First time in Blackpool

Start on the Promenade

Blackpool makes sense once you walk it. Start at North Pier, turn south with the sea on your right and keep going. In about 25 minutes you pass the Tower, the Comedy Carpet and Central Pier; another 30 gets you to South Pier and the Pleasure Beach. The whole seafront is flat, paved and pram-friendly.

The five things worth doing first

• The Blackpool Tower Eye — the view explains the geography of the whole resort in five minutes. Go early or late for shorter queues.
• The Tower Ballroom — free-ish afternoon dancing sessions, sprung floor, Wurlitzer organ. Even if you do not dance, look up.
• A tram ride — the heritage seafront line from Fleetwood to Starr Gate is a sightseeing tour that costs bus fare.
• North Pier — the oldest and quietest of the three, best at sunset.
• The Comedy Carpet — 160,000 granite letters of British comedy outside the Tower. Free, and better than it sounds.

A sensible first day

• Morning — breakfast at the hotel, walk North Pier to the Tower.
• Midday — Tower Eye and Ballroom, lunch on the Prom.
• Afternoon — tram south to the Pleasure Beach or north to Bispham for the quieter sands.
• Evening — a show at the Winter Gardens or Grand Theatre, then fish and chips.

What first-timers get wrong

• Driving between attractions. Parking is the slowest part of Blackpool; walk or tram instead.
• Only seeing the Golden Mile. North Shore and the cliffs at Bispham are calmer and prettier.
• Booking a show without checking the date against the Illuminations switch-on weekends, when the town is at its busiest.

Good to know

• Bring a windproof layer whatever the forecast says — it is the Irish Sea.
• Most big attractions are cheaper booked online in advance than at the gate.
• Sunday evenings are the quietest time to eat out without booking.