Blackpool Tower

John Bickerstaffe, the mayor of Blackpool, visited the 1889 Paris exposition, saw the Eiffel Tower and put his own money into building a version at home; it opened in 1894 at 158 metres, about half the height of the Paris original, and stood as the tallest structure in Britain for some years. The base is a building rather than open ground, holding the Tower Ballroom, opened in 1899 with a sprung maple and mahogany floor and a Wurlitzer organ that rises through it, still used for social dancing every day and for televised competition. A circus operates in the space between the legs of the tower, at ground level, and has run every year since 1894. The top has a glass floor section, the Tower Eye, four hundred feet up over the promenade.

What you actually see

• The Tower Ballroom - a sprung 1899 floor with a rising Wurlitzer, danced on daily.
• The circus - running between the tower's legs every year since 1894.
• The glass floor - a transparent section at the top over the promenade.
• The 1894 ironwork - a half-scale answer to the Eiffel Tower.

When to go

Year-round; the Illuminations from late August to early January are the town's peak and the tower is part of the display. The ballroom holds afternoon tea dances most days, which is the best of the building.

Honest expectations

The attractions inside are separately priced and the combined tickets add up quickly. Blackpool's seafront is a mixed experience, run down in stretches. The tower top is small and queues for the lift are long in season.

Nearby

The Pleasure Beach is south along the promenade; the piers and Winter Gardens are close.