A pier is an odd piece of architecture: a road to nowhere, built at considerable expense, whose purpose is the walking rather than the arriving. Here are fifteen worth doing.
1. Brighton Palace Pier, England
The survivor of Brighton’s two piers, still operating with amusements, arcades and food at the seaward end.
The ruined remains of the other pier stand offshore nearby, which makes the contrast unusually stark. Brighton Palace Pier is the seaside pier that outlasted its neighbour in full view of it.
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2. Blackpool’s Three Piers, England
Blackpool retains three separate pleasure piers, each with a different character, which is unmatched anywhere.
One leans traditional, one family-oriented, one quieter, and all three run out from the same stretch of seafront. Blackpool’s piers are the seaside structures no other town has managed to keep three of.
3. Scheveningen Pier, Netherlands
A modern pier on the Dutch coast with a raised structure, viewing tower and activities built onto and above the deck.
It represents the twentieth-century continuation of the form rather than its Victorian origins. Scheveningen is the seaside pier that shows what the format became.
4. Santa Monica Pier, USA
A Californian pier carrying a small amusement park, including a solar-powered Ferris wheel, at the end of a historic transcontinental road.
It is among the most filmed structures on the American coast. Santa Monica is the seaside pier that has appeared in more films than most actors.
5. Clevedon Pier, England
Frequently described as one of the most elegant surviving Victorian piers, a slender iron structure that partly collapsed and was rebuilt by a local campaign.
It has no amusements, which is precisely the appeal. Clevedon is the seaside pier that was saved because people liked how it looked.
6. Southwold Pier, England
A rebuilt Suffolk pier with a well-known collection of handmade mechanical amusement machines that satirise modern life.
The machines are the reason most people go, and they are unlike anything on another pier. Southwold is the seaside pier with the strangest arcade in the country.
7. Busselton Jetty, Australia
One of the longest timber structures of its kind in the southern hemisphere, running well out into the bay, with an underwater observatory at the far end.
A small train runs the length for anyone not walking it. Busselton is the seaside structure long enough to need its own railway.
8. Bournemouth and the South Coast Promenades, England
Long continuous seafront promenades link several English south-coast resorts, designed for the Victorian habit of walking beside the sea for its own sake.
The promenade rather than the pier is the main event in several of these towns. These are the seaside promenades built purely for walking.
9. Ocean City Boardwalk, USA
A long timber boardwalk on the Atlantic coast, lined with food stands, shops and amusements, busy through the summer.
The American boardwalk is the parallel evolution of the same Victorian impulse. Ocean City is the seaside boardwalk that took the pier idea and laid it along the shore.
10. Deal and the Modern Concrete Piers, England
Some Victorian piers were replaced in the twentieth century with plain concrete structures, stripped of decoration and built for durability.
They are unloved architecturally and excellent for walking and fishing. These are the seaside piers built for function after the ornamental ones failed.
11. Llandudno Pier, Wales
A long Victorian pier on the north Welsh coast, with an ornate ironwork pavilion and a sweep of bay behind it.
The town around it retains an unusually intact Victorian seafront. Llandudno is the seaside pier with the best-preserved resort behind it.
12. Sopot Pier, Poland
The longest wooden pier in Europe, running out into the Baltic from a resort town with a long spa tradition.
It is a promenade rather than an amusement pier, and it is busy year-round. Sopot is the seaside pier that Europe walks the furthest along.
14. Galveston and the Gulf Coast Piers, USA
Gulf coast piers combine amusements with fishing platforms, rebuilt repeatedly after storms over more than a century.
The rebuilding is part of their history rather than an interruption to it. These are the seaside piers that have been reconstructed more often than most buildings are painted.
15. Cromer Pier, England
A small Norfolk pier that still houses a working end-of-pier theatre running a traditional summer variety season.
That format has almost entirely disappeared elsewhere. Cromer is the seaside pier keeping an entire form of entertainment alive by itself.
A Road Built Out Over the Sea
Piers were built because Victorian visitors wanted the experience of being at sea without a voyage, and the ones that survive are the ones a town decided were worth the maintenance.
Practical notes: most piers close or reduce hours out of season, several charge a small admission, weather closes them regularly, and end-of-pier attractions frequently operate to shorter schedules than the pier itself. Check before travelling, go on a bright cold day rather than a busy August afternoon, and walk to the far end, which is the part most people skip and the only place you get the view back at the town.
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