Pier in one of the UK's ‘worst seaside towns' named top amusement park in Europe
Despite Clacton-on-Sea being voted one of the country's 'worst seaside towns ', its pleasure pier up came up trumps, winning big in the 'Best of the Best Amusement & Water Parks' category.
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Clacton Pier was given rave reviews by visitors and beat actual theme and water parks to bag 11th place in the Tripadvisor Travellers ' Choice Awards.
The pier is the biggest of its kind in all of Europe, being 360 metres long, and has its own amusement park.
The pier has 16 rides and attractions including the Looping Star rollercoaster, White Water Log Flume, a big wheel and helter skelter.
There's even a go-karting track, as well as a bowling alley, darts and shuffleboard, adventure golf, video arcade, and a soft play centre.
Currently, there's an attraction called Jurassic Pier where kids can get up close to life-size dinosaurs.
Throughout the summer, the pier is also having free firework displays.
When you get hungry, stop in at the Boardwalk Bar and Grill, or the Bay Family Restaurant which has pizzas, wraps, burgers and hot dogs.
You can get burgers on the go and stop in Candy Corner for donuts, ice cream, candy floss or seaside rock.
If you want to explore the pier yourself, you can buy a 'Big Day Out Band' which is £22.50 if bought online.
With this pass you can go on unlimited rides, play a round of adventure golf, explore the new Jurassic Pier attraction, go on the big wheel, play five video games and get 50 arcade prize tickets.
I went on holiday to the 'worst' seaside town in the UK – but it's a great family trip and my kids loved it
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One visitor wrote in their Tripadvisor review: "One of the BEST experiences in the area! Everything from the arcade, rides, soft play, golf and food is great PLUS the workers are super kind so it's definitely worth a visit."
Another said: "This is a giant of a pier with acres of fun, rides, bars, food, bowling - you name it they have it."
Upon winning the award, the Pier general manager Harry Peek said: "This is amazing and a very prestigious accolade which comes from real visitors with real experiences and real feedback."
Despite the pier's success at the Tripadvisor awards, Which? revealed Clacton to be one of the worst seaside towns of 2025 - as voted for by the public.
Which? asked holidaymakers to go to and review their favourite and least favourite seaside towns across the UK.
The towns were rated across categories like hotel prices, beach quality, seafront and pier, food and drink, accommodation and tourist attractions.
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Clacton received a low destination score of just 42 per cent.
On the other end was Bamburgh in Northumberland, which had an overall rating of 84 per cent.
However, one writer insists that Clacton doesn't deserve its low score as half of its success is because it's "bright, brash and bustling."
When she visited the seaside town, not only was the pier a big hit with her family, but she also checked out the Upside Down House in Essex.
Find out where Sun Travel's favourite seaside towns are - and they're all less than 90 minutes from London.
And check out the UK pier that's home to the world's largest fish and chip shop.
Tripadvisor's Winning 'Best of the Best Amusement & Water Parks'
Heide Park, Germany
Puy du Fou, France
The Web Adventure Park, UK
Paultons Park, UK
Drayton Manor Theme Park, UK
LEGOLAND Billund, Denmark
The Milky Way Adventure Park, UK
Walt Disney Studios Park, France
Djurs Sommerland, Denmark
Bellewaerde Park, Belgium
Clacton Pier, UK
Aquafollie, Italy
Aqua Dome, Ireland
Paphos Aphrodite Waterpark, Cyprus
Walibi Holland, The Netherlands
Avonturenpark Hellendoorn, The Netherlands
Aqualand Corfu Water Park, Greece
Fraispertuis City, France
Prater, Austria
Nigoland, France
Le PAL - Parc d'Attractions et Animalier, France
Fort Fun Abenteuerland, Germany
Katmandu Park, Spain
Legoland Deutschland Resort, Germany
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