Blackpool Tower

When people think of Blackpool, people more often than not think of the Blackpool Tower. Opened in 1894, it was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. It was painted gold in celebration of its centenary year, although it is usually painted in a dark red. Visitors to the tower can ascended the stairs for wonderful views out towards Ireland or back over the county of Lancashire. A glass floor also allows people to look down onto the street below.

The base of the tower also houses many attractions for the visitor including the world famous Tower Ballroom. At 158 metres tall it is one of the most obvious landmarks on the skyline a long with the Pleasure Beach’s “The Big One.” Costing around 41,000 pounds to build at the time, on the design of the architects Maxwell and Tuke, the tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers.

The North Pier

This Pier is the longest, largest and oldest of the 3 different piers which stretch out from Blackpool into the sea. The name gives away where it is located, to the North of the city (actually close to Blackpool North train station) and it is easily spotted from the beach. It packs in at an impressive half a kilometre in length and was opened on 21st May 1863. The opening attracted over 20,000 visitors, who came to marvel at the feat of building designed by the famous pier constructer Eugenius Birch, a legacy which has helped earn it a Grade II protected listing.

Mostly it is used for tourists to walk along, though some boats did used to leave from the pier, however there were mostly transporting tourists on pleasure cruises along the coast. The pier has been changed a number of times, most notably at the end of the 19th Centaury when it was extended to allow space for shops and performance venues, which are sill in use today.

The Central Pier

The second of the piers was built after the amazing success of the first, this pier (now called the Central Pier after the building of the South Pier) aimed to be the entertainment alternative to the more relaxing time offered on the existing pier. It was built by the same contractor Richard Laidlaw and Son, although to the designs of Lieutenant-Colonel John Isaac Mawson. All 460 metres of the construction were officially opened on 30 May 1868 and came under the management of Bickerstaffe, coxswain of the first Blackpool lifeboat. Visitors can still find the Blackpool lifeboat station located right next to the Central Pier. Once on the pier, visitors have the choice of ice skating, amusement rides, dancing, singing performances, the arts and drinking. Of course the best view of the pier is from atop the 33 metre high wheel which is located right on the construction itself.

The Pleasure Beach

Founded in 1896 the Blackpool Pleasure Beach has been pulling in tourists ever since. Its founder, Alderman William George Bean, claimed he wanted to build "an American Style Amusement Park, the fundamental principle of which is to make adults feel like children again and to inspire gaiety of a primarily innocent character." It is still managed by the same family up until this day.

The park is a mixture of old fashioned traditional rides (which although may look a little shaky are all in full working order) and newer modern steel riders. Rides include: Big Dipper - Opened 1923, Infusion - Opened 2007, Wild Mouse - Opened 1958 and the Zipper Dipper - Opened in 1934. The Pepsi Max Big One was opened in 1994 and was the highest and steepest rollercoaster at the time, although this has since been surpassed it still offers extreme white knuckle thrills.

The park tries to offer attractions which will suit young children as well as those who want something more high adrenaline. The wide variety of rides, coupled with the entertainment shows, has meant that visitor numbers top 6 million per year.

Winter Gardens

Set in the centre of the town the Winter Gardens is a large complex of theatres and conference facilities which have been used for various things since its construction in 1878. Its large rooms make it a favourite place for the national meetings of Trade Unions and Political parties. But not only does the venue have a glittering historical past and claim to have been addressed by every British Prime Minister since World War Two, but it is also home to the Blackpool Dance Festival and World Matchplay darts tournament. If visitors are lucky enough to find the venue unoccupied by one large gathering or other, then the architectural treats alone are amazing.

Highlights include the Opera House and Pavilion theatres, the Empress Ballroom and the Olympia exhibition hall. The Opera House is the largest theatre in the United Kingdom at 3,000 seats and hosts many popular performances throughout the year. Meanwhile the Empress Ballroom’s large expanses are a marvel to be seen even when they are not hosting world renowned dancing competitions.

The Beach

No trip to Blackpool is complete without some quality time spent down on the beach. This is after all the reason why Blackpool became a tourist attraction in the first place. Its long golden sands are still packed in the summer months with day-trippers and weekend breakers. Take a ride on a tired looking donkey, unless your conscious gets the better of you, or slurp some ice-cream and drink some lemonade and watch the tide roll in. Alternatively, you can roll up your jeans and brave the cool waters off the coast. Swimming of Blackpool might not be the most pleasurable of seaside swimming experiences, but with global warming heating up the previously near artic condition on the English northern coast, bathers will find the conditions considerably more palatable than the rich who took the health trips to the area in the 19th century.

Blackpool Zoo

Not far from the sea, the animals of Blackpool Zoo offer visitors a glimpse into their exotic world. With nearly 1,500 animals, there is surely enough any visitor. However, many people have complained the treatment of the animals is not in keeping with the standards one would expect from those purporting to care for animals. The Zoo has been open since the 1970s and includes such species as the Asian Elephant, African Lion, Amur Tiger, Bongo, Muntjac Deer, Red Panda, Western Lowland Gorilla, Black Faced Spider Monkey, Ring-tailed Lemur, and Emperor Tamarin.

Sandcastle Water Park

With the weather as changeable as the acts available for tourists along the promenade, some inside daytime activates are useful if families are to maintain a happy holiday ambience. The Sandcastle Water Park is aimed exactly at these family groups. It was opened in 1986 and is home to the world's longest indoor roller coaster ride, the Master Blaster, and the white knuckle ride the Sidewinder. It also features numerous other attractions such as whirlpools, saunas and smaller slides for children.

Stanley Park

The largest park in the town offers people a relaxing alternative to the entertainment-orientated central attractions in Blackpool. The park was designed by the architects TH Mawson and Sons and was opened on October 2nd 1926 by the 17th Earl of Derby, Sir George Edward Villiers Stanley, who gives the park its name. The park has a Grade II listed building status, and its understandable why as one strolls along the many paths leading out from the circular Italian garden nestled in the centre. In doing so, tourists will come across fountains, lakes, flowerbeds, statues a cricket club and a golf course. The 18-hole golf course is available to non-members, as is the bowling club situated next door.

The cafe, constructed in the 1920s, is the perfect place to relax and take in the passing crowds. If you want to experience some genuinely bizarre English past times then the 5000 seater cricket stadium should allow those not aquatinted with the art of the sport to become more bemused by the strange rules and stranger people who watch it. Strangeness can also be fond in the beautiful Blackpool Model Village, an ornamental miniature village located at the southern edge of the grounds.