Blackpool or Formby for a Family Day Out? Clare's Honest Answer

People ask me this. Friends from further afield planning a weekend, or people who've only done one of the two and want to know if they're missing something. I've lived near Formby for years and I've taken four kids to both places multiple times. So here's the straight version.

They're not really comparable. They're both on the Lancashire and Merseyside coast, both accessible from Liverpool and Manchester, both have a beach. But the experience is completely different and which one is right depends entirely on what you want from the day.

What Blackpool Does Well

Blackpool is built for family entertainment at scale. Pleasure Beach, the piers, the arcades, the shows, the trams, the Illuminations in autumn — it's all designed to keep people occupied for a full day and a full evening. If your kids are teenagers who want rides and something loud to happen, Blackpool is the right call. There's no equivalent in Formby.

Pleasure Beach in particular is genuinely excellent if rides are the point. I took mine when they were old enough to go on the big ones and it was brilliant — chaotic and expensive and exactly what they wanted. The Illuminations (September to November) are worth doing once: the drive or walk along the promenade with everything lit up is impressive in a way that's hard to replicate.

Blackpool also has a lot of cheap, cheerful food options that kids are actually happy with. It's not a food destination in the traditional sense, but if you're feeding four children after a day on the rides, you're not going to struggle to find something everyone will eat.

What Formby Does Well

Formby is the opposite of Blackpool in almost every way and that's the point. The National Trust pinewoods are genuinely beautiful — tall Scots pines, soft sandy paths, and red squirrels if you time it right. The beach behind the dunes is wide, flat and backed by those dunes in a way that gives it a completely different feel from a typical promenade beach. It's proper outdoor space.

For younger children especially — the ones who are too small for rides but happy exploring — Formby is brilliant. They can roam the pinewoods, run on the beach, look for creatures in the tideline, and be generally outdoors all day without it costing a fortune at the entrance gate. The car park is £6. That's the main expense.

The red squirrels are a genuine draw. We've been countless times and it doesn't get old. Go early (before 10am), go quietly, and the chances of seeing one close-up are actually pretty good. My kids were more excited about a squirrel appearing three feet away than they were about a lot of things that cost significantly more.

The Honest Comparison for Families

The thing that catches people out with Blackpool is the cost. Once you're through the gates at Pleasure Beach and buying food and drinks throughout the day, it adds up quickly with multiple children. Formby is significantly cheaper for a day out, and the kids find their own entertainment rather than needing to pay for each individual thing.

With younger children (mine were best here at ages five to eleven), Formby wins easily. With teenagers who want stimulation and wouldn't find a pine forest sufficient entertainment, Blackpool is the better choice.

Can You Do Both?

Blackpool to Formby is about 45 minutes by car. In theory you could do a morning at the beach and afternoon at Pleasure Beach, or vice versa, but honestly that's a very full day and I'd probably just pick one. Each takes a full day to do properly.

What does make sense is using the two as separate trips in the same area if you're staying somewhere between them for a few days. Southport is roughly halfway — and has The Open Championship in July 2026, which makes the whole stretch of coast interesting that summer. But that's a different trip to planning a single day out.

Practical Notes for Formby

• National Trust car park on Freshfield Road, L37 1YH. Download the NT app before you leave — the signal in the car park is awful. £6 to park.
• Car park fills before 10am on summer Saturdays and bank holidays. Go early or plan to walk from a side street near Freshfield station.
• Tide times: check before you go. Met Office has Formby predictions. Wide beach at low tide, narrow strip at high tide.
• Red squirrel trail: best before 10am, quiet, move slowly. Binoculars useful.
• Dogs welcome at Formby Beach, with seasonal restrictions May to September on certain sections.
• National Trust cafe on site. Formby village (ten minutes away) has better lunch options if you're not in a rush.