Holidays

Frinton on Sea, with its wide sandy beach, has remained as uncommercialised as possible and maintained its reputation as a quiet family resort. It boasts an air of reserved gentility and has been rewarded for its outstanding cleanliness with a Blue Flag award.

The beach at Frinton is one of the most popular in Essex. It has a gently shelving profile which is divided up by a series of timber groynes and the sand at Frinton is perfect for making sandcastles - nice and firm. This also makes it ideal for running around on and beach games, further boosting its credentials as a fine family beach.

Leading to the beach is an extensive promenade, popular since the Victorian era and much of which is lined with colourful, old-fashioned beach huts available to hire. There is also an extensive grassy area, the Greensward, which is an ideal spot for a picnic and close to the main shopping area in Connaught Avenue.

Walton is a traditional seaside town located on the North Essex coast and has always been a family seaside resort with sandy beaches, seafront gardens and quaint narrow streets.

Walton on the Naze is unique in being surrounded on three sides by the sea. Its three miles of gently shelving sandy beaches facing south-east stretch from Frinton to the Naze. To the north, the sea sweeps round the Naze into the backwaters, known as Hamford Water, and the Walton Channel stretches right down to Walton Mere, only 300 yards from the main beach. The Naze, as well as being a natural open space, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) famed for its fossils found in the Red Crag cliffs.

Clacton-on-Sea is a traditional seaside town with a modern twist making it a bustling but affordable seaside resort. Clacton has a pleasure pier, arcades, a golf course, caravan parks and an airfield. The town and its beaches are still popular with tourists in the summer, and there is an annual entertainment programmed including the Clacton carnival, which starts on the second Saturday in August and lasts for a week.

Clacton Airshow takes place in August, with historic and modern aircraft. Clacton has a shopping area with many of the usual national chains represented, and a Factory Shopping Village in the north of the town. Clacton has two theatres, the West Cliff Theatre and the Princes Theatre. The West Cliff is one of the last theatres in the country to put on an old style summer show.