St Mary's Lighthouse Voted England's Number One Lighthouse

It is the postcard everyone takes home from the coast, and now it has the ranking to match. St Mary's Lighthouse on its tidal island just north of Whitley Bay has been named the number one lighthouse in England by TripAdvisor, topping every other beacon in the country in the travel site's traveller rankings.

A Near-Perfect Score

The accolade is built on the reviews of thousands of visitors, who have given the Grade II listed landmark a near-perfect 4.5 score, as reported by the Northumberland Gazette. One reviewer called it "my favourite place on earth", while others singled out the seals hauled out on the rocks at low tide and the wildlife of the surrounding nature reserve.

The recognition follows a major £900,000 restoration completed in 2024, which secured the future of the 1898 lighthouse and gave its visitor centre a refresh, with new interactive displays telling the story of the island, its keepers and its wildlife.

Best for: St Mary's Island is reached on foot across a concrete causeway that floods at high tide, so always check the tide times before you set off — and before you head back.

A Win for the Whole Seafront

For Whitley Bay and North Tyneside, a national number one is no small thing. The lighthouse already draws visitors from across the region to climb its 137 steps for views stretching from Tynemouth up to Blyth and Newbiggin, and a top TripAdvisor billing puts the seafront firmly on the map for tourists planning a trip to the North East coast.

It also sits neatly alongside the wider revival of the town, from the restored Spanish City dome to the newly reopened Metro station footbridge. The lighthouse is run by North Tyneside Council and the nature reserve is open seven days a week through the summer, with seals, rock pools and clifftop birdwatching all on the doorstep.

If you have not made the causeway crossing in a while, this is as good a summer as any to go and see what all the fuss is about.

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Photo: Tim Green, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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