1920s Holidays: Top Destinations And Travel Trends

The seaside by train, a week at most, and abroad only for the well off.

Below: where people went in the 1920s, how the holiday actually worked, what changed during the decade, and the details anyone who was there will remember.

Useful for a reminiscence session, a themed party, or working out what someone's holidays looked like when they were young.

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Shop prints and posters Look back to 1920 Look back to 1921 Look back to 1922

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Shop prints and posters

Years covered in the 1920s

  • 1920 - The first Remembrance at the Cenotaph and a country still counting its losses. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1920
  • 1921 - A miners' lockout, mass unemployment and the first British Legion poppy appeal. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1921
  • 1922 - The BBC's first broadcast, the Austin Seven and Tutankhamun's tomb. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1922
  • 1923 - The White Horse Final at Wembley and the first Radio Times. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1923
  • 1924 - The first Labour government, the Empire Exhibition and the Chariots of Fire Olympics. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1924
  • 1925 - The Charleston, the return to the gold standard and a summer of dance halls. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1925
  • 1926 - The General Strike, the birth of Elizabeth II and Baird's public television demonstration. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1926
  • 1927 - The BBC became a corporation, talking pictures arrived and the FA Cup went to Wales. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1927
  • 1928 - Votes for all women, penicillin discovered and the Thames flood. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1928
  • 1929 - Britain's first talkie, a second Labour government and the Wall Street Crash. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1929
  • That is every 1920s year we have written up so far: 1920 to 1929.

Where people went in the 1920s

  • Blackpool, the biggest resort in the country, reached by excursion trains from every mill town in Lancashire.
  • Margate, Ramsgate and Southend for London, much of it arriving by paddle steamer down the Thames.
  • Scarborough, Bridlington and Whitby for Yorkshire; Skegness and Cleethorpes for the East Midlands.
  • Rhyl, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay for the Midlands and the North West.
  • The Isle of Man, and the Clyde coast - Rothesay, Dunoon and Largs - for Glasgow's Fair fortnight.
  • Wakes weeks, when a whole town's mills shut and everyone went to the same resort in the same week.
  • Charabanc day trips run by the works, the chapel or the pub to the coast or a beauty spot.
  • The French Riviera, Biarritz and Swiss resorts for the rich, who still went in winter rather than summer.

How the holiday worked

  • The railway was the holiday - resorts were built around the station and the timetable set the day you travelled.
  • Boarding houses with fixed mealtimes, a landlady who locked the door at night and nowhere to sit during the day.
  • Most working people had no paid holiday at all; the Holidays with Pay Act did not arrive until 1938.
  • A week away was saved for all year through a holiday club at work or a Christmas-style savings scheme.
  • Passports became standard after the First World War, and very few ordinary households owned one.
  • Cars were rare and unreliable; a motoring holiday meant breakdowns, maps and no signposting to speak of.

Travel trends of the 1920s

  • Piers, pleasure beaches and Blackpool Illuminations pulling crowds in the hundreds of thousands.
  • Cycling and rambling clubs growing fast as cheap ways to get out of the city for a day.
  • The first motor coach tours, which opened up places the railway did not reach.
  • Sea bathing shifting from a health cure taken seriously to something people did for fun.
  • Seaside entertainment turning professional - concert parties, pierrots and end-of-the-pier shows.
  • Camping and caravanning starting as an eccentric hobby for a small, keen minority.

What people remember

  • Deckchairs, donkey rides and a windbreak dug in against the British summer.
  • Sand in the sandwiches, a paddle rather than a swim, and getting changed under a towel.
  • Postcards written on the first day out of duty, and arriving home before you did.
  • Everything shut on Sunday, including most of the things you had come for.
  • A brass band in the bandstand and deckchair attendants collecting tuppence.
  • The same boarding house, the same week, the same families year after year.

Iconic trips of the 1920s

  • The Blue Train from Calais to the Riviera, the smart way south from 1922.
  • A Thames paddle steamer from Tower Pier down to Margate, a day out for a few shillings.
  • Wakes week in Blackpool - a whole mill town on the same train on the same Saturday.
  • The Flying Scotsman, non-stop London to Edinburgh from 1928.
  • A transatlantic crossing on the Mauretania, five days and a dinner jacket.

How to use this

  • Reminiscence: ask where they went, who drove and what went wrong - the disasters get the best stories.
  • Quiz round: read a destination and ask for the decade.
  • Themed party: old postcards and a map do more than any decoration.
  • Present: a print of the place they honeymooned beats a generic card.

Shop prints and posters

Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1920 Look back to 1921 Look back to 1922

How to write it so it lands

  • Old holiday photos are the best prompt for a reminiscence session - better than any list.
  • Ask about the journey, not the destination; that is where the stories are.
  • Dates matter: check when someone actually went, not when the destination was fashionable.

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Frequently asked questions

Where did people go on holiday in the 1920s?

Blackpool, the biggest resort in the country, reached by excursion trains from every mill town in Lancashire. The full list above covers the main destinations of the decade, at home and abroad.

How did people book holidays in the 1920s?

The railway was the holiday - resorts were built around the station and the timetable set the day you travelled. The rest of the practical detail - money, transport and paid leave - is in the section above.

What were the big travel trends of the 1920s?

Piers, pleasure beaches and Blackpool Illuminations pulling crowds in the hundreds of thousands. The trends section above lists what changed across the decade.

What were the iconic trips of the 1920s?

The Blue Train from Calais to the Riviera, the smart way south from 1922. The iconic trips section above lists the journeys of the decade, with dates.

Do you sell holidays?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. This page is free to read, print and copy for a quiz or a care-home session.

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