Butlins Skegness

Butlins Skegness was our third visit to a Butlin’s resort, following stays at Bognor Regis and Minehead. We visited during the busy May half-term holidays to experience the resort in the same way many families do – at its liveliest, busiest and most atmospheric.

We stayed in a two-bedroom Maple Walk Lodge and spent time exploring the resort, filming a complete park tour and discovering some of the quieter corners that many visitors never see.

In this guide you’ll find our honest thoughts on the accommodation, facilities, food and drink, entertainment, getting around the resort and how Skegness compares with the other Butlins resorts.

Unlike many reviews filmed during term time, we usually travel during school holidays and pay the same peak-season family prices as most visitors, so this review reflects the experience many families are likely to have.

Quick Summary

Location	Skegness, Lincolnshire
Park Operator	Butlins
Accommodation	Premier Lodge — Three bedroom at Maple Walk
Swimming Pool	Yes
Entertainment	Yes
Restaurant / Bar	Yes
Takeaway / Chip Shop	Yes
Shop On Site	Yes
Good for Families	Yes
Good for Older Visitors	Yes – relatively flat and easy to walk around
Dog Friendly	Dogs allowed on caravan side
Beach Nearby	Yes
Nearest Town	Ingoldmells near Skegness
Bus Access	Bus stop outside park - very regular service
WiFi	Very good in lodge
Our Rating	★★★★☆

Photo Gallery

Watch our video

Accommodation

For our stay at Butlins Skegness we chose a two-bedroom Maple Walk Lodge, which proved to be a comfortable and well-equipped base for our half-term break.

One of the first things that struck us was just how large the Maple Walk area actually is. At ground level it feels peaceful, spacious and tucked away from the busier parts of the resort, but our drone footage revealed the true scale of the development, with rows of modern lodges stretching across a significant part of the site.

The lodges have their own separate entrance away from the main resort traffic, making arrival straightforward and helping the area retain a quieter atmosphere. Despite feeling removed from the crowds, we found it was still only around a ten-minute walk to the Skyline Pavilion and the heart of the resort.

Inside, the lodge was modern, bright and well laid out for families, with plenty of space for four people. We particularly liked having an outdoor seating area, while the surrounding green spaces gave the area a more relaxed feel than some of the traditional accommodation options.

A fun surprise during our stay was the ice cream van that visited the lodge area, which added to the holiday atmosphere and was particularly popular with younger guests.

Overall, we found Maple Walk to offer a good balance between enjoying everything Butlins has to offer while also having somewhere quieter to retreat to at the end of a busy day. Families looking for a little more space and a calmer environment may find the lodges an attractive alternative to hotel rooms or apartments.

Watch our video

Facilities

Butlins Skegness offers the classic Butlin’s mix of entertainment, activities and family facilities, centred around the impressive Skyline Pavilion.

During our visit we found the resort felt larger and more self-contained than Bognor Regis, with a traditional holiday camp atmosphere that many families will recognise and enjoy. The Skyline Pavilion remains the heart of the resort, housing arcades, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues and plenty of seating areas where families can relax between activities.

Splash Waterworld is one of the resort’s biggest attractions and was particularly popular during our half-term stay, while the fairground provides a good range of rides for younger children and families.

We also enjoyed exploring some of the quieter parts of the resort. Although Butlins can be busy during school holidays, Skegness has several green spaces away from the main entertainment areas where you can sit, enjoy a picnic or simply take a break from the crowds. We even spotted a few rabbits during our walks around the resort.

Studio 36 hosts many of the larger entertainment events, while the Pig & Whistle offers a more traditional pub atmosphere and proved to be a pleasant place to unwind in the evenings.

One thing we particularly liked about Skegness was that it felt easy to navigate despite its size. The accommodation areas, entertainment venues and facilities are generally well connected by footpaths, and we found it possible to leave the car parked for the duration of our stay.

Compared with Bognor Regis, Skegness feels more spread out and traditional, while retaining the familiar Butlin’s atmosphere that families expect.

Food and Drink

Butlins Skegness offers a wide range of dining options, including buffet dining plans, restaurants, cafés, takeaways and familiar names such as Papa Johns. We’ve previously used a Butlins dining plan during our stay at Bognor Regis and found it worked well for families, particularly during busy school holiday periods.

For this visit, however, we decided not to purchase a dining plan and instead paid for meals individually.

One of our favourite discoveries was The Deck Restaurant, where we ate breakfast on three of our four mornings. Butlins only accepts walk-ins when capacity allows, but by arriving after 10am we effectively turned breakfast into brunch and were never turned away.

The buffet offered an impressive choice of cooked breakfast items, pastries, cereals and lighter options, and we take viewers through the selections in our video. For our family of four, breakfast cost around £40, with the boys still benefiting from child prices despite being more than capable of out-eating their parents these days!

