What to Do in Southport When It Rains: Terry's Honest Plan

It rains in Southport. It rains in the North West. If you've come for a summer visit and woken up to steady grey drizzle, this is the guide I'd give a friend.

The good news is that Southport is genuinely one of the better seaside towns in the country for a rainy day. There's a lot to do that's actually improved by bad weather because everyone else is on the beach.

The Atkinson, Lord Street

Start here. The Atkinson is a proper cultural venue: gallery, theatre, café, and usually a good temporary exhibition running. Free to enter the gallery. The café is decent. It's the kind of place that makes you proud to live somewhere, and most visitors don't know it exists. On a rainy day it's close to perfect.

Give it two hours. Look at whatever's in the gallery. Have a coffee. See what's on in the theatre that week. The programming is better than you'd expect for a town this size.

Wayfarers Arcade

Walk through Wayfarers Arcade even if you're not buying anything. Victorian covered shopping arcade off Lord Street. It's one of those Southport things that locals take for granted and visitors discover and immediately photograph. Worth ten minutes of your time purely for the architecture.

Southport Market

Southport Market on Market Street is underused by visitors who don't know it's there. Street food traders, independent stalls, a proper market atmosphere. Good for lunch on a wet day when you don't want to commit to a full restaurant. Multiple cuisines under one roof. No booking needed.

Lord Street end to end

The glass canopies on Lord Street are there for exactly this situation. Walk the full length under cover. Browse the shops. Stop for coffee. The Victorian architecture overhead is worth looking at properly. Most people walk Lord Street looking at the shop windows. Look up occasionally.

Churchtown

If you've got a car, drive to Churchtown. It's the historic village at the north end of Southport, ten minutes from the centre. The Botanic Gardens have a covered café. The Hesketh Arms is a proper traditional pub with a fire going in poor weather. It's a good hour and a half even in the rain.

Ocean Plaza if you've got kids

I'll be honest: Ocean Plaza is not my first choice. But if you've got young children who are stir-crazy and you need somewhere that'll absorb them for two hours, the bowling and the cinema do the job. It's not what Southport is about at its best, but it works when the weather is against you and the kids are reaching their limit.