Er, the seaside? The UK has lots of coast for its size (exactly how much is debatable, thanks to the “coastline paradox”), and lots of beaches. The UK Beach Guide lists more than 1,500. But which one? There’s plenty of clickbait advice. TripAdvisor voters plumped for Bournemouth. Rough Guides named Pelistry Bay on the Isles of Scilly. UK Beach Guide voters liked Anglesey’s Traeth Cymyran.
Time Out prefers Cornwall’s Kynance Cove. For accessibility, Brighton & Hove, Dundee, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne have a lot of beach closest by for the biggest populations. But objective advice is harder to find. The Blue Flag scheme has no top 10s, but lists 68 beaches in England, 45 in Wales and none in Scotland, which opted out in 2016. Its 33 criteria, though, include things such as “provision of first aid equipment” so it tends to favour less remote beaches.
It all depends what you do on the beach. Do you like sand? Move to Woolacombe for its award-winning stretch. Do you have kids? Try Aberystwyth, which has the most donkey rides. Sunbathing? Bognor, Eastbourne and Hastings have been fighting it out for years. Kitesurfing? New and Old Hunstanton in Norfolk. Wildlife watching? Cardigan Bay, in Wales, with its semi-resident dolphins. Or do you like your beaches melancholy, loomed over by power stations (or is that just me)? If so, up sticks to Dungeness.
