Southend-on-Sea in General

Having grown up near sunny Southend on Sea I have many great memories of the place from visiting the Seafront and amusements in the summer and enjoying a fried breakfast in the department store of Keddies to enjoying the annual lights switch on and watching the Southend Airshow and Carnival that attracts thousands of visitors from all over. I cannot deny that the town has changed over the years but has received a huge overhaul during the last five years and is one of my favourite places to shop. With the longest pier in the world and more than 7 miles of coastline there is something for everyone. For the children there is the only planetarium ...  Read the complete review

My mum used to bring me to Southend as a treat when I was little,so it will always hold a place in my heart! I remember strolling along the sea front, skimming pebbles in the sea and then grabbing some chips to eat or stopping in the 3 shells cafe for hot doughnuts! I still like to visit Southend, although as with all places, times have changed it. It is still great for a stroll along the seafront and then perhaps have some fun in a few of the arcades. For the children there is also, of course, Adventure island.... a must to visit for mine, and the sea life centre is a popular choice too..... not forgetting the famous pier : the longest ...  Read the complete review

I come from Southend-on-Sea, in Essex, and I'll be honest with you, over the years this place has actually improved!I lived here until I was 14, when my dad got the crazy notion in his head that we could become country bumpkins overnight- we packed up our lives and retreated to the beautiful and ideallic village of Polstead in Suffolk. I then enjoyed 3 years frollicking in hay fields and travelling to high school on a busted bus driven by an old guy with cataracts...I joke thee not! God did he take a corner badly, and the 'automatic' doors were broken and would swing open at random times!!! Hahaha, those were good times. Now, Im grateful for that crazy sebatical in the ...  Read the complete review

I have been visiting Southend for years now, my family owns a little caravan out in Rochford, Essex which is a short drive/bus ride away from Southend and in the summer time I also like to take my two pence pieces down to the arcades and play in the amusements like the big kid I am. :) So where abouts is Southend? Well it is situated in lovely Essex. I can't pin point exactly where it is but it is in the south-east of the country and actually, it's not that far from London really. Takes under an hour by train which is pretty good as it's taking you right out of polluted old London, right into "sunny" Saafend! :) How can I ...  Read the complete review

I've been trying to decide whether to approach this review from the perspective of a tourist or resident (having been both at some point in my life) and then I thought I'd just tell you that for the first ten years of my life I only ever visited Southend as a day-tripper, I then lived on the outskirts of the town for the next eleven years, and have now spent twelve years again as a day-tripper. (Just realised that you could work out how old I am now). So I'm going to approach this as a day-tripper, who has a slightly more intimate knowledge of the non-tourist side of the town, and perhaps knows of some of those hidden treasures that are off the beaten path. (I'm ...  Read the complete review