Skegness and Ingoldmells are well-known ‘bright lights and family fun’ destinations on the Lincolnshire coast. But for our motorhome adventures we like to explore another side of the Lincolnshire coast, with wide empty beaches and little seaside towns.
This is the Lincolnshire coast we love, and we wanted to share some of our favourite spots. As we normally go with our 2 children, we do occasionally dip into some of the livelier resorts too, but find we don’t want to be in the middle of it every day.
Mablethorpe
The beach in Mablethorpe is huge and it just keeps going, so that’s the main attraction for us as a family. It also has the usual funfairs, amusement arcades and crazy golf which we’ll visit if it’s not really beach weather, but we normally stay away from these most of the time.
For an alternative to the beach, there’s also Queens Park just behind the beach, it has a splash park and boating lake so can keep our children entertained for hours. We’ve tried the crazy golf too, but our youngest has no patience and doesn’t like taking turns, so the less said about that the better!
With so much space on the beach the kids can run free and we can relax, so that’s where we’re drawn to most of time. It can get crowded In the centre of Mablethorpe in the summer, so for a beach day we go either just north or south.
You can stroll north along the beach or catch the Mablethorpe sand train that goes as far as the seal sanctuary at the north end. There’s nothing on the beach but sand and sand dunes, but little paths along the way take you to small cafes. We like to take a beach picnic so we can just find a spot we like and spend the day there.
Going south there’s a wide promenade, it’s great for younger children to ride bikes or scooters without having to go on the roads. As you get closer to Sutton on Sea you start to pass lots of little beach huts, it’s a good place to stop for some beach time with facilities not far away.
More about Mablethorpe
Sutton-on-Sea
This quaint little seaside town is just south of Mablethorpe and you can walk or ride to it along the wide promenade. The main attraction here is also the beach, but there are also a selection of cafes and bars, for fish and chips we love Waldos, not right on the front but worth the 5-minute walk.
With a nice little splash park and children’s playground just a couple of minutes’ walk from the beach, for a day out with children, it has everything you need close by.
Chapel St Leonards
Chapel St Leonards feels like 2 different places; with Chapel village leading down to the beach centred around a green with plenty of cafe’s and bars. Further south and inland you’ll find a sea of campsites and holidays parks (this is where Butlins began) close to Ingoldmells and the Fantasy Island amusement park.
We like to head north to Chapel Point and the North Sea Observatory. This really stands out as a piece on modern architecture sat beside quaint little beach huts. With its huge glass front the building, including the café inside are all about the amazing views along the coast and out to sea. A great place for a sunrise breakfast. We love the terrace that overlooks the sea too.
More about North Sea Observatory
Anderby Creek
The beach road in Anderby Creek is lined with cafes and caravan parks, but don’t let that put you off. Once you get out onto the beach, with just a handful of houses in view, it feels completely unspoilt with a wide sandy beach backed by dunes. There’s a big car park behind the dunes so we like to get there early and have the motorhome just a short walk away.
We also love the ‘cloud bar’ this might sound like a cocktail bar, but it’s just a platform where you can sit or lie to watch the clouds roll by. Such a simple but great idea, we go up there every time we visit.
Huttoft Beach
The beach at Huttoft has been a favourite of ours for years, but there was nothing there at all. We’ve watched the new boatshed building behind the beach going up and the new café is opening soon – it’s called ‘The Vista at the Boatshed’. A great name of course, we’ll be visiting soon.
Skegness and Cleethorpes
Skegness Cleethorpes and even the centre of Mablethorpe are too busy for us in the height of summer, but good to visit out of season when you can explore the attractions without the crowds. With Cleethorpes Pier already restored there are plans to restore Skegness Pier as a year-round 21st century destination. Some of the plans look great, we look forward to seeing it become a reality.
What’s on
The last couple of years have seen many seaside carnivals and festivals being cancelled, but they’re back now so it’s worth checking out what’s on when you’re planning to go.
Where to stay
We’ve found so many great campsites along the Lincolnshire coast and we still discover new ones as our children get older and what we’re looking for changes. If you’re looking for somewhere with lots of facilities and entertainment, the Haven sites near Mablethorpe and Cleethorpes offer touring pitches and we took our motorhome there a lot when our children were younger. We still go back to Kirkstead, the place we took our first ever trip in our first ever motorhome, many years ago.
The sun was shining, everyone was so friendly and the freedom of being away with our then 1-year-old daughter was magical. We forgot all sorts of things, took lots of stuff we didn’t need and our kite blew away. But it didn’t matter, we were hooked on the world of motorhoming.
We keep going back to the Lincolnshire coast as we always seem to discover something new.