We also visited The Beachcomber Inn, which has a relaxed atmosphere reminiscent of a Wetherspoons-style pub. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food, particularly the sirloin steak, which exceeded our expectations.

For a more traditional seaside meal, we tried the on-site fish and chip shop. While it wasn’t exceptional, it was perfectly enjoyable and convenient after a busy day around the resort. We also ordered pizzas from Papa Johns, which proved to be an easy family option during our stay.

Overall, we found there was plenty of choice at Butlins Skegness, whether you’re on a dining plan or prefer the flexibility of paying as you go. Even during a busy half-term week, we were able to find food options that suited our family without too much difficulty.

Things To Do Nearby

One of the advantages of staying at Butlins Skegness is that it’s easy to explore the surrounding area without needing to move the car.

We took the bus from just outside the main gates of Butlins. Simply turn left as you leave the resort and walk around 100 yards to the bus stop. There is a notice inside Butlins advising that buses no longer enter the resort itself, but there is also a taxi rank on site with a list of fixed prices. For families or groups, a taxi can work out at a similar cost to the bus.

We filmed the full bus journey from Butlins into Skegness, which gives a good idea of the route and what to expect. We chose to get off near the pier, although several passengers continued to the Jolly Fisherman pub, which is conveniently located close to many of the restaurants and attractions.

Skegness is exactly what many people imagine a traditional British seaside resort to be, with a large fairground, pier, parks, amusements, pubs and plenty of fish and chip shops.

We ate at Trawler’s Catch, which was well worth the fifteen-minute wait for a table. The portions were generous and the fish was enormous.

Later, we discovered one of the less glamorous aspects of British seaside life when we encountered a pay-to-enter toilet block that happily accepted our money but refused to open its barrier! Judging by the number of frustrated visitors gathering nearby, we weren’t alone. Fortunately, there are clean and free toilets located in the corner of the fairground.

We also took the open-top bus to Fantasy Island in Ingoldmells, which is located slightly beyond Butlins. It’s an impressive attraction with a substantial fairground and a large indoor market, making it a useful option if the British weather isn’t behaving itself.

That said, Fantasy Island wasn’t really our cup of tea, particularly when Butlins already offers a free fairground within the resort. The boys wanted to go on a single ride that was priced at £5 each, which felt expensive and seemed designed to encourage visitors to purchase one of the more costly unlimited ride wristbands. Even they decided it wasn’t worth it.

For those who enjoy walking, it’s possible to return to Butlins along the coastal path. We chose to follow the road back instead, which took around twenty minutes at a leisurely pace.

Getting there and Map

Butlins Skegness is on the Lincolnshire coast, close to Skegness town and seafront.

We travelled from South Wales, so for us it was a fairly long journey, made even more challenging by motorway closures and one of the hottest May half-term weeks on record.

Once you leave the motorway network, the final stretch takes you through the Lincolnshire countryside. The roads are generally smaller and slower than major routes elsewhere in the UK, although we enjoyed passing through several attractive villages along the way.

Parking at the resort was straightforward, and we noticed plenty of guests arriving by taxi with luggage, which we assume were transfers from Skegness railway station. This suggests that Butlins Skegness is a realistic option for visitors travelling by train as well as by car.

During our stay, we found it easy to leave the car parked and make use of local buses, taxis and walking routes to explore Skegness and the surrounding area.

Our Thoughts

Overall, we had a really enjoyable stay at Butlins Skegness and were pleased that we finally completed our visits to all three UK Butlins resorts.

For us personally, Bognor Regis remains our favourite. We preferred its slightly smaller layout and found it had a more relaxed atmosphere, making it feel a little easier to navigate and perhaps a little less hectic during busy school holiday periods.

That said, Skegness has plenty going for it. It feels like the most traditional of the three resorts, with a classic British seaside holiday atmosphere and lots to do both inside and outside the resort.

We were particularly glad that we chose to stay in the Maple Walk Lodges. The area felt peaceful and tucked away from the busiest parts of the resort, while still being within easy walking distance of the Skyline Pavilion. We appreciate that the lodges may not fit every family’s budget, but for us they provided a good balance between enjoying the energy of Butlins and having somewhere quieter to retreat to at the end of the day.

One of our favourite discoveries was the Pig & Whistle pub. It seems to be overlooked by many visitors, but we found it to be a pleasant place to relax away from the crowds. In our video, we show how to reach it via the tunnel from the main resort, and we’d certainly recommend paying it a visit if you’re staying at Skegness.

Would we return? Absolutely. While Bognor Regis still takes the top spot for us, Skegness offers a fun, traditional seaside Butlins experience and plenty to keep families entertained, especially during the school holidays.

[View Our Butlins Resorts UK Guide]