Wikivoyage

town in Essex, England
(Redirected from Clacton-on-Sea)
Europe > Britain and Ireland > United Kingdom > England > East of England > Essex (England) > Clacton

Clacton in Essex, also known as Clacton-on-Sea, is the largest town in the Tendring Peninsula. It's between Jaywick and Holland-on-Sea.

Get in

edit
Clacton-on-Sea

By car

edit

Exit the A12 at the Colchester North exit onto the A120, and then the A133 all the way into Clacton.

By train

edit
  • 1 Railway Station, Skelmersdale Rd, Clacton-on-Sea, CO15 6PU. Trains run to Clacton every hour from London Liverpool St and take approximately 90 minutes. If travelling from the Ipswich direction, change trains at Colchester North. Clacton-on-Sea railway station (Q5124903) on Wikidata Clacton-on-Sea railway station on Wikipedia (updated May 2017)

By bus

edit

Buses serve Clacton from most parts of North-East Essex, including Colchester (every 30 minutes, approx. 1 hour journey time), Walton and Frinton (every 30 minutes, approx. 30 minutes journey time) and Harwich (every hour, approx. 45 minutes journey time). There are also 3 National Express coaches per day to London (#484, approx. 3 hours journey time) and 1 National Express coach per day to Liverpool, via Cambridge, Nottingham, Sheffield, Manchester etc. (#350, approx journey time 12 hours to Liverpool). As there is no distinct bus station, finding the correct stop within the town centre can be a problem, mainly because of a lack of any maps, and the digital displays at each stop only show departures for that street. If in doubt, walk out to the train station as most routes pass here.

By bicycle

edit

National Cycle Route 150 runs along the coast from Frinton-on-Sea & Walton to the NE to Jawick (just past the golf club) to SW.

Get around

edit

The main town centre is fairly compact and can easily be covered on foot.

By car

edit

Clacton is a fairly driver-friendly town with cheap, plentiful parking, although during the summer holidays or the Clacton Air Show, parking and traffic can be problematic.

By bus

edit

The two main operators of suburban routes are First Essex[dead link] and Hedingham Omnibuses. The former operates a handful of suburban routes at half-hourly intervals, one of which serves the out-of-town Tesco hypermarket. The latter operates regular shuttle services to the Clacton Common Shopping Village.

  • 1 Clacton-on-Sea. 360-m pier that opened in 1871. Now has amusement park with rides. Clacton Pier (Q5124905) on Wikidata Clacton Pier on Wikipedia (updated Dec 2016)
  • 2 Clacton Seafront Gardens (Clacton Seafront and Garden Walk), Marine Parade W, Clacton-on-Sea CO15 1RH (Walk from the pier), ☏ +44 1255 686688, . 24/7. The Green Flag Award-winning clifftop gardens includes the Sensory Garden, Mediterranean Garden, Sunken Garden, Rose Garden and First World War Memorial Garden. Free. Clacton-on-Sea#Seaside_resort on Wikipedia (updated Aug 2021)
  • 3 Great Holland Pits (Nature Reserve), Little Clacton Rd, Great Holland (OS Grid ref TM 204 190), ☏ +44 1621 862960, . Best time to visit is Apr-Jul. Great Holland Pits (Q28404685) on Wikidata Great Holland Pits on Wikipedia (updated May 2017)
  • 4 Jaywick Martello Tower. Arts, heritage and community venue in a renovated Martello tower. Jaywick Martello Tower (Q6168025) on Wikidata Jaywick Martello Tower on Wikipedia (updated Nov 2018)
Clacton Pier
  • 1 Push Kiting (Kite Surfing School), ☏ +44 7736 052967, . M-F 8AM-9:30PM, Sa Su 8AM-5PM. Kite surfing, kite buggy, kite landboarding, power kite, paddleboard. M-F taster (2 hr) £50. Sa Su taster (2 hr) £60. M-F ½-day course £50. Sa Su ½-day course £70.. (updated Apr 2017)
  • 2 Clacton Pier (Tenpin bowling, Bar, Rides, Seaquarium,), 1 North Sea, Clacton-on-Sea, CO15 1QX, ☏ +44 1255 421115, . Clacton Pier (Q5124905) on Wikidata Clacton Pier on Wikipedia (updated May 2017)
  • 3 The Beach, CO15 6JS (OS Grid ref TM 1760 1445). Seasonal lifeguard. (updated May 2017)
  • 4 Weeley Hall Wood (Nature Reserve) (Off the B1441 (Colchester to Clacton Rd) Weeley, Essex. OS Grid ref TM 156 212), ☏ +44 1621 862960, . Best times to visit are Apr-Jul & Nov-Feb. Dogs allowed. Weeleyhall Wood (Q26237193) on Wikidata Weeleyhall Wood on Wikipedia (updated May 2017)
Clacton-on-Sea streets

The town centre areas feature the usual high-street shops (Argos, WHSmith, Marks & Spencer etc.), as well as plenty of seaside tourist shops. There are several decent sized supermarkets including Fiveways, Morrisons, Lidl and Tesco, the latter of which is quite a way out of town but can be reached by local bus.

The Clacton Common Shopping Village, located on an industrial estate on the edge of town, is one of two 'factory outlet' shopping malls in Essex (the other being Freeport, near Braintree). It mostly consists of numerous stores selling discontinued clothing lines at discount prices.

  • 1 Lidl (Supermarket), St Osyth Rd, Clacton-on-Sea, CO15 3BN. M-Sa 8AM-10PM, Su 10AM-4PM. (updated May 2017)
  • 2 Morrisons (Supermarket), Waterglade Retail Park, Old Rd, Clacton-on-Sea, CO15 1HX, ☏ +44 1255 221127. M-Sa 7AM-10PM, Su 10AM-4PM. ATMs. (updated May 2017)
  • 3 Asda, Bull Hill Rd, Clacton-on-Sea CO15 4AU, ☏ +44 1255 258498. 7AM - 10PM. Supermarket. (updated Dec 2022)
  • 4 Morrisons, Little Clacton, Centenary Way, Little Clacton, Clacton-on-Sea CO16 9SB, ☏ +44 1255 862423. 7AM - 10PM. Supermarket. (updated Dec 2022)

Drink

edit

Sleep

edit

Connect

edit

Clacton and its approach roads have 4G from all UK carriers. As of Feb 2023, 5G has not reached this area.

Stay safe

edit

General precautions and common sense apply, avoid anywhere that looks rough and try to avoid walking the streets at night. Jaywick to the west of Clacton is extremely impoverished and rundown (especially the Brooklands area), commercial areas and the beaches are safe, but wandering around residential streets is ill-advised.

Go next

edit
This city travel guide to Clacton is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?title=Clacton&oldid=4719446"