Southwold Pier

The pier at Southwold stretches into the North Sea like a Victorian finger pointing at the horizon. It's a proper 286-metre statement of seaside tradition - all ornate ironwork, painted shelter pavilions, and that particular smell of salt, creosote, and chip fat that means you're doing the British coast right.

You'll find the usual pier activities here: a few amusement machines, a couple of cafes where you can nurse an overpriced coffee while watching the waves, and that peculiar British pastime of simply standing and staring at the water. The mechanical games aren't fancy, and the arcade is small enough to explore in ten minutes. But that's precisely the charm. There's no attempt to be theme-park loud about it.

The real draw is the walk itself. Park up in Southwold, grab a coffee from one of the high street cafes, and amble down to the pier head. On a clear day the views back towards the seafront and the town's famous lighthouse are worth the modest admission fee. It's not strenuous - the whole thing takes 20-30 minutes to experience properly.

Families with younger kids will get a decent hour here between the amusements and the promenade. Walkers benefit from having a proper focal point on an otherwise gentle coastal stretch. History buffs will appreciate it's been here since 1899, though it's been rebuilt more than once.

Stay at Pigs in Blankets or Cliff House Holiday Park nearby and you're minutes from the pier with the full Southwold experience - fish and chips, pubs, and that particular East Anglian sense of time running differently.