Lytham St. Annes: Two costal towns for the price of one

In Brief.

Lytham St Annes is a town immediately to the south of Blackpool, and the coast faces the Irish Sea over substantial beaches in St Annes. Thus St Annes is essentially a somewhat sleepy seaside resort that most likely is not especially envious of its glitzier neighbour. Following the coast round to the Ribble estuary, Lytham has costal defences, but feels more like a market town, with a refined shopping and restaurant area and an annual music festival.

Statue of a shrimper in Lowther Gardens, Lytham.

What's Here?

In visiting a town that occupies a substantial stretch of shoreline, I decided to park at St Annes, walk to Lytham along the coastal path, and to walk back along the slightly more direct cost road (perhaps 4 miles each way).  This turned out to be a reasonable plan, with changing costal scenery, a variety of attractions, and periodic eateries. In my visit in September, it was warm, occasionally sunny, and calm, though during a previous visit in October the coast was rather windy and cold.

The seafront at St Annes faces large expanses of sand that may or may not be exposed by the tide, into which juts a prominent but largely dilapidated pier. However, adjacent to the pier are a variety of seaside standards that are in much better shape, including gardens, crazy golf, a cinema, a play park and assorted cafes.  Following the coast round, the character fairly quickly changes from beach to estuary, with mudflats and salt marshes where significant numbers of birds are said to spend the winter.

Fairhaven Lake

Between St Anns and Lytham is a further visitor area at Fairhaven Lake. This clearly provides opportunities to rent boats during the holidays, though not on a weekday in September, and also includes crazy golf, a play area, a Spitfire memorial and a cafe with an extensive collection of cakes.

Further along the coast, the path sits on top of extensive costal defences, and arrives at a large open area, Lytham Green, which includes a windmill as a local landmark.  Inland from all this is Lytham town centre,  which was certainly doing good business on my visit, with many tables occupied outside cafes, making the most of a pleasant autumn day before winter drives people indoors.

Windmill and Lifeboat Museum on Lytham Green.

Practicalities.

Distance from Manchester Town Hall: 50 miles

Drive Time: 1 hour 5 mins

Price: $+ (depends on what you do)

Parking: There is free short-term parking, but longer term parking near the coast tends to be charged.

Food and Drink: There are many places for eating in St Anns and Lytham, and a few along the coast. I had a nice cake in the Lakeside cafe at Fairhaven Lake, and a pleasant lunch with good service in Ego, just off the main shopping street in Lytham.

Retail Therapy: Both Lytham and St Anns have shopping areas.  In Lytham this includes a lively cafe scene and many independent shops around Clifton Street, and in St Anns, this is anchored on more familiar names around St Anns Road West.

Child Friendly: There are many child friendly activities, especially along the coast in St Anns and near Fairhaven Lake.

Toilets: Yes - at St Annes and Fairhaven.

Do it justice in: If you repeat my walk, it's more than an hour each way; then it depends what you stop for.

Inside-Outside: 30:70

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