This resort town is home to one of the UK’s longest piers as well as the most geographically and biologically significant nature reserves on the coast of Essex
With holiday costs abroad soaring, you may be wondering where to take your family on holiday over Easter.
The good news is, if you’re seeking seafront gardens, sandy beaches and fossil hunting there is one seaside resort that should be at the top of your bucket list. Walton-on-the-Naze is a seaside resort on the Essex coast, located less than an hour and a half from Liverpool Street Station. The town has become a beloved destination for vacationing families, so you’re sure to find children with toy buckets and spades on the beach, but the charming coast has something to offer for everyone.
The town is most well known for its namesake landmark: the Naze. The Naze refers to the stunning headland of the Essex coasts that juts into the North Sea and is of ‘outstanding geological and biological importance’ according to the Essex Wildlife Trust. This peninsula in Essex has become a base for migratory birds and other land and marine habitats.
The cliffs of Walton-on-the-Naze are designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The cliffs are not safe to climb due to alarming rates of erosion, however travellers can stroll around the reserve and access a nearby viewing point known as Crag Walk.
The Crag Walk platform is a designated viewing platform at the southern end of the Naze cliffs and was specifically built to protect the SSSI landmark from erosion caused by the sea. The man-made structure was built with 16,00 tonnes of granite rock and cost £1.2m to build.
Travellers can enjoy incredible views from the Crag Walk as well as the Naze Tower, a 86-foot landmark built in 1720. Travellers can climb the 111 steps of the spiral staircase to enjoy panoramic views.
Walton Pier is another key attraction of the town, and is in fact the third longest in the UK. Stretching over half a mile long, the pier was first built in 1830 and has been modernised and revived with funfair rides, boutique shops and local fish and chip purveyors.
The pier is also a great place for fishing, you’ll see many locals casting lines beginning at 10am but it is open to anyone. A day ticket is reportedly priced at £9 and someone should come along to collect your money and issue you a ticket.
The Walton-on-the-Naze beach, just below the pier is said to be the perfect consistency for building sandcastles. The beach also has an active lifeguard, another reason it has become so popular for vacationing families.
The beach is also a huge hub for avid fossil hunters, exposing two fossil beds known as the London Clay and the Red Crag. Fossils are easiest to surface on the foreshore after a storm.