Lighthouses are structures that are prominent by day and lit at night to help sailors navigate, with complementary roles: to warn them to stay away, or to indicate safe passage and the way into harbour. There must be many thousands of them worldwide, if every harbour light at the end of a breakwater is counted, but this page only describes those with some kind of interior structure that you can visit.
The very first lighthouse probably began as a daymark, ie a prominent structure without a light. This was on the little island of Pharos just off Alexandria in Egypt, where the coast is low and featureless, and you could easily come to grief by sailing into the wrong channel. But that was no help at night or in poor visibility, so circa 300 BC a tower with a light was built, burning sheep hides soaked in olive oil and channelling the light by bronze mirrors. Pharos came to mean the lighthouse itself, and lighthouses in general, and was adapted into other languages (e.g. modern French phares headlights). The original tower fell into disuse by the 12th century and its stone was recycled or eaten by coastal erosion.
The ancient and medieval world largely got by with makeshift lighthouses, but sea commerce expanded greatly in the modern period, the loss of ships, lives and cargo escalated, and something better was needed. The golden age of lighthouse building was in the 18th and 19th centuries, with great towers (often heroically constructed in dangerous locations) housing not only equipment but people to tend the light, and whatever they needed to live isolated for weeks or months on end. So it's often these structures that make for the most interesting visits. They have light sources, lenses and shutter mechanisms, emitting a unique identifying pattern of flashes. They have stoves and bunks, precarious steps up from the boat landing, and great views from the top over windswept, white-capped waters.
During the 20th century lights became more reliable and compact, and other aids to navigation developed, such as radar, sonar depth-finders, radio telecommunications, radio beacons, and later satellite navigation. Existing lighthouses were made automatic, decommissioned or altogether demolished; new "lighthouse" equivalents were just metal towers festooned with aerials and dishes. Note them from a distance, there's no need to go close, the very point they're there to make. The listings below are sites that you can visit and in some sense "get inside". They may or may not be operational – if they are, visits may be suspended at short notice for maintenance. Openings may be at routine hours or on special occasions or highly dependent on the weather. If there's a tricky access by boat or cliff path, getting there is half the fun, or all the misery as you upchuck your breakfast. Many lighthouses are museums, but this listing doesn't include museums that simply contain lighthouse artefacts, because just about every coastal museum does so.
Where there was no suitable rock to build a lighthouse upon, lightships were sometimes used. With the invention of screw-pile and later caisson lighthouses, most of these became obsolete. Lightships are included below, where these can be boarded. A few act as museums in harbours.
The entries below just give basic details of location, facilities and access. See the linked destination articles for more about how to get there, opening hours, prices, and what's there.
Some lighthouses are open to the public, allowing use as observation towers.
Listings from east to north:
It's no surprise that so many lighthouses are dotted around the coast of Britain. An island nation that was one of the first countries to industrialise, and to develop overseas colonies, its need for safe sea trade was pressing. Britain sought to "rule the waves" but this claim was challenged: there were continual wars with France, the English Channel was often unsafe for merchant shipping, and if you did chance it by hugging the shore, the Eddystone Rocks lay in wait. Vessels for the Atlantic might prefer to sail the long way round via the tip of Scotland, but this, as the Spanish Armada had discovered, was also dangerous. So lighthouses were essential, which forced the technology to enable their construction: cement that would set underwater made possible the second Eddystone lighthouse of 1755. The great name was Robert Stevenson (1772-1850), who built his first lighthouse at 19, and oversaw fifty years of their construction. So when we think of lighthouses, we think of his classic design, those tapering white or hooped towers flashing from a headland. As iconic as they were practical, they became as symbolic of island Britain as the fluted marble column is symbolic of Ancient Greece.
Trinity House operate all lighthouses and lightships in England, Wales and the Channel Isles. See their website for details of access, operational closures, and self-catering accommodation within lighthouses.
The Northern Lighthouse board operates all lighthouses around Scotland and the Isle of Man. See their website for access details, operational closures, and self-catering accommodation within lighthouses.
And see Trinity House link above.
South Stack Lighthouse, South Stack, Anglesey, 53.306673°, -4.699502°. Built in 1809 and still operational, it stands impressively on a rocky island just off the coast. Reached by steep steps and bridge.
Nash Point Lighthouse, Glamorgan. Operational and open weekends in summer, this was the last manned lighthouse in Wales.
Alderney: the light guarding the Alderney race is open for viewing, limited Sundays in summer.
Visiting and photographing Florida lighthouses are celebrated hobbies, and the lighthouses are popular travel destinations, as they are maintained as tourist attractions. National Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend is celebrated in the US on the first weekend of August, and International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend is celebrated on the third weekend. Many lighthouses are open to the public and amateur radio operators often communicate between them on these days.
The lighthouse of Colonia, -34.47284°, -57.85231°. 14:00-18:00. For a nominal fee you can go up to the top of the lighthouse (faro) and see most of the city and look out over the city and Rio de la Plata. On a clear day probably even Buenos Aires is visible. The lighthouse was built in 1857. UYU20 (as of May 2014)
Punta Carretas lighthouse (Faro de Punta Carretas), -34.9353°, -56.1606°. On the southernmost peninsula of the city. You get to walk a bit to get there. For a small fee you can get up in the tower, but the view over the city across the small bay is good from the ground too. The peninsula seems to be a quite popular spot for hobby fishers. UYU20 (as of May 2014)
Lighthouses are often on cliff edges which may be unfenced. Keep well back from the edge, bearing in mind that the edge may give way due to erosion.
Some lighthouse islands are accessible only in fine weather; landing can be difficult and dangerous, and unless there is a safe harbour one should get away in time if weather turns rough.
The tower of a lighthouse often has many steep steps. The railings at the top may be designed for adult lighthouse keepers, so be particularly careful if visiting a lighthouse with children.
Don't monkey with the equipment! It's either a valuable museum piece, or operational and the next life it saves might be your own.