visit Fylde Coast Sue Massey for taking these great photos.

Sadly the little train’s future wasn’t included in the first draft plans for new sea defences for the beach hut area. However, following much public objection, the feelings of the public were incorporated into revised plans.

Following the overwhelming response, the latest proposal now includes all of the much-loved amenities that the public wish to keep. Of course there will be disruption during the construction process. But the revised proposal ensures the retention of the Miniature Golf, the Miniature Railway, and the Beach Huts in their current location.

There’s a good selection of high quality accommodation and hotels in St Annes and the Blackpool area, with a choice of period and modern properties. All designed to give you a perfect UK staycation!

Please look after the Environment

If you love the seafront and the vast acres of golden sandy beach, you’ll want to keep them clean. It’s important to look after this wild and natural resource. Both for the wildlife which lives there and the people who use it. For today’s generations and for those of the future.

Litter can be a death trap for wildlife. For example, the string from balloon releases and net bags from beach toys are an entanglement trap. It tangles around birds legs and wings. Around fish and mammals, who then can’t feed themselves, starve and die. Plastic bags and packets float in the water then jellyfish, fish, mammals and birds eat it. With a stomach full of plastic, they starve to death.

To start with please DON’T drop litter – put it in a bin. If you see litter when you’re out and about pick it up. Simply popping a piece of rubbish into a litter bin can make a world of difference.

Join St Annes Beach Care Group

You could also join IHOPE – short for I Help Other People Everyday. It’s a community support group which also helps out at local events, educates people on the tides and much more.

They hold regular beach cleans/coastal litter picks, meeting at the promenade near St Annes Beach Huts/RNLI. Their frequency increases to daily picks through bank holidays, half terms and summer holidays. Their hashtag is don’t be a tosser (#dontbeatosser). More details from their Facebook page, Tossers in Lytham St Annes – aptly named when clearing up after people that toss their rubbish aside.