Seaside options?

[samandlula]

Can anybody help - where's a nice beach/seaside town to go to on the train perhaps for a few days. I know Blackpool and Southport, but would like somewhere a bit nicer/quieter, has anybody got any suggestions please? Or any other suggestions of places to visit in England/Wales thatcan be cheap and lovely? I'm a bit clueless really on that front so any help would be very appreciated. Thanks - Love Sam x

[cloudbaby]

Formby and Blundellsands in Merseyside are lovely beaches. Never stayed - only visited for the day.

Silverdale, Arnside and all that coastline up toward the Lake District is also lovely. My parents used to live near there and it's great - you have the small, old-fashioned seaside villages with buckets and spades, fish and chips etc, but a short drive inland takes you into Kendal and the lake district.

ETA - forgot- Crosby beach, where the Anthony Gormley sculptures are is supposed to be fab. My SIL and her friend took babies from Manchester by train and they had a great day.
http://www.sefton.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=6216

[Mummyjane]

Formby/ blundellsands/ crosby are all a continuation of southport beach.
There is a local train line that connects them all ( runs from southport to liverpool)
Formby is the best beachy bit and has a lovely red squirrel reserve
Blundellsands/ crosby has the antony gormley but the sea is a bit on the mucky side.
The sea is very tidal here at low tide it is miles out

[indiaeden]

I was gonna suggest Formby too!
Also there is Llandudno,lovely old Victorian seaside resort,easily reached by train,and the train line runs to Anglesey too. Lots of lovely lovely places to visit all around there. :)

Love Jeanette

[squashy]

Scarborough is lovely. It has 2 lovely beaches seperated by a brilliant castle, it also has nice walks, little trains, cliffs, vernacular railway up to the town, quite an old fashioned seaside place with donkeys etc and only a tiny bit of cheese

[samandlula]

Wow, thanks guys, an abundance of choices and ideas! Thannkyou so much.Hope the weather gets better so we can explore some of them soon xxx:hug:

[LydiaLunch]

Scarborough is lovely. It has 2 lovely beaches seperated by a brilliant castle, it also has nice walks, little trains, cliffs, vernacular railway up to the town, quite an old fashioned seaside place with donkeys etc and only a tiny bit of cheese

This is where I was going to suggest, the coast is stunning :)

[phosphor]

We went to Llandudno & Conway recently: the former has beaches, but the latter has the most AMAZING toyshop I've ever been in, with loads of traditional toys, beautiful rag-dolls, wooden toys and puppets.

Also, I got my jolly flowery handbag there, so there was mummy-shopping too.

We went by car and it didn't take long, but I bet the train is quite quick too.

Lucy

[MaisieMay]

My absolute favourite is silverdale / arnside - loved it so much. Huge hills and mountains look down on you from the lakes and the estuary shimmers and it's so easy from manchester oxford raid - the prettiest train ride!

If you fancy paddling in a stream then my best ever suggestion is a camp site and or B7B at the foot of Wales's tallest waterfall: pistyll rhaeadr. Very quiet campsiet - where you can have fires and great stream to apddle in and pools at the foot and top of the waterfall to swim in. magical. If you are interested I can write more details. It's about 1 45 mins drive from manchester - west of oswestry.

www.pistyllrhaeadr.co.uk