Blackpool

Tower cranes and funfair screams pierce the air long before you glimpse those famous illuminations. Blackpool's got proper seaside grit - think candy floss sticky fingers and proper fish and chips eaten from paper on the prom. This isn't your genteel Cornish resort. It's loud, proud, and utterly unapologetic about its love of neon and novelty.

Central Pier stretches out into the Irish Sea like a Victorian finger pointing to nowhere in particular, while SEA LIFE Blackpool draws families deeper into the town's tourist heart. The kids will be pestering for Madame Tussauds Blackpool and The Gruffalo & Friends Clubhouse before you've even found parking. Fair warning - weekends here are mental.

Escape the madness at Marton Mere Local Nature Reserve, where the viewing platform across the mere offers proper respite from the Tower's shadow. Wild ducks gather at the duck feeding area, and it's surprisingly peaceful for somewhere so close to the action. Blackpool Promenade might technically be classed as a nature reserve, but you'll be sharing it with trams and tourists.

Getting here couldn't be simpler - the M55 drops you practically onto the seafront, and trains from Manchester take just over an hour. The Blackpool RNLI Lifeboat Station reminds you this coastline means business when the weather turns.

Staying at one of the holiday parks around Marton Mere or heading inland gives you the best of both worlds. You're close enough to walk to the Tower for the illuminations, but far enough out to actually get some sleep. Haven Marton Mere Holiday Village puts families right next to the nature reserve - handy when the kids need burning out before another day of pier games and slot machines.