{"id":611492,"date":"2026-05-30T04:42:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/611492\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T04:42:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:42:25","slug":"mapped-the-20-best-beaches-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/611492\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapped: the 20 best beaches in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

As soon as the sun comes out, we Brits simply can\u2019t get enough of the seaside. And one of the perks\u00a0of\u00a0living\u00a0on such a small island is that none of us have to travel very far to find it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But with\u00a0around 1,500 beaches to choose from \u2013 some pebbled,\u00a0others sandy, some remote, others on the edge of bustling towns \u2013 how\u00a0do you know which one to head for? That\u2019s where we come in. Time Out\u2019s writers and editors have spent a\u00a0lot\u00a0of time exploring the UK\u2019s coastline, from the far corners of Scotland<\/a> and all the way down to the Devon<\/a>. Now, we\u2019ve put together a guide to our absolute favourites.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re a lay on a towel all day kind of beachgoer, a walk as far down the shoreline as you can kind of beachgoer or a clamber\u00a0around the rock pools beachgoer, the UK has a perfect bay for you. Here are the 20 finest, mapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read\u00a0more about Time Out\u2019s best\u00a0beaches in the UK here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED:
\ud83d\udccd The\u00a0best places to visit in Britain in 2026<\/a>.
\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 The\u00a0best new things to do in the UK in 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 20 best\u00a0beaches in the UK, mapped<\/p>\n

With its \u2018cream sand, a whitewashed lighthouse, dunes scattered with wildflowers, a pine tree backdrop and silhouettes of Eryri National Park\u2019s peaks\u2019, we crowned\u00a0Traeth Llanddwyn on the Welsh island of Anglesey<\/a> the best beach in the country. The Welsh coast is a criminally underrated part of the UK, and we put three more of\u00a0the nation\u2019s beaches on our list to prove it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mwnt in Ceredigion, one of the best\u00a0places in Britain for dolphin-spotting, came in ninth place; the award-winning Barafundle Bay came in Pembrokeshire ranked 11th and the \u2018breathtaking\u2019 Rhossili Bay on the Gower placed 18th.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Map
\nImage: Time OutMap of Welsh beaches in Time Out\u2019s best beaches guide <\/p>\n

Up in Scotland, the remote\u00a0Camusdarach Beach made the cut for its clean sand, clear blue waters and dramatic jagged rocks while St Andrews West Sands\u00a0(which\u00a0famously featured in\u00a0Chariots of Fire) is one of our favourites for its\u00a0two-mile stretch of golden sand and being\u00a0a short stroll from the town\u2019s cobbled streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Portstewart Strand in\u00a0Northern Ireland ranked 11th and, as one of the last places in Ireland where cars are still allowed to drive straight onto the beach, is perfect for family picnics. Looking across to the northeast of England, Alnmouth Beach came in at number eight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Map
\nImage: Time OutMap of beaches in Time Out\u2019s best beaches guide <\/p>\n

Heading down further south, there\u2019s Holkham Beach in Norfolk, which came 13th for feeling a million miles away from civilisation and there\u2019s Southwold Beach in Suffolk (17th place) which is a great place to head after mooching through the trendy town.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Further south still, Cuckmere Haven claimed second place for its \u2018movie-worthy views,\u00a0Camber Sands\u00a0 near Rye\u00a0snatched tenth place, Sunny Sands in Folkestone came 15th and the pebbled\u00a0Brighton Beach landed in 16th.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Map
\nImage: Time OutMap of southeast England beaches in Time Out\u2019s best beaches guide <\/p>\n

Finally, you can\u2019t talk about the finest beaches in Britain without talking about the southwest. In our guide, the\u00a0region\u2019s highest-ranked beach is\u00a0Blackpool Sands\u00a0in Devon where you\u2019ll find a \u2018spotlessly clean coastline despite a high number of visitors\u2019. It scooped up third place.<\/p>\n

The more urban Weymouth Beach in Dorset ranked fifth thanks to its \u2018serious buzz\u2019 and lively promenade while Watergate Bay and Kynance Cove in Cornwall came sixth and seventh respectively. The former for its world-famous waves, the latter for its rock pools and mysterious caves. Epic Chesil Beach\u00a0landed in 19th place and\u00a0Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove came 20th.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Map
\nImage: Time OutMap of southwest England beaches in Time Out\u2019s best beaches guide <\/p>\n

Plus: The UK\u2019s best seaside towns, mapped<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stay in the loop:\u00a0sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As soon as the sun comes out, we Brits simply can\u2019t get enough of the seaside. And one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1422,59,57,58,50,1423,1420,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-611492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-categories-things-to-do","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-news-city-life","tag-things-to-do","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}