It may be pigeon-holed as a cheap and cheerful escape from London, but there's a lot more to Southend, a mostly pebbly portion of Essex seafront, than saucy postcards and sweet sticks of rock.
Set above the main strip - where the pier and Adventure Island amusement park dominate the landscape - are the Cliffs, or Westcliff, a network of heritage, Victorian terraces that are also home to tea rooms, a small arts centre and a smattering of hotels and bed and breakfast establishments. Royal Terrace, dating from 1791, occupies the best spot on the short stretch, with views to neighbouring Leigh-on-Sea and sandy Thorpe Bay.
Less genteel amusement is on offer at the Cliffs Pavilion where, for a fraction of London prices, concert-goers can catch the likes of actor and comedian Jackie Mason and indie band the Zutons (appearing in November).
In warmer weather, Southend's population of 170,000 booms at weekends. If you've already stocked up on the standard British seaside confectionery (the likes of 'rock', a sugary wand with the name of the relevant seaside town in candy lettering) and had your fish and chips at the Arches (a series of restaurants tucked into road archways), head to Leigh on Southend's western fringe.
This is the place for art galleries and boutiques. Along the seafront are cockle sheds housing vendors of fresh, home-smoked and pickled seafood. The dunes of East Beach in Shoeburyness, just beyond neighbouring Thorpe Bay, are home to a collective of serious kite flyers and kite-boarders.