Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside! With the summer heat comes obligatory trips to the coast, while the season’s beaming sunshine reveals just how magnificent Britain’s beaches really are. And while we all have an opinion on which beach is the country’s best (including us), now the Times and Sunday Times has turned up with its list of the UK’s 50 very best beaches.
This year the newspaper’s readers nominated their favourite beaches, which were then visited and rigorously assessed by its chief travel writer. That writer then judged the stretches of sand according to an 11-point checklist which included accessibility, cleanliness, loo hygiene levels and dog-friendliness. Only beaches with water quality rated ‘excellent’ by the Environment Agency made the list.
Weymouth Beach in Dorset was proclaimed the best of the best. This seaside resort received a ‘staggering number of nominations’ and was commended for its gorgeous backdrop of Georgian architecture, pristine sands and first-class facilities.
Regional winners across Britain were also crowned. In the east of England, Holkham in Norfolk reigned supreme, in northern England the winner was Bamburgh in Northumberland and in the southeast West Wittering in West Sussex took the top spot.
Findhorn in Moray was named Scotland’s best beach. The Times compared this north Atlantic gem to a beach on the Portuguese coast but said ‘this sun-kissed southern European vibe vanishes the moment that you cross the dunes, where the fetch comes straight from the Arctic and the green, glassy waves explode along the shore.’
Offering ‘surf, romantic walks, sunsets and the odd pod of dolphins’, Rhossili Bay on the Gower in Swansea claimed the top spot for Wales. And for Northern Ireland, Ballycastle in County Antrim was recognised for its ‘golden sands and awe-inspiring sunsets’.
You can find the full list here, but note that it is behind a pesky paywall. Be sure to check out our own, non-paywalled list of the country’s best beaches, too.
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