Tourists criticise one of the UK’s ‘worst’ seaside towns despite its sandy beach

One old-school seaside town has a three-mile-long sandy beach and a funfair pier, but it's been called one of the worst places to visit in the UK.

There’s nothing more British than a sunny day out by the sea. But a review by Which? says one “classic bucket-and-spade” resort didn’t live up to expectations and was rated as one of the UK's worst seaside spots.

This location, found on the Essex coast, is a cheap place to visit and has all the usual seaside features like a pier, arcade games and a sandy beach.

Photo © Nigel Cox (cc-by-sa/2.0)

Even so, people who took part in the Which? survey said they weren’t impressed, placing Clacton near the bottom of the list with towns like Bognor Regis, Bangor and Southend.

The report said the beach was rated an average of three stars, but the seafront itself didn’t get good feedback. The town also got just one star when it came to being peaceful or quiet.

Some reviews on Tripadvisor said similar things, with people calling Clacton-on-Sea “underwhelming”. One UK visitor said they thought there would be more to do for children and felt “everything was just a bit underwhelming”.

Photo © Duncan Graham (cc-by-sa/2.0)

But Tripadvisor scores for the beach itself are high, with 4.5 stars out of five. Visitors often praise how clean the sand is, and some even call it the “jewel” of Essex.

One happy reviewer said: “Clacton-on-Sea has a lovely clean sandy beach with palm trees, and is a great place to visit while on holiday or just for a day out. The kids will love it because there’s loads to do.”

Another visitor added: “It’s sunny, there’s a sandy beach, and there are people on patrol if there’s an emergency.”

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