Southport Pier stays closed for its £20m rebuild. Everything else that is open, with 2026 prices checked at source, from a free museum to £8.50 model trains.

Southport is a Victorian resort with a long flat beach, a boulevard of a main street and more free attractions than most people realise. It also has one famous absence: the pier has been shut since 2022 and will not reopen this year, whatever the postcards suggest.

Everything below was checked against the venue’s own website in August 2026, so the prices and opening times are the ones that apply now. Where a venue does not publish a price, we say so rather than guess.

What it costs, at a glance

Adult admission prices for Southport attractions in 2026 Horizontal bar chart of adult admission prices at Southport attractions in August 2026. Crosby Beach and Another Place, The Atkinson, and Kings Gardens and Marine Lake are all free. Adventure Coast Southport charges nothing to enter. The British Lawnmower Museum is £3. Southport Model Railway Village is £8.50. National Trust Formby charges £9 to park a car. Dunes Splash World is £16.80 for a session. Southport Flower Show is £32 at the gate. Four of Southport's best days out cost nothing to get into Adult admission, checked against each venue's own website in August 2026. Crosby Beach, Another PlaceFree The AtkinsonFree Kings Gardens, Marine LakeFree Adventure Coast (entry)Free, rides extra British Lawnmower Museum£3.00 Model Railway Village£8.50 Formby (car parking)£9.00 Dunes Splash World£16.80 Southport Flower Show£32.00 Formby is free to walk into; the £9 is the National Trust car park, waived for members and Blue Badge holders. Splash World is a 1.5 hour session ticket. The Flower Show is the gate price; advance tickets cost less. Chart by Southport Today. Each figure is sourced in the section on that venue below.
The free four are not consolation prizes. Another Place and the Atkinson are the two things visitors most often say they would come back for.

Southport Pier: closed, and worth knowing why

The pier is closed to the public and has been since December 2022, when extreme weather accelerated the decay in the decking and structural engineers advised shutting it on safety grounds (Sefton Council).

It is not being abandoned. The council submitted a business case to the Government’s Growth Mission Fund, which approved £20 million to repair, restore and reopen the Grade II listed structure, the second longest pier in Britain at 3,600 feet. Once the main works begin they are expected to take around fourteen months, with the public welcomed back in 2027 (Sefton Council).

Until then, do not plan a walk along it. The promenade, Marine Lake and Kings Gardens beside it are all open and free, and the view from the shore is the same view.

The free ones

The Atkinson, Lord Street

Sefton Council’s own arts venue is a museum, gallery, library, café, shop and theatre in one building on Lord Street, three minutes’ walk from the station. Museum and gallery entry is free, Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 16:00, closed Sundays and bank holidays. The library runs Monday to Friday 10:00 to 17:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 14:00 (The Atkinson).

Current free exhibitions include Between Land and Sea and Discover Ancient Egypt, the latter drawn from the Atkinson’s own Egyptology collection (The Atkinson). It is the single easiest wet-weather answer in Southport, and it costs nothing.

Another Place, Crosby Beach

Antony Gormley’s 100 cast-iron figures, each modelled on the artist’s own body, stand along three kilometres of Crosby foreshore and reach almost a kilometre out to sea. Installed in 2005 and made permanent by a Sefton Council decision in March 2007, it is one of the best known public artworks in Britain (Wikipedia).

It is free, always open, and completely different depending on the tide: at high water most of the figures are submerged and only the heads of the nearest few break the surface. Check a tide table before you set off. Crosby is on the Merseyrail line from Southport, about half an hour down the coast at Blundellsands and Crosby station.

Kings Gardens, the Marine Lake and the promenade

The formal Victorian gardens between Lord Street and the sea, the bridge across the Marine Lake and the promenade itself are all free and open all year. This is also where the Model Railway Village sits, so it works as a half-paid, half-free afternoon.

Formby: pinewoods, dunes and red squirrels

The National Trust’s Formby is free to walk into and open all day, with car parks open dawn to dusk. Parking is £9.00 for a car for non-members; National Trust members and Blue Badge holders park free. Toilets at Lifeboat Road and Victoria Road are open 09:30 to 16:30 (National Trust).

What is there: pinewoods with a red squirrel population, sand dune habitats supporting natterjack toads, a long beach where prehistoric footprints and two shipwrecks are sometimes exposed, and the old asparagus fields. The Trust’s own advice is blunt about the car parks, which are small and fill on sunny days, and it asks people to come by train where they can. Formby station is on the Southport to Liverpool line.

