Addlethorpe

Addlethorpe has no hotels within the village, but its location just a few miles from Skegness and Ingoldmells means plenty of choice is close at hand. Skegness offers traditional seaside hotels and guesthouses along and near the seafront, ranging from budget bed-and-breakfasts to larger family-run hotels geared towards holidaymakers visiting the beach, pier and funfairs. Ingoldmells and Chapel St Leonards, both a short drive north along the A52, add further options, including accommodation attached to the area's big holiday resorts.

For visitors who want to combine a hotel stay with the peace of the countryside, Addlethorpe's appeal lies in using it as a quiet overnight base while still being minutes from the coast's restaurants, attractions and nightlife. Self-catering cottages and holiday lets in and around the village are also worth considering for longer stays, particularly for families or groups who want more space and flexibility than a hotel room offers. Whichever type of accommodation you choose, book ahead for the peak summer months, when demand along this stretch of the Lincolnshire coast is at its highest and the best-located hotels and cottages fill up quickly.

Wherever you base yourself, a car makes it far easier to explore the surrounding villages, nature reserves and market towns beyond the main resort strip, since public transport away from the Skegness railway line and main bus routes is limited.

Addlethorpe itself is a working agricultural village rather than a visitor destination, so its own sights are modest, but they are genuine, and the surrounding coast more than makes up the numbers.

• St Nicholas Church — a Grade I listed Perpendicular Gothic church completed around 1420, with a 15th-century tower and font, an early 18th-century pulpit and six carved oak screens; the roof timbers are carved with winged angels, and the churchyard holds the base of a 14th-century scheduled cross.
• The Village Church Farm Museum — an open-air museum of Lincolnshire rural life just south of Skegness, with a thatched mud-and-stud cottage, an 18th-century farmhouse, historic farm machinery and a tearoom set in three acres of gardens and orchards.
• Skegness beach and seafront — several miles of wide, sandy Blue Flag beach a short drive away, with the pier, Jolly Fisherman statue and traditional seaside promenade.
• Fantasy Island, Ingoldmells — a theme park and market complex with rides, a big top and shopping, popular with families staying along this stretch of coast.
• Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve — dunes, saltmarsh and mudflats south of Skegness, good for walking and birdwatching, with a visitor centre and nature trails.
• Natureland Seal Sanctuary — a small conservation attraction on Skegness seafront caring for rescued seals, alongside tropical house and aquarium displays.
• Butlin's Skegness — the well-known resort at Ingoldmells, with funfair rides, entertainment venues and an amusement arcade open to day visitors as well as guests.

As a small village, Addlethorpe has limited dining of its own, and visitors typically head into Skegness or Ingoldmells for the bulk of eating-out options, from traditional fish and chip shops and seafront cafes to pubs and restaurants. Locally, The Vine at nearby Skegness and pubs along the A52 towards Chapel St Leonards serve straightforward pub food, while caravan parks in and around Addlethorpe, including Cottage Farm Camp and The Elms Touring Caravan Site, have on-site bars for guests. For a proper meal out, the wider choice of restaurants, takeaways and supermarkets in Skegness, a few minutes' drive away, covers most tastes.

England has no general right to wild camp, so pitching a tent on open land around Addlethorpe without the landowner's permission is not allowed; stick to licensed sites, which are plentiful in this part of Lincolnshire. The village itself is home to touring caravan and camping options including Cottage Farm Camp, a long-established family-run site west of the A52 with electric hook-up, a fishing lake and dog walking area, and The Elms Touring Caravan Site, around four and a half miles from Skegness with fishing lakes and countryside surroundings. There are also smaller Caravan and Motorhome Club certificated sites in and around the village, such as Corner Farm, offering a handful of hardstanding pitches with electric connections for a quieter stay.

The terrain here is flat, low-lying former marshland, reclaimed over centuries and now given over to arable farming and drainage dykes, which makes for easy, level pitching but offers little natural shelter from wind coming off the North Sea, so a sturdy tent and good pegging are worth thinking about. The coast itself, with its wide sandy beaches at Skegness and Ingoldmells, is only a short drive or cycle away, making campsites around Addlethorpe a practical, lower-cost alternative to staying directly in the busier resort towns.

Most local sites operate seasonally, typically opening from March and closing in October or November, so the best time to camp is late spring through early autumn, when the weather is at its most reliable and facilities are fully open. Summer school holidays are the busiest period and popular pitches book up well in advance. For those who prefer more comfort than a tent, glamping options along the wider Lincolnshire coast, including static caravans, pods and lodges at nearby holiday parks, offer a middle ground between camping and a full self-catering cottage, with many sites within easy reach of Addlethorpe itself.