Southend Pier walk
Gentle stroll out into the Thames Estuary along the world's longest pleasure pier
Where | Start and Finish: Southend station |
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Length |
3.5 miles (5.6 km) from the station. 2.6 miles (4.3 km) if you park next to it. |
Time | 1 hour 30 minutes. |
Travel |
Southend has 2 stations, a few minutes walk apart. Trains to Southend Central go from Fenchurch Street (2 per hour, 50 mins) and to Southend Victoria from Liverpool Street (1 hour 5 mins, 4 per hour). Make sure it's not a stopping train! £14.70 super off peak return at weekends. C2C (trains from Fenchurch Street) have serveral obfuscated discounts.
By car: Pay and Display on-street parking along the seafront road, about £1.50/hour. Free after 6pm. Free on inland roads a miles or so either side of the 'pier' area. |
Walk Notes |
This is a lovely stroll along Southend Pier, the world's longest pleasure pier (1.34 miles / 2.16 km long, in each direction!) [Wikipedia] out into the Thames Estuary. It may be a bracing walk in winter! As an alternative to walking, there's a pier railway. 2 trains (diesel) per hour. At the end of the pier is a glass fronted cafe (think coffee and panini rather than egg and chips) or you could take a picnic, and a lifeboat station with a sun terrace. It a nice spot with a breeze and for looking out over the estuary and shipping lanes. The Cafe may be closed off season. Cost. Walk: £2 (£1 Nov-Mar). Train £5.35 return. Opening Times: Closes: Aug-Sep: 9pm, Oct & Apr: 6pm, Nov-Mar: 6pm (Closed Xmas Day and Mon-Tue except school holidays). Last admission 1 hour before. NB: Google maps has different opening times from the pier's page on the council website. Train times: out xx:00 and xx:30, back xx:15, xx:45 The small cafe building at the end of the pier used for Jammie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast is only a film set, it isn't actually a cafe in real life, just a kiosk for selling ice cream in high season. |
Nearby | If driving, do stop off at Hadleigh Castle (SS7 2AP, English Heritage, free), a ruined castle with a lovely views over the river. Leigh on Sea and Canvey Island seafront is worth a visit too. By train, Leigh is a station on the Fenchurch Street - Southend line. |
C2C |
C2C, who runs trains on the London Fenchurch Street - Benfleet - Leigh-on-Sea - Southend-on-Sea - Shoeburyness line, have serveral obfuscated discounts.
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Profile | |
Help Us! |
After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks! You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are: |
By Train |
Out (not a train station) Back (not a train station) |
By Car |
Start SS1 1AB Map Directions |
Amazon | |
Help |
National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234 |
Version |
Apr-20 Andrew |
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