As we look forward to long warm Summer days, VisitBritain have released their list of top 10 beaches in Britain.
1) Bournemouth in Dorset comes out the top which isn’t too surprising as visitors to this seaside resort are rewarded with 7 miles of sandy beaches and some of the warmest weather in the country.
The town has also built Europe’s first artificial surf reef which it hopes will make this one of the mecca’s for surfing in Britain, and possibly draw some of the crowds from the North Devon coastlines.
2) West Wittering in West Sussex offers almost everything families look for in a beach with gently sloping waters, safe bathing and those little rockpools which are refilled at high tide with all kinds of interesting creatures. The beach also has some of the best coastal flora and fauna of any beach in the country.
3) Croyde Bay in North Devon has been popular with surfers for years ever since they discovered you don’t need to fly vast distances to catch a wave. If you’re not a surfer don’t worry, there are plenty of areas on the beaches for simply relaxing and building the odd sandcastle.
4) Holy Island in Northumberland is the site of one of the oldest monasteries in the country, and it’s not hard to see why. The miles of sandy beaches and relative lack of crowds make this one of those ideal locations to contemplate life, the universe and whether to have cod or haddock with your chips.
5) Holkham in Norfolk was possibly made most famous when Gwyneth Paltrow wandered the beach in the final scene of Shakespeare in Love, but the vastly long and wide beach was a secret haven for sand lovers for many years prior to that.
The beach also receives regular royal approval, with the Queen reportedly talking her Corgies for a walk along it when she is in residence at Sandringham.
6) Great Bay in St Martin’s, Isles of Scilly is one of those beaches which most visitors never make it to as you can’t get there by car. However it’s only 20 minutes from the quay in St Martin’s and well worth the walk if you’re looking for relatively deserted beaches.
As the Isles of Scilly are much further south than any mainland beaches, the sea has a distinctly tropical feel about it with kelp forests and colourful fish.
7) Blackpool in Lancashire has grown up an awful lot in recent years and although you can still of course buy Blackpool rock, fish n’ chips and play in the arcades, the sea front and beaches are much more family friendly again.
Possibly the most successful of all the seaside resorts, Blackpool is the family mecca when it comes to British seaside holidays and although we can’t promise the sea will be exactly warm, it will be clean. Evening walks along the sands are especially recommended.
8. Abereiddi Blue Lagoon in Pembrokeshire is rather lacking any sandy beaches, but the sheltered Lagoon could be taken out of any romantic novel or film. The sea does have the tropical deep blue colour and because it’s not covered in sand, it is more ideal for those romantic getaways where you don’t want to share the area with hundreds of others.
9) Sinclair’s Bay in Caithness is one of the remotest beaches around, being located close to John O’Groats (the most northerly part of mainland Britain). This remoteness also brings less crowding so it is quite likely you will have the entire three miles of beach to yourself. Just remember this beach probably won’t have shorts and bikini weather.
10) Porthcurno in Cornwall has some of the whitest sand in the country as most of it comes from seashells rather than rocks. The craggy cliffs and long sandy beaches provide the perfect atmosphere for long days sitting making sandcastles and generally having fun.
The spectacular Minnack Theatre runs plays during the Summer months. Clinging to the side of the cliff-face, the theatre has only the sea as its backdrop making it pretty much unique in the world.
More resources:
Original listing from Yahoo
Visitor attractions around the UK
Hotels in the UK
UK self-catering cottages
9 Comments
Shame they missed out on my favourite which is at Sandsend just above Whitby in North Yorkshire. I always send guests here who are stay with us at http://www.carrhousefarm.co.uk. Easy access and easy to park and not busy with the bonus of great locally made ice cream to be bought at the top of the beach. Another secret place below Whitby but only for the sure footed Saltwick Bay.have this little bay to yourself most days sharing it only with the oyster catchers that are in the area
You must have run out of petrol in Blackpool!
How come you didn’t visit any Northern Beaches?
No candyfloss or toffee apples on any of the Cumbrian beaches?
Did the reviewer get this out of a book somewhere?
That’s the advantage of the comments system – you can tell people about the places which were missing from the original.
Btw, might not want to tell too many people about the really good beaches as they could all start crowding there and spoil the view. :)
Original list came from Visit Britain and published on Yahoo (first link in resources), then we took each one and researched information about it for the blurb.
Hailing from north eastern Cumbria myself, I’m not aware of anything I’d want to include in a “good beach” list. Most of my experience has been around Silloth and Allonby end so maybe there are some nicer ones further down the coast…?
Shame you haven’t traveled further along the coastline. Seascale, St Bees,Silecroft, and Haverigg all have terrific beaches but no one to champion the cause and hence the lack of tourism in these areas.
I don’t think any of the locals in these areas are worried about the secret getting out.!
What about Camber Sands? Mile upon mile of golden sand in East Sussex. That’s got to be my favourite!
Lindisfarne – or they could have chosen ANY of dozens of beaches along the Northumberland Coast AONB because they’d all be worthy of inclusion in the top 10. And – no crowds! My favourite walk is the amazing stretch between Bamburgh and Seahouses, which our guests always enjoy. Especially on a beautiful day like today!
Did you miss the reference to Holy Island, Jeff…?
Interesting. Only one of these 10 (Holkham, Norfolk) is listed in The Best of Britain’s Coast top 3 beaches from Coast Magazine’s survey of its readers.