Britain’s beaches have been picked as some of the best in Europe by TripAdvisor users.
Woolacombe Beach in Devon has been named the UK’s best beach, and reached fourth place in the poll of beaches across Europe.
Picture credit: Woolacombe Beach, Hugh O’Connor
Dorset’s Weymouth Beach scored second place in the UK poll and eighth in the Europe-wide review, while Rhossili Bay on the Swansea coast, St. Brelade’s Bay Beach in Jersey and Porthminster Beach in St Ives, Cornwall, complete the top five.
The coastlines of Cornwall and Dorset are the best of British beach destinations – each has three beaches in the UK’s top 10.
Woolacