There's a lot of coastline wrapped around this isle – over ten thousand miles of it, in fact. Factor in Britain's astonishing variety of landscapes and you have a region whose beaches range from epic strands to tiny notches chipped from cliffs. Here are the best beaches in the UK.
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Small but exquisitely formed, Porthcurno’s wedge of white sand, surrounded by ragged cliffs and framing a sapphire bay, creates an improbably idyllic scene. Nor is Porthcurno just a pretty face; the cliff-top Minack Theatre hosts open-air performances, while a museum celebrates the birth of transatlantic telegraphy here in 1870. Staggering beauty, culture and history all in one spot makes this one of the best beaches in the UK.
Porthcurno beach, three miles east of Land’s End on the south coast of West Cornwall © Adele Ankers/Shutterstock
Keith Richards may have a beach hut here, but West Wittering excels in peace’n’quiet rather than rock’n’roll. Swish through the dunes (pictured at the top of the article) to emerge onto 55 acres of unspoilt sand that somehow swallows 10,000 visitors on sun-drenched summer bank holidays.
Wind- and kitesurfers love it. So do kids, splashing in sandy pools or crabbing at low tide. Everyone else loves it, too – just dawdling or gazing out at the Channel with a cuppa. Keith’s probably doing the same.
West Wittering on the Sussex coastline © Helen Hotson/Shutterstock
St Martin’s seems to lie at the end of the world. Rawer and wilder than neighbour Tresco, this is an island for connoisseurs, a fertile fuzz of green fringed by sugar-white beaches that swell as the tide drops. Don’t forget your mask and snorkel: seals bob among kelp forests in the clearest bluest water in the archipelago.
Par Beach - one of the best beaches in the UK for snorkelling © Panaspics/Shutterstock
Barafundle is among the best beaches in the UK – scalloped into the Pembrokeshire cliffs – and makes a fabulous picnic spot. Space has a lot to do with it. The walk here from Stackpole Quay keeps crowds to a minimum and gives Barafundle the frisson of a shared secret.
Shallow seas and shelter from prevailing winds also score points. But the clincher? Superlative sands that are just perfect for sand castles.
Barafundle Bay Wales © Fulcanelli/Shutterstock
There’s no better model for sand-castle-making than the storybook silhouette of Bamburgh Castle. It rises behind the pale sand of this pristine beach, which stretches into the distance beneath a pale pure sky and extends a mile out to sea at low water.
Add in the romantic outline of Holy Island at its northern end and it is a magnificent vista fit for Viking longships, one not nearly as well known as it should be. (That’s half the reason to go.)
Bamburgh Castle © ChickenWing Jackson/Shutterstock
With its pristine sands, old thatched cottages and lack of commercialism, the south Devon village of Bantham is a small timewarp, preserved from much development over the past sixty years by its staunchly protective owners, the Evans Estate.
It's one of the best sandy beaches in the UK. The waves are popular with surfers but the beach, with its shallow waters and wide expanse of sand, is also good for the bucket-and-spade brigade, and there are rock pools and dunes to explore.
Bantham © ian woolcock/Shutterstock
We've seen plenty of stellar beaches in the UK, but what about on Scottish shores? Fear not, there is plenty to write home about here, too. Beaches are about escapism, and Scarista on the Isle of Harris has it in buckets and spades.
As if the adventure of getting to the Outer Hebrides wasn’t enough, the wide-open vistas of rolling hills and empty seascapes from this raw, elemental beach give you a walk on the wild side at the outer edge of civilization. Sparkling white sands and vivid blue water add to the appeal.
Scarista beach, Harris Island © Dave Atherton/Shutterstock
Let’s hear it for Holkham: white-gold sands (a rarity among Norfolk’s more usual shingle), shells and starfish, a fringe of aromatic pine woodland and a nature reserve teeming with saltings and water birds.
Gwyneth Paltrow strode its shoreline alone in the closing scene of Shakespeare in Love, and for good reason. There’s an introspective intensity to this minimalist landscape, a romantic Turner-esque vista of empty sea and sky stung by the North Sea breeze.
Holkham, Norfolk © Shutterstock
Crosby is the permanent gallery for artist Antony Gormley’s Another Place installation. Here you'll find one hundred life-size iron men who stare to the open sea on either side of the tide line. Some are now half-buried in the sand.
Others are dressed in a coat of weeds. Gormley says his work tackles themes of migration and illustrates that every landscape has a social dimension. We say it creates the most haunting beach in the UK.
Crosby beach, Merseyside, UK © philip openshaw/Shutterstock
Studland Bay is not as famous as the Jurassic Coast (which starts at the tip of this lovely bay as Old Harry’s Rocks) – reason enough to visit. Another is the astonishing natural beauty preserved under the aegis of the National Trust. Tramping along trails through dunes and woods behind the bay you may spy deer.
There’s a catch, of course: walking the trail means dragging yourself away from Middle Beach, with its charmingly ramshackle beach-hut café and sheltered water perfect for swimming.
Old Harry Rocks cliffs, Studland, Swanage, Dorset, UK © januszkurek.com/Shutterstock
The Isles of Scilly have many beautiful beaches, but Pelistry Bay on St Mary’s has to be one of the loveliest, making it one of the best beaches in UK. Unspoilt, sandy and secluded, the beach has teeming rock pools and is connected at low tide to rocky Toll’s Island. There’s also a great café nearby, called Carn Vean Café.
Pelistry Beach, St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly © Stephen Rees/Shutterstock
Multi-coloured cliffs beetle down over breezy Compton Bay, the much-loved haunt of the Isle of Wight’s surf (kite- and -board) dudes. The waves pound upon the sand, churning up milky froth and spitting salty spray up into your face. Watch the surfers from a height up on the cliff top, where the Tennyson Trail laces its way along the coastline.
Compton Bay, on the Isle of Wight © Melanie Hobson/Shutterstock
Wales has plenty of incredible beaches, and Rhossili Beach is certainly one of the best beaches in the UK. As the westernmost beach along the Gower peninsula, its brutish waves and powerful Atlantic swells are not for the faint-hearted – so it’s understandable you’ll find surfers rather than swimmers here. Be warned that the path down to the beach is very steep.
Rhossili Bay, Wales, UK © Steve Mann/Shutterstock
Bigbury-on-Sea on the South Devon coast is a particularly child-friendly beach, with shallow waters and clean sand as well as numerous rock pools to examine.
Bring your fishing net, plastic bucket and unshakeable enthusiasm for marine beasties. When the tide is out, wander out to Burgh Island and stop off for a pint in the Pilchard Inn.
Burgh Island from Bigbury-On-Sea South Hams Devon England © ian woolcock/Shutterstock
The UK’s most visited tourist attraction, Blackpool Pleasure Beach features in this list because of its unfailing and cherished legacy. The beach’s sand and water have benefitted from a major clean-up – Blackpool South Beach is now the only Blue Flag beach in the North West. But it’s the backdrop of the frenetic resort town and scream-filled theme park dating back 100 years that provide the charm.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach © Paul Daniels/Shutterstock
Boldly facing the icy North Atlantic blasts on Scotland's northwestern coast, Sandwood Bay certainly makes for a brisk beach trip. But with its lovely pinkish sand that undulates into soft dunes, and views over to remarkably weathered sea stacks, it really is a magnificent sight and easily one of the best beaches in the UK.
Sandwood Bay, Scotland © John A Cameron/Shutterstock
Wide and wild, with a pretty mix of sand and rocks, Whitesands Bay curves around close to St David’s head. It’s one of the best beaches in the UK for surfing, and makes up a portion of the famous Pembrokeshire Coast Path. On a sunny day, the sea turns a deep and mesmerizing sapphire blue.
The extensive beach at Whitesands Bay, Nr St David's, Pembrokeshire, Wales © Peter Moulton/Shutterstock
A magnificent chink in the Cornish coastline north of Lizard Point, Kynance Cove has been hugely popular since Victorian times; Alfred Lord Tennyson was a regular visitor. The rocks round here are coloured green and red, polished smooth by the endless waves.
Kynance Cove on the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall in England © Lukasz Pajor/Shutterstock
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Top image: Bamburgh Castle © Michael Conrad/Shutterstock
written by
Rough Guides Editors
updated 14.03.2023
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