Seaside resort

In 1793, Heiligendamm in Mecklenburg, Germany was founded as the first seaside resort of the European continent, which successfully attracted Europe's aristocracy to the Baltic Sea.

This trend was praised and artistically elevated by the new romantic ideal of the picturesque landscape; Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon is an example of that.

Later, Queen Victoria's long-standing patronage of the Isle of Wight and Ramsgate in Kent ensured that a seaside residence was considered a highly fashionable possession for those wealthy enough to afford more than one home.

The extension of this form of leisure to the middle and working classes began with the development of the railways in the 1840s; they offered cheap travel to fast-growing resort towns.

[6] The growth was intensified by the practice among the Lancashire cotton mill owners of closing the factories for a week every year to service and repair machinery.

Each town's mills would close for a different week, allowing Blackpool to manage a steady and reliable stream of visitors over a prolonged period in the summer.

Cape May, New Jersey became one of the first coastal resorts in the United States, when regular steamboat traffic on the Delaware River began after the War of 1812.

By 1880, Henry Flagler had extended several rail lines southward down the US Atlantic coastline, enticing northern upper-class families south to subtropical Florida.

Continental European attitudes towards gambling and nudity tended to be more lax than in Britain, and British and French entrepreneurs were quick to exploit the possibilities.

[citation needed] Commercial seabathing also spread to other areas of the United States and parts of the British Empire such as Australia, where surfing became popular in the early 20th century.

Beaches were already a popular tourist destination for the kings and the masses alike especially in South India where the Dravidian Empires built large temples near the seashore.

as a food lover's and yachting town, with a diverse range of restaurants, as well as a large and active creative community with numerous art galleries and record and book shops.

Other South Dublin towns and villages such as Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney grew as seaside resorts when the rail network was expanded.

[14] Other Ulster seaside resorts are Newcastle, located on the east coast at the foot of the Mourne Mountains; Ballycastle; Portstewart; Rathmullan; Bundoran and Bangor.

[citation needed] Many seaside resorts are located in Gyeongsang, Jeolla, Chungcheong, Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Incheon, Ulsan and Busan.

Other northern seaside towns (for example Bridlington, Cleethorpes, Morecambe, Scarborough, Skegness, and Southport) shared in the success of this new concept, especially from trade during wakes weeks.

[21] As the 19th century progressed, British working class day-trippers travelled on organised trips such as railway excursions, or by steamer, for which long piers were erected so that the ships bringing the trade could berth.

Glaswegians would take a ferry "doon the watter" from the city, down the River Clyde, to the Firth's islands and peninsulas and beyond, such as Cowal, Bute, Arran, and Kintyre.

Resorts include Rothesay, Lamlash, Whiting Bay, Dunoon, Tighnabruaich, Carrick Castle, Helensburgh, Largs, Millport and Campbeltown.

Some resorts, especially those more southerly such as Hastings, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bournemouth, and Brighton were built as new towns or extended by local landowners to appeal to wealthier holidaymakers.

The sunshine and sea air were seen by Victorians as beneficial for health,[22] and resorts such as Ventnor owed their growth to a visit being considered as treatment for chest complaints.

Despite the loyalty of returning holidaymakers, resorts such as Blackpool have struggled to compete against the hotter weather of Southern Europe and the sunbelt in the United States.

This is not always true; for example Broadstairs in Kent has retained much of its old world charm with Punch and Judy and donkey rides and still remains popular, being only one hour from the M25.

[citation needed] Many coastal towns are also popular retirement hotspots where older people reside permanently or take short breaks in the autumn months.

Largely due to the falling price of air travel under the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher (elected in 1979), the number of British families who took holidays abroad rose significantly in the 1980s.

Early Cape May vacationers were carried to the town on sloops from Philadelphia, and water transport was also easy from New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and points south.

In Miami, Florida, the community of Cocoanut (now Coconut) Grove began development as a resort town in the 1880s with the building of the Bayview House (aka Peacock Inn) which closed in 1902.

In 1894, the lavish Royal Poinciana Hotel opened in Palm Beach, Florida, with rave reviews from wealthy New York tourists who picked oranges in January to their delight.

"Til" Harter built the Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica, at a cost of $2 million, creating one of the most successful beach clubs in Southern California, popular with socialites and Hollywood celebrities.

By the 1950s with increasing auto travel, more seaside resorts grew along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, while small, declining industrial ports were being rebuilt.

Brighton, The Front and the Chain Pier Seen in the Distance , an early 19th century watercolour painting of Brighton , a seaside resort in East Sussex , England
Barcola in Northeast Italy , a holiday seaside resort historically and currently
A c. 1841 illustration Heiligendamm in Mecklenburg , Germany , established in 1793, the oldest seaside resort in continental Europe
The Blackpool promenade in Lancashire , England , c. 1898
A seaside façade in Monte Carlo in Monaco in the 1870s
The strandkorb became a symbol of seaside tourism by the end of the 19th century, especially on the southern Baltic Sea coast
Hyams Beach in the Jervis Bay Territory in Australia , renowned for its brilliantly white sand
Manly Beach in Sydney , a popular Australian beach
Surfers Paradise , one of the most frequently visited Australian seaside resorts
The beach and promenade pier in Ostend in Belgium
Sunny Beach in Bulgaria
The coast around Golden Sands with the neighbouring nature park
Albena in Bulgaria
Naantali , a seaside resort in Finland
A map of the French coastline showing various resort areas
A beach in Batumi in Georgia
Steep coast at Darss West Beach, near Ahrenshoop in Germany
Kurhaus of Binz on Rügen island, one of the most famous German seaside spas, which showcases the typical resort architecture of Germany's Pomeranian coast
An aerial view of Sassnitz seaside resort and the nearby Jasmund National Park chalk cliffs, Rugia island in Germany
Seals sunbathing at a beach in Norderney , a North Sea resort in Germany
A hotel in Kranidi in Greece
Aquila Rithymna Beach in Rethymno , Greece
The seafront in Bray , County Wicklow , Ireland
Kilkee on the west coast of Ireland
Positano and its sea in Italy
A beach in Taormina , Italy
A map of Lithuania and Russia 's resorts on the Curonian Spit
Mangalia Port in Mangalia , Romania
The "Caucasian Riviera" in Sochi , c. 1909
Cape Town , the most visited tourist destination in South Africa , has many beaches sprawling across its metropolitan area
Coffee Bay, a small seaside resort on the Wild Coast , known for the Hole-in-the-wall , its views and beaches
Durban , a major holiday destination on South Africa's east coast renowned for its warm weather all-year round
Margate , a holiday destination on South Africa's east coast and one of the most visited in the country
Port Elizabeth , a seaside city in the Eastern Cape province renowned for its surfing, temperate climate, and beautiful beaches
Hondeklip Bay , a coastal and fishing village on South Africa's west coast well known for its unspoiled beaches and its rock and tidal pools
Barceloneta beach in Barcelona , Spain
A mMap depicting the Turkish Riviera in blue, highlighting, from east to west, the major settlements of Alanya , Antalya , Kemer , Fethiye , Marmaris , Bodrum , Kuşadası , and Çeşme
Margate in Kent , the first seaside resort of England, established in the 1750s
Scarborough 's South Bay
Long walkway supported by metal legs arising from the sand, leading to a white painted building. In the foreground are donkeys on sand.
The Grand Pier and donkey rides at Weston-super-Mare
A sunset on the beach at Atlantic City, New Jersey , famous for the world's first boardwalk [ 27 ]