The English seaside town named the ‘finest in the country’ – with award-winning beach and affordable fish and chips
THE UK’s most affordable town for fish and chips has been revealed – and it just so happens to be the UK’s best holiday destination as well.
A chippy dinner is a must when visiting any British seaside town, but some places ramp up the costs for their tourists.
However, visitors heading to Southwold in Suffolk are in for a treat, with the town named the most affordable place in the country for fish and chips.
It also happens to be the finest seaside town in the country, according to Camping and Caravanning Club who ranked it number one on their list of UK beach towns this year.
They loved its “sandy beach, working lighthouse and award-winning pier” and labelled it as the perfect place to go for a holiday, even when it’s not sunny.
They added: “Southwold is a great destination year-round, whether you plan to visit during the summer for an ice cream or in the winter for blustery walks and cosy pub lunches.”
Its beach is also considered to be among the best in the UK, picking up both a Blue Flag and a Seaside Award earlier this year.
As well as its beaches, it’s home to the Adnams brewery, an award-winning brewers known for their beer, cider and wine.
Meanwhile, its seafront is home to a typical British promenade, lined with adorable colourful beach huts, indicative of a UK seaside resort.
There are few better places to enjoy a portion of fish and chips than at the seaside and a new list from finance experts Capital on Tap has also revealed Southwold to be the most affordable place to get them.
The list was put together after looking at 30 UK holiday locations and comparing the prices of their chip shops.
The experts specifically focused on the prices of fish and chips as a percentage of the average weekly salary in the area to produce their final ranking.
Southwold came top of the most affordable list, with an average price of £8.35, just 1.06 per cent of the average local weekly salary.
However, that’s not to say their product is in anyway inferior either, with Capital on Tap suggesting “Southwold stands out as a top choice” for anyone “seeking affordability without sacrificing taste or satisfaction”.
They said: “Southwold offers the most budget-friendly option for fish and chips among all locations, with the meal costing just 1.06 per cent of an average weekly salary.
“Priced at £8.35, which is £6 cheaper than Robin Hood’s Bay, this seaside town proves that quality doesn’t always come at a premium.
Most affordable fish and chip destinations in the UK
Here are the most affordable places for a portion of fish and chips in the UK, based on the percentage of a local weekly wage.
- Southwold, Suffolk – £8.35, 1.06% of a local weekly salary
- New Brighton, Merseyside – £7.67, 1.07% of a local weekly salary
- Portmeirion, Wales – £8.57, 1.2% of a local weekly salary
- Folkestone, Kent – £10.53, 1.23% of a local weekly salary
- Whitstable, Kent – £10.75, 1.25% of a local weekly salary
- Llandudno, Wales – £8.97, 1.26% of a local weekly salary
- Tenby, Wales – £9.32, 1.31% of a local weekly salary
- Hastings, East Sussex – £11.56, 1.35% of a local weekly salary
- Padstow, Cornwall – £10.10, 1.35% of a local weekly salary
- Shanklin, Isle of Wight – £11.56, 1.36% of a local weekly salary
“Impressively, despite the lower cost, Southwold’s fish and chips boast a rating of 4.5 out of 5, indicating that customers are consistently pleased with their dining experience.”
However, its chips weren’t the cheapest on the list, with that crown going to second place New Brighton, in Merseyside, which only didn’t come first because of the price as a percentage of the local weekly wage.
Its £7.67 average for a portion of fish and chips was 1.07 per cent of a weekly salary in the surrounding area, slightly higher than that in Southwold, but still pretty affordable.
New Brighton was the only town in the north of the UK to feature in the list, with the rest of the top 10 either in Wales or the south.
Portmeirion in Wales came third, with an average price of £8.57, just 1.2 per cent of the local average weekly salary.
Holiday hotspot Folkestone came in fourth place, while its nearby neighbour Whitstable took fifth spot.
At the other end of the scale, Robin Hood’s Bay in Yorkshire was the least affordable, with its chippy dinners costing an average of £14.73, or 2.12 per cent of a local weekly pay cheque.
It was followed by Salcombe in Devon, where fish and chips will set you back around £14.20 and Tynemouth in North Tyneside, which charges on average £11.47 for its fish suppers.
Again, that was by no means the third most expensive price, with Plockton in Scotland, Barton-on-Sea and Margate in Kent all charging much more for their fish and chips.
However, as a percentage of the local weekly salary, it was slightly higher, at 1.84 per cent.
What the research has shown is that the most affordable is not necessarily the cheapest, which is more important information for tourists.
Overall, the cheapest bag of chips is found in New Brighton, with a portion setting customers back £2.70 on average.
Hastings (3.15), Portmeirion (£3.20), Portree in Scotland (£3.25) and Robin Hood’s Bay (£3.30) made up the rest of the top five.
Meanwhile, Plockton in Scotland had the priciest chips at £5.30 a portion on average.
That was followed by Ilfracombe (£5), Barton-on-Sea £4.80, Gardenstown (£4.50) and Weymouth (£4.43).
Meanwhile, this is where to find the cheapest pints in the UK.
And these are the top 40 chip shops in the whole of the country.