A BEACH in East Lothian has been crowned the best in Scotland in the annual Times and Sunday Times Best UK Beaches guide.
Seacliff, near North Berwick, has been named best in Scotland in the 17th edition of the popular annual guide which ranks the UK’s 50 best mainland beaches.
Other Scottish beaches featured on the list include Rhu Point, Vestey’s Beach, Achininver and Melvich in the Highlands, Spey Bay and Cullen Bay in Moray, and St Cyrus in Aberdeenshire.
Chris Haslam, chief travel writer for the Times and Sunday Times, picked the UK’s top 50 beaches from a total of 756 during a month-long campervan tour of the British and Northern Irish coasts.
In his description of Seacliff, Haslam wrote: “Hidden at the west end is the smallest harbour in the British Isles.
“About the size of a hotel pool, it’s a steampunk fantasy cut out of the sandstone using a steam engine and a compressor in 1890 by laird of the manor Andrew Laidlay.
“Seacliff is the beach you wish you’d found when you were ten: a Scottish stageset where you can be a medieval knight, a Victorian explorer, a ghostbuster or even James Bond.”
The guide ranked UK mainland beaches based on an 11-point checklist which included water quality, cleanliness, accessibility, parking, lifeguard presence, restroom hygiene, and dog-friendliness.
The overall UK winner was Portstewart Strand in County Derry, Northern Ireland.
The Times and Sunday Times’ Best Beaches in Scotland
- Seacliff, East Lothian
- Rhu Point, Highland
- Vesteys Beach, Highland
- Achininver, Highland
- Melvich, Highland
- Spey Bay, Moray
- Cullen Bay, Moray
- St Cyrus, Aberdeenshire
