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Blackpool, England

Tourist information, useful links & accommodation

B&B, Hotels and Hostels in Blackpool, England

 

  
 

 

  

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In what is often regarded as its heyday (1900-1960), Blackpool heaved as the factory workers of northern England took their annual holidays there en masse. Any photograph from that era shows large crowds on the beach and promenade. Blackpool was also a preferred destination of visitors from Glasgow and remains so to this day. The town still has more hotel beds than the whole of  Portugal.

Blackpool remains a major summer entertainment venue, specialising in variety shows featuring entertainers such as Ken Dodd. Outside the main holiday season, Blackpool's Winter Gardens routinely hosts major political and trade union conferences, ranging from that of the Conservative Party and the TGWU with thousands of delegates and visitors, to substantially smaller gatherings such as the CWU or NUS conferences.

Blackpool Illuminations in September and October, consisting of a series of lighted displays and collages arranged along the entire length of the sea front (11 km/7 miles), attract many visitors at a time when other resorts' holiday seasons have ended.

 		  
     
  Blackpool has gained renown as a lesbian and gay destination because of its permissive & liberal attitudes towards gays, with clubs such as the Flamingo, Mardi Gras, the Flying Handbag pub, and many gay-only hotels and guest-houses. These tend to be inland, nearer to the North station than the sea front. There is a transvestite show bar, Funny Girls, alongside the Flamingo in the building that was formerly the Odeon Cinema; the building retains many of its Art Deco features.

A list of other popular gay and lesbian destinations world round has been included here