But do you really? Here are 11 strange but true facts about Blackpool and the Fylde coast that might just surprise you ...
1. Timberrrrrrrrrr ... splash
Given The Blackpool Tower's height, the number of surrounding buildings and the fact that it is built with 2,500 tonnes of iron and 5 million bricks, there were concerns about safety if it were to collapse. But, thanks to a unique design and some clever construction, in the unlikely event that The Blackpool Tower ever did fall down, it would fall into the sea rather than the buildings around it. Photo: nw
2. Illuminations
The Blackpool Illuminations' dazzling display stretches almost six miles from Starr Gate to Bispham, shines non-stop for 66 days, and requires one million lamps in various types and styles and cost 2.4 million. Photo: nw
3. Going up, squire?
Squires Gate, which became Blackpool International Airport, was one of the first aviation sites in the UK, with a history dating back to 1909. Just a few years after the first powered flight in the States, passengers were being flown over the Fylde coast. Maximum speed then was just over 40mph and a 30-mile flight was considered long distance, but this was the first place in the UK where non-aviators could take to the air as passengers. Photo: nw
4. Princess of ... coins
Blackpool has a museum of oddities, including a portrait of Princess Diana made of 2500 penny coins. At Ripleys Believe It or Not museum and its odditorium you'll also find shrunken heads, a fertility statue which has had over 1,000 confirmed pregnancies, and a two-headed calf. Photo: nw
5. High do
Escapologist Karl Bartoni married Wendy Stokes mid-air at the of the Blackpool Tower in 1985, two years after he had performed three daring escapes suspended from the Tower. With a vicar, choir and church organ on the top of the Blackpool Tower, the couple were lowered from its top in an open cage decorated with flowers, and married standing on a plank in mid-air 450 feet above a crowd of 20,000 people. Photo: nw
6. Life's a beach
Blackpool is the only British beach resort to boast three piers. Holding Grade II listed status, the North Pier was opened in 1863 and is the oldest remaining example of a pier designed by celebrated seaside architect Eugenius Birch. Central Pier followed in 1868, where a 108ft Ferris wheel known as the Big Wheel was installed in 1990. Finally, South Pier, originally called Victoria Pier, opened in 1893 and is the youngest of the three structures. Photo: nw