There’s loads to do in Blackpool, the whole town is geared towards entertainment and there are plenty of opportunities out there to free yourself of your hard earned cash, even little things add up, an afternoon in an arcade on penny pushers and donkey derby will add up quite quickly if you don’t keep an eye on spends…. however, there are also a lot of attractions which offer excellent value for money so in this BLOG, we’ll take a look at some of the Blackpool attractions we have visited and let you know which we think offers the best cost per hour experience.
– Ripleys Believe it or not
Now, this is definitely one of our favourites and up there for best value, it’s equally fun for kids (We’d say from 7ish and up) as adults (we’d say 80 and down ;-). Ripleys is world famous so shouldn’t need much introduction but in case you’ve not heard of it…. ‘Ripley Believe it or not’ showcases oddities which are so strange, some may question the claims that they are indeed real….. and there’s still a few we’re not sure on tbh.
Shrunked heads, eating feats, models of the world’s tallest and largest and a fertility status with claims of a pretty impressive success rate (you might want to steer clear of that one…… or head straight to it 🙂 scratch the surface of what’s on offer amongst a ton of things to see and do in Ripleys.
Its hard to say how long a visit to Ripleys would take as it all depends on your interest level and attention span of any kids but as £7 entry per adult, its worth taking a chance on, we’d spent knocking on for an hour looking around but if you wiz past some of the articles etc you can cut that down or increase it. There’s some fascinating stuff to see so definitely one to keep in mind even if it’s just to use as a ‘filler’ when you’re in south shore and have a little time to kill.
You can buy tickets (not affiliated) for Ripleys here.
(Map below points to the pleasure beach of which Ripleys is part of however, it is access separately from the Promenade)
– Grafitti Golf
A relative new comer to town, Graffiti golf is located along the promenade just 5 minutes out of the town. From the name, you can probably guess what’s in store… this is put simply, crazy golf in low light with a load of illuminous graffiti on the walls. Our kids at 9 and 11 both loved it, they’ve not done much crazy golf before as when younger they struggled but this time, managed to get to grips with it!
There is of course, like any decent crazy golf place, a bit of pressure to move on as people queue behind you but that’s expected….. let them play through you if it concerns.
Cost per adult is £8, making it slightly more expensive that Ripley but still a reasonable price to fill in some time whilst around the town centre (if you’re anything like us on holiday, we tend to split the family for the odd hour to give the kids and, erm, husband and wife …a bit of space from each other).
You can get tickets (not affiliated) for Graffiti Gold here.
– The Model Village
The ‘biggest little village’ in Lancashire is a quintessential english seaside attraction and we love it! Being located a mile or so inland away from the hustle and bustle of the promenade the model village would be as at home at a seaside village in Cornwall as in Blackpool. The attraction includes an ice cream parlour serving ‘proper’ ice cream and teas.
The attraction offers what you’d expect from a model village, just that…. various models of houses and different building, some with moving features (such as the sails going round on the windmill or the train running around town at the push of a button) and others just static. The site is located on the edge of Stanley Park (which if you look around that as part of the trip is excellent and really makes the journey unbelievable value for money) and offers car parking for a modest fee.
Open from 09:30 until last entry 4pm, the attraction costs only £7.50 per adult (pay on the door only).
– Blackpool Heritage Trams
One of the things Blackpool is world famous for is it trams! One of the oldest in the world it’s a joy to see some of the heritage trams that have been lovingly restored and maintained get rolled out each summer ….and more than that…. they offer one of the best ways to take in sea views and explore Blackpool (and Fleetwood).
You can catch one of the modern trams anywhere along the promenade, they are comfy and the service is regular (though, they can get busy especially if you’re getting on a town centre stop) but we love the good old fashioned trams which depart at various allocated stops along the promenade at predesignated stops. If you don’t fancy taking a ride, they’re always good to watch departing anyway and the yearly ‘tram Sunday’ event draws in a shed load of people to Fleetwood to get up close a personal with a range of trams and classic transport.
Tickets on a heritage tram costs from £4 per adult depending which tour you take. £4 gets you from the pleasure beach stop all the way to Bispham so from the south of the town all the way to the North but we’d suggest combining as an illuminations tour and do the lights ‘stress free’ for a extra £2 (weekdays) or £4 (weekend) – definitely the best way to see the lights….. make sure you refuel in Bispham with fish and chips and have a wander along the large tableaux illuminations.
You can prebook your tram tour here (Not affiliated)
– Lytham Spitfire Centre (Hangar 42)
Ok ok…. as the name would suggest, our last suggestions may not ‘geographically’ qualify as Blackpool…… but its right on the boarder (basically, on Blackpool Airport..and has a Blackpool postcode….. which makes us wonder if they’re just being posh by putting ‘lytham’ in the name lol) and one which a lot of you will pass without knowing on your way into the town.
Just off Squires Gate lane is located the Lytham Spitfire Centre. For a fiver (per adult – kids £3 ands under 10’s free!!) you can look around the centre and see some of the spitfire restoration going on plus….. gives you that warm fuzzy feeling that you’re helping out a local charity rather than lining the pockets of big corporates! Opening times are limited to the first Sunday of the Month from 10am to 4pm, March to November inclusive, the hanger is as it was in World War 2 so its like stepping back in time….. sort of…..
Given the bargain price and free parking, the Spitfire Centre is definitely one we think you should try and take in, especially if your driving out of Blackpool on the Sunday (you can also get a bus there or a train to squires gate station leaves only a small walk). This is a jewel not many people know about but is snowballing in popularity!!
Thanks for reading, we do hope you found this BLOG useful. Whats your favourite Blackpool budget attraction?
If you enjoyed reading this blog, why not read ‘The Best things in Blackpool are free?‘ or one of our other many BLOGs over at insiderblackpool.com?
We really enjoyed Selfie Town and it’s only a fiver https://daysout.com/attractions/selfie-town-blackpool