Rosemary's Guidebook

Rosemary
Rosemary's Guidebook

Food scene

The Beach Hut
Kiosk 9 Western Esplanade
8 locals recommend
La Petite Petanque
8 locals recommend
6 locals recommend
Toulouse Ltd
Western Esplanade
6 locals recommend
Cucina
63 Broadway W
10 locals recommend
Roslin Beach Hotel
Thorpe Esplanade
10 locals recommend

Sightseeing

Old remaining armaments to see and walk on. Nature reserve and ponds, skateboard and playground areas nearby beach huts and promenade and sail boats at Thorpe Bay. Very pretty and interesting
Gunners Park Car Park
Old remaining armaments to see and walk on. Nature reserve and ponds, skateboard and playground areas nearby beach huts and promenade and sail boats at Thorpe Bay. Very pretty and interesting
Gallery for Contemporary Visual Arts.
Focal Point Gallery
Elmer Avenue
Gallery for Contemporary Visual Arts.
Some lovely works of art. Well worth a Visit.
6 locals recommend
Beecroft Art Gallery
Victoria Avenue
6 locals recommend
Some lovely works of art. Well worth a Visit.
Tues to Sat 10am -5pm Live Planetarium talks, so lots of opportunity for questions. Museum houses collections of local and natural history.
12 locals recommend
Southend Central Museum and Planetarium
Victoria Avenue
12 locals recommend
Tues to Sat 10am -5pm Live Planetarium talks, so lots of opportunity for questions. Museum houses collections of local and natural history.
Attractive green space with a fishing lake, museum, with Tennis and Basketball courts.
Priory Park
Attractive green space with a fishing lake, museum, with Tennis and Basketball courts.
Home of Metal Arts venue, with occasional displays, demonstrations and craft fairs. A lovely outdoor space with Cricket, Tennis Courts, Football, an entertainment venue, A great cafe to sit and watch the sports, serving beer and Pimms. A small skateboard park.
Chalkwell Park
Home of Metal Arts venue, with occasional displays, demonstrations and craft fairs. A lovely outdoor space with Cricket, Tennis Courts, Football, an entertainment venue, A great cafe to sit and watch the sports, serving beer and Pimms. A small skateboard park.

My favourite breakfast and lunch venues

Kite surfing, paddle boarding, swimming, life guards and public toilets, good cafes which also sell some beach equipment. Saltwater Cafe sells paddle board training courses and loans equipment.
Saltwater Beach Cafe
111 Chalkwell Esplanade
Surf
55 Chalkwell Esplanade
19 locals recommend
Chalkwell Beach
19 locals recommend

Local entertainment

Good reasonable priced restaurant and often have live music and events
Convenient position, good sea views and reasonably priced menu.
17 locals recommend
Genting Casino
Western Esplanade
17 locals recommend
Convenient position, good sea views and reasonably priced menu.
An assortment of visiting west end shows, local events, bar and restaurant plus excellent sea views. Walking distance from Rosie’s Retreat Station Road Southend-on-Sea Essex SS0 7RA Ticket Office: 0343 310 0030 Website: southendtheatres.org.uk Virtual Tour
29 locals recommend
Cliffs Pavilion
Station Road
29 locals recommend
An assortment of visiting west end shows, local events, bar and restaurant plus excellent sea views. Walking distance from Rosie’s Retreat Station Road Southend-on-Sea Essex SS0 7RA Ticket Office: 0343 310 0030 Website: southendtheatres.org.uk Virtual Tour
Short journey few minutes only in a taxi and walkable for the fit and healthy. A wide variety of performances in a beautiful and historic theatre. I also recommend the fish and chips nearby at Oldham’s, almost opposite. Must be the best fish and chips locally. Other restaurants close by include Italian, also just opposite , Greek, and Indian amongst others.
12 locals recommend
Palace Theatre
430 London Rd
12 locals recommend
Short journey few minutes only in a taxi and walkable for the fit and healthy. A wide variety of performances in a beautiful and historic theatre. I also recommend the fish and chips nearby at Oldham’s, almost opposite. Must be the best fish and chips locally. Other restaurants close by include Italian, also just opposite , Greek, and Indian amongst others.
A wide variety of gatherings including the carnival on 30th October an interesting and fun spectacle raising money for good causes, motorcycle and vintage or specialist car meets, occasional art installations, casino, funfair, cafes, sailing clubs, paddle boarding, casinos - the list goes on. Seafront Fireworks After missing out in 2020, we're delighted to announce that Southend BID have confirmed that their Free Seafront Fireworks will return this Autumn! This year they're going to be bigger and better than ever, with TEN weeks of displays from Saturday 2nd October – Saturday 4th December. So wrap up warm, grab some friends and enjoy these fantastic free displays, all funded by the lovely people at Southend BID.
7 locals recommend
SeaFront Southend On Sea
Seaway
7 locals recommend
A wide variety of gatherings including the carnival on 30th October an interesting and fun spectacle raising money for good causes, motorcycle and vintage or specialist car meets, occasional art installations, casino, funfair, cafes, sailing clubs, paddle boarding, casinos - the list goes on. Seafront Fireworks After missing out in 2020, we're delighted to announce that Southend BID have confirmed that their Free Seafront Fireworks will return this Autumn! This year they're going to be bigger and better than ever, with TEN weeks of displays from Saturday 2nd October – Saturday 4th December. So wrap up warm, grab some friends and enjoy these fantastic free displays, all funded by the lovely people at Southend BID.
Good food, great afternoon teas and a variety of live entertainment from drag artists, murder mysteries and comedy clubs, to quizzes and live music and dancing
8 locals recommend
Royal Hotel
1 High St
8 locals recommend
Good food, great afternoon teas and a variety of live entertainment from drag artists, murder mysteries and comedy clubs, to quizzes and live music and dancing
A great community venue, with a cafe, art displays, live music, art training, and have a go days. Highly recommended, lovely welcoming staff.
The IronWorks
A great community venue, with a cafe, art displays, live music, art training, and have a go days. Highly recommended, lovely welcoming staff.
Another great community resource. A variety of exercise options, Tai Chi, ( several times weekly), Line Dancing, Yoga, Dance, Pilates,Table Tennis, ( several times weekly) Educational classes in Art, Needlework and repairs, Knitting and Crochet, Various treatments available, Foot clinic, Indian Head Massage, Massage, Nails , a lovely cafe, and much more with a changing programme. No membership required. Simply check this months programme and call to book your session. (usually only £6 per session, or £1 for first visit, for classes and very reasonable treatments eg. Head Massage and Reiki combined session only £35 at April 2023 Definitely somewhere to consider on a rainy day.
The Haven Community Hub
Another great community resource. A variety of exercise options, Tai Chi, ( several times weekly), Line Dancing, Yoga, Dance, Pilates,Table Tennis, ( several times weekly) Educational classes in Art, Needlework and repairs, Knitting and Crochet, Various treatments available, Foot clinic, Indian Head Massage, Massage, Nails , a lovely cafe, and much more with a changing programme. No membership required. Simply check this months programme and call to book your session. (usually only £6 per session, or £1 for first visit, for classes and very reasonable treatments eg. Head Massage and Reiki combined session only £35 at April 2023 Definitely somewhere to consider on a rainy day.