The Suffolk town of Lowestoft was named one of the worst seaside towns in Britain by Which?, but there is far more to the very eastern beach town than you might think
As we wave goodbye to summer, many of us won’t be venturing seaside until the summer of 2025, while some will seize every bit of sunshine before winter fully kicks in.
Even without the perfect weather, we Londoners are spoilt for choice when it comes to a day trip to the coast. Some spots are undeniably breathtaking – take Holkham Beach, for instance, or the coasts of Pembrokeshire or Cornwall – while others have to work a bit harder to prove their charm. One such place is Lowestoft, just a two-hour drive from the capital, which was (perhaps unfairly) labelled one of the worst seaside locations in the country by consumer adviser Which? back in 2021.
The survey asked British holidaymakers to rate the nation’s coastal towns, and sadly for Lowestoft, it didn’t do too well. Factors like beach appeal, attractions, scenery and value for money were all considered in the ranking of nearly 100 towns and villages by over 4,000 people.
As it often does, the Northumberland town of Bamburgh bagged the top spot, scoring an impressive 85 per cent from customers, with its beach, attractions and scenery all receiving five-star ratings. Skegness, a Lincolnshire location, found itself at the bottom of the pile, reports MyLondon.
If you’ve visited, this might not come as a shock. The town only managed to score 48 per cent in a recent poll. Lowestoft, East Suffolk’s main town, didn’t fare much better. Lowestoft, a town known for its 19th-century lighthouse and over two centuries of seaside popularity, has been criticised by users of Which?
The town, which is also home to the UK’s most easterly point, received three stars for its beach, one star for scenery, one star for attractions, and three stars for peace and quiet. However, it didn’t receive enough responses in the value for money category.
One visitor who made the trip to the seaside town this year wrote: “The very worst seaside town I’ve visited. Run down, hardly a shop open. I was on edge from the minute we left the car, especially once you cross the bridge into town. High crime rate, one police car. This town needs an enema.”
Figures do suggest there’s an elevated amount of crime in the seaside town, at least by Suffolk’s standards. Lowestoft is the most ‘dangerous’ major town in Suffolk, according to CrimeRate, and is in the top 10 most dangerous out of the county’s 461 cities, towns and villages. Overall, the crime rate in Lowestoft last year was at 99 crimes per 1,000 people.
However, let’s not write off Lowestoft just yet. Its beach is pretty great, and while the town may be a bit worn around the edges, it still has a certain charm. It is famous for being the most easterly town and the first place to see the sunrise in the UK, it’s also the birthplace of composer Benjamin Britten.
Earlier this year the Mirror’s Cyann Fielding visited Lowestoft to find out whether the criticisms were fair, and if claims of its apparent cheapness matched with reality. She found plenty of bargains.
She set off on a mission to find the best value coffee, ice cream, fish and chips and pints close to the beach. A portion of ‘Fish & Chips @ The Pier’ costs £8, a Mr Whippy ice cream at the Claremont Pier would set you back £2.00 — to add a flake would only be 40p extra — and at The Flying Fifteens, which features an outdoor garden looking out to the sea, you could get a cold pint for as little as £4.20.
The Flying Fifteens was where Cyann stopped for lunch to have a homemade toastie and the most extravagant cream and jam scone she had ever seen. I would go back to Lowestoft just for that scone, which is high praise from a day-tripper from Devon. The cheapest coffee Cyann found was also on the seafront, from a little kiosk and they were charging just £2.50 for a latte.
Lowestoft is often mentioned in the same breath as its coastally neighbour Great Yarmouth, which found itself right down close to the bottom of the Which? pile in this year’s rankings.