Southend-on-Sea is in the county of Essex, in South-East England, on the north bank of the Thames Estuary.
The town is primarily a seaside resort, but is the home of companies such as FDR (the credit card processing company), Amstrad, Maplin Electronics, Rossi, and a host of electrical equipment, pharmaceutical and light engineering firms.
The most notable landmark is that of the 1.3 mile (2km) long Southend Pier – the longest pleasure pier in the world. Southend is also famous for the Golden Mile of amusement arcades and attractions, as well as Peter Pan’s Adventure Island.
The Sarfend site contains links to Southend-on-Sea information, services and sites of use to anyone living in South-east Essex, as well as those looking for more details on
Southend or neighbouring Westcliff-on-Sea, Leigh-on-Sea and Shoeburyness.
Got a question on Southend? Ask away in our Southend
forum.
Information on Southend-on-Sea
- Visiting Southend – Information on how to get here, and what to do when you’re here
- Essential Southend – A one-page guide on coming to Southend
- Sarfend Forum for Southend – Great place to discuss Southend
- Southend Shopping – Details of what you can find on Southend High Street
- Laterooms, for discounted hotels in and around Southend. See our Southend Hotels Guide
- Expedia – Search for hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation in Southend-on-Sea
Southend News & Weather
Southend News – Outlining some of the recent events in Southend’s history- Echo News – Southend News courtesy of the Echo newspaper
- Southend-on-Sea Weather – Information and a weather webcam from an amateur local weather station
- WunderGround Southend – The weather in Southend, now.
- BBC EastTides – Find out when the tide’s next in
Local Attractions
Southend-on-Sea, situated at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, has long been a favourite seaside resort, due to its close proximity to London.
Southend’s most well-known landmark is the Southend Pier – the world’s longest pleasure pier. It’s also well known for its beaches. The town has a range of attractions to offer, including the annual illuminations on the seafront, the Southend Airshow, boat trips, the Golden Mile of arcades, and a wide range of shops on the High Street, including the undercover Royals Shopping Centre and Victoria Shopping Centre.
Here are just a few links to Southend-on-Sea attractions:
- Blue Flag award – Surprising as it may seem to the locals, Southend beach has been awarded
a Blue Flag for water quality - Kursaal – Situated on the seafront, the venue includes the bowling rink, dancing, arcades and bars
- Adventure Island – Southend’s answer to Disneyland, for the kids (Adventure Island info)
- Southend Pier – The World’s longest pleasure pier has had its ups and downs over the years
- Southend Carnival – Details of the annual August carnival
- Sealife Centre – The fishy educational attraction on Southend seafront (Sealife Centre info)
Travel news and information
- Arriva – Bus timetables (More on Southend Buses)
- C2C rail travel updates – See the Unofficial c2c Rail Site and join their c2c mailing list
- National Express East Anglia – Serving Southend Victoria
- Driving to Southend – Information and advice
- Travel News – Information on getting travel and traffic news on the move.
More at www.southendtravel.co.uk
Local Entertainment
- Cliffs Pavilion – Venue overlooking the cliffs of Westcliff-on-Sea
- Palace Theatre – The ongoing saga of our local theatre… (More here)
- Odeon, Southend – Details of what’s on at the local cinema
- Radio in Southend – More on radio for the seaside town, including a local radio course
- Radio in Essex and Essex DAB – Details of local radio stations, including digital services
- Digital TV in Southend – Information about receiving digital TV in Southend
- Southend United FC – Southend’s football team, the Shrimpers.
- Virgin Media – Cable TV in the area (formerly Telewest)… get some extra TV channels.
- This is Essex – What’s on – A look at local Essex events
Southend comedy
- Links on our Southend Comedy page.
Local books on Southend and Essex
Looking for books on Southend-on-Sea, or for more on the history of Southend? Take a look at our Southend Books page.
Local Business and Services
- John Salim Photographic – Professional photography services
- London Southend Airport – Details of the local airport’s services
- South Essex College with their excellent Weekend College courses
- Southend Borough Council – Southend’s official website
- Equity Asset Management, Regis & Pier – Have your say on this infamous local property firm
- Southend University Hospital – Our local NHS hospital in Prittlewell Chase (Hospital tips)
- Southend Hospital Radio – The local hospital radio station (Thameside
member?)
More Southend-on-Sea links
A collection of other links to Southend-related content, can be found on our dedicated
Links page
Locating Southenders
We quite often get messages from people who’ve found our site as they’re looking to track down friends and relatives from in and around Southend. To help anyone looking for Southenders, we’ve created a page: Tracing Southenders
Southend-on-Sea images
For a collection of photos from around Southend-on-Sea, see our Southend Pictures page
For some aerial photos, see our Southend Overhead page.
Southend seafront from 1000 feet.