The paid ones

Southport Model Railway Village, Kings Gardens

A miniature village with running trains, in Kings Gardens on the Promenade, PR8 1QX. The 2026 season runs 25 April to 27 September, 10:30 to 17:00 with last admission at 16:00. From 4 July to 31 August it opens six days a week, closed Fridays; in September it is weekends only (Southport Model Railway Village).

Prices: adult £8.50, child £6.50, under 3s free, over 65s and students £7.50, carers £5.00, family ticket (two adults and two children) £25.00. No dogs. The trains do not run in heavy rain or high winds, so ring ahead on a bad day (01704 538001).

Dunes Splash World, The Esplanade

The indoor water park on the seafront, PR8 1RX. Open Saturday and Sunday 10:00 to 16:00 all year, and Monday to Friday 10:00 to 16:00 during Sefton school holidays (Dunes Splash World).

A standard 1.5 hour session is £16.80 adult, £13.50 for 6 to 15s, £12.00 for 3 to 5s, £5.50 for under 3s and £7.00 for a non-swimming spectator. A limited number of Gold Stay All Day passes are sold each day at £25.00 adult and £20.00 for 6 to 15s. Lockers are £1, refundable (Dunes Splash World booking info).

Adventure Coast Southport

The funfair on the seafront, known for most of its life as Southport Pleasureland and renamed Adventure Coast Southport. If you are searching for Pleasureland, this is it.

Entry to the park is free. Rides are paid for either with an admission card at £2 per person or an unlimited access wristband at £36, released daily between 11:00 and 12:00 in limited numbers (Adventure Coast Southport). The site does not publish a fixed opening calendar, so check before you travel.

The British Lawnmower Museum, Shakespeare Street

Exactly what it says, and much better than that sounds. 106 to 112 Shakespeare Street, PR8 5AJ. Open Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00 and Saturday 09:00 to 13:00, with the museum asking visitors to phone ahead to confirm. Adults £3.00, children £1.00 (British Lawnmower Museum).

What is on this month and next

Southport’s event calendar is concentrated into late summer and autumn, and four of the big ones are still to come in 2026 (Sefton Council):

  • Southport Flower Show, 20 to 23 August, Victoria Park, PR8 1RX. 10:00 to 18:00, closing at 17:00 on Sunday. Gate price £32, with a late entry ticket at £20 after 15:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Under 16s are free with a paying adult, and carers go free with supporting documents. Advance tickets are cheaper than the gate (Southport Flower Show).
  • Southport Air Show, 29 to 30 August.
  • British Musical Fireworks Championship, 26 to 27 September.
  • Books Alive, 24 to 31 October.

For all four, plus May’s Big Top and Food and Drink festivals, Merseyrail is selling £2 return tickets from any station on its network, £1 for children, funded by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Given that the eastern approach into town is a building site from mid-August, that is the sensible way in.

Frequently asked questions

Is Southport Pier open?

No. It has been closed since December 2022 on safety grounds. A £20 million Government-funded restoration has been approved and the public is expected back in 2027 (Sefton Council).

What can you do in Southport for free?

The Atkinson museum and gallery on Lord Street, Another Place on Crosby Beach, Kings Gardens, the Marine Lake and the promenade, the beach itself, and walking into National Trust Formby, where only the car park is charged.

Is Southport Pleasureland still open?

Yes, under a new name. It is now Adventure Coast Southport. Entry is free and rides are paid for with a £2 admission card or a £36 unlimited wristband.

How much is Splash World in Southport?

£16.80 for an adult on a standard 1.5 hour session, £13.50 for a 6 to 15 year old. All day Gold passes are £25 adult and £20 junior, in limited numbers.

What is there to do in Southport when it rains?

The Atkinson (free), Dunes Splash World, the British Lawnmower Museum and the shops and arcades along Lord Street. The Model Railway Village does not run its trains in heavy rain, so it is not a wet-weather option.

How much does Southport Flower Show cost in 2026?

£32 at the gate, or £20 for late entry after 15:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Under 16s are free with a paying adult. Advance tickets are cheaper than the gate price.

Can you see red squirrels in Southport?

Not in the town, but in the pinewoods at Formby, a few stops down the Merseyrail line. Entry is free and parking is £9 for non-members.

Sources

Prices and opening times change. Every figure here was checked at source in August 2026; confirm with the venue before you set off.