Region: England · United Kingdom
Where to stay in Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a city in England, United Kingdom, home to about 160,000 people. This guide covers 1 hotel in Southend-on-Sea, with about 78 rooms between them. Every one carries a published guest score, and the list below is ordered by it.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 1
- Best months
- June to September
- Nearest airport
- SEN4 km · London Southend Airport
- Currency
- GBPpound sterling
- Time zone
- Europe/London
- Plugs
- G · 230 V
- Emergency
- 112
- Language
- Cornish, English, Irish
About
About Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea ( ), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, 40 miles (64 km) east of central London.
Around the late 1800s there were two main villages: Prittlewell (famous for its Priory which is still standing today in Priory Park) and Leigh-on-Sea (a mile or so along the coast, famous for its cockles and seafood). The city coat of arms for Southend contains the monk and fisherman from monks of the Prittlewell Priory and the fishermen of Leigh-on-Sea. Westcliff-on-Sea is primarily a seaside resort, the shingle and pebbles along the stretch of beach have been covered with imported sand. Owing to its large Jewish population, it is also known as 'Jerusalem On Sea'.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Southend-on-Sea
See
Along the top of the cliffs, are spectacular views over the Thames Estuary towards the distant Kent coastline. Not far from the Royal Mews are the beautiful Prittlewell Square gardens and farther along is the Beecroft Art Gallery in Station Road.
- Southend Pier
- Adventure Island
- City Beach
- Three Shells Beach and Lagoon
- Amusement Arcades
- Sea Life Adventure
- Cliff Lift
- The Kursaal
- Prittlewell Priory
- Central Museum and Planetarium
- Beecroft Art Gallery
- Southchurch Hall
Do
- Adventure Inside
- Pier Fireworks
- The Old Leigh Regatta
- Waverley Boat Excursion
- Southend United
- The Cliffs Pavilion
- The Palace Theatre
- Belfairs Public Golf Course
- Garon Park Pitch and Putt
- Village Green
- Leigh Folk Festival
- Hockley Woods and Cherry Orchard Way Park
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
The best-rated places to stay in Southend-on-Sea
Ordered by guest score as each operator publishes it, weighted by the number of reviews so a handful of perfect scores does not outrank thousands of very good ones. Scores are shown on their own scale.
| # | Place to stay | Rooms | Guest score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travelodge Southend on Sea hotel | 78 | 4.0/5 479 reviews |
Schematic: the city centre in orange, each place to stay as a dot, distance rings in kilometres.
Where to stay
Where the places to stay in Southend-on-Sea are
20 places to stay in this guide with known coordinates, grouped by straight-line distance from the city centre (the point Wikidata gives for Southend-on-Sea), nearest first. Distance on foot or by road is longer.
6 places
- Travelodge Southend on Sea · 0.2 km
- The Railway Hotel · 0.3 km
- Hamiltons Boutique Hotel · 0.4 km
- The Gleneagles Guesthouse · 0.5 km
- Argyle Hotel · 0.5 km
- Hope Hotel · 0.7 km
5 places
- OYO Devine Beach Hotel · 1.8 km
- Camelia Hotel · 2.1 km
- Suenos Guesthouse · 2.1 km
- Pebbles Guest House · 2.1 km
- Roslin Beach Hotel · 2.5 km
5 places
- Holiday Inn Southend · 3.3 km
- The Kings Head Hotel · 4.9 km
- The Punch Bowl Inn · 8.6 km
- The Hogarth Inn · 9.0 km
- The Plough And Sail Inn · 9.0 km
4 places
- The Royal Fountain Hotel · 11.0 km
- The Star Hotel · 12.1 km
- Ye Olde White Harte Hotel · 12.1 km
- The Anchor Hotel · 12.1 km
Where to stay
More hotels in Southend-on-Sea
19 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| The Railway Hotel | 0.3 km | |
| Holiday Inn Southend | 3.3 km | |
| Hope Hotel | 0.7 km | |
| The Anchor Hotel | 12.1 km | |
| The Hogarth Inn | 9.0 km | |
| The Kings Head Hotel | 4.9 km | |
| The Plough And Sail Inn | 9.0 km | |
| The Punch Bowl Inn | 8.6 km | |
| The Royal Fountain Hotel | 11.0 km | |
| The Star Hotel | 12.1 km | |
| Ye Olde White Harte Hotel | 12.1 km | |
| Argyle Hotel | 0.5 km | |
| Camelia Hotel | 2.1 km | |
| Hamiltons Boutique Hotel | 0.4 km | |
| OYO Devine Beach Hotel OYO Rooms | 1.8 km | |
| Pebbles Guest House | 2.1 km | |
| Roslin Beach Hotel | 2.5 km | |
| Suenos Guesthouse | 2.1 km | |
| The Gleneagles Guesthouse | 0.5 km |
All 20 hotels in Southend-on-Sea, with their history and operators
When to go
The best time to visit Southend-on-Sea
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Southend-on-Sea are June to September. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23 °C; November is the wettest, with about 61 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Southend-on-Sea travel calendar 2027: every day with public and school holidays, sunrise and sunset and the typical high and low (also as JSON).
Public holidays in United Kingdom, 2026
Shops and offices may close on these dates.
Getting there
Getting to Southend-on-Sea: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is London Southend Airport (SEN), about 3.9 km from the city centre in a straight line; London City Airport (LCY, 46 km) and London Stansted Airport (STN, 51 km) are also within reach.
Getting in
Southend is well served by roads, with two junctions off the London-Orbital motorway, the M25. The A127 (junction 29) and A13 (junction 30) both go direct to the town centre. The A127 is more free-flowing road however gets busy on summer weekends when many day-trippers head to the seaside. There is lots of parking available in Southend, but most day-trippers head for Seaway car park (£1.60/hr or £12/day) which is expensive and often full.
Getting around
It does not take long to get from one end of the town to another by foot and the walk from Southend Victoria station (to the North) to the sea (to the South) will take at most 15 minutes. From the seafront it is possible to walk East towards Thorpe Bay or West towards Westcliff. Some walks will probably involve steep hills. There is an 8-km-long cycle track along the seafront between Westcliff and Garon's Park. There is also a cycle track from the Southend Victoria station to Priory Park. You cannot cycle along the High Street.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Southend-on-Sea
Eat
Along the London Road at Westcliff is a wide range of restaurants from Thai to Italian, Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese.. too many to mention. In Leigh-on-Sea, visit the restaurants along Leigh Road, Leigh Broadway and Rectory Grove, where you will be spoilt for choice.
Stay safe
Southend is relatively safe for tourists, but you should avoid wandering off the beaten track. As with anywhere, walking alone at night should be done with great caution. Although the suburb Shoeburyness is mainly a small residential area, it does contain housing estates, many are run down and look nearly derelict. Avoid these in the evening, the most well known housing estate is at The Renown in Shoeburyness and is very dodgy at night. However, it is away from the tourist areas and there should be no need for a tourist to visit these areas.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Good to know
Accessibility, parking and families in Southend-on-Sea
How many places to stay in this guide offer each, in their operators' own words.
of 1 place
of 1 place
Questions
Southend-on-Sea: questions travellers ask
What are the best-rated hotels in Southend-on-Sea?
By published guest score: Travelodge Southend on Sea (4.0 / 5 · 479 reviews · www.travelodge.co.uk (operator's own guest score)).
When is the best time to visit Southend-on-Sea?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Southend-on-Sea are June to September. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23 °C; November is the wettest, with about 61 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Southend-on-Sea?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is London Southend Airport (SEN), about 3.9 km from the city centre in a straight line; London City Airport (LCY, 46 km) and London Stansted Airport (STN, 51 km) are also within reach.
What currency is used in Southend-on-Sea?
pound sterling (GBP).
Nearby
Destinations near Southend-on-Sea
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; public holidays from python-holidays (MIT); places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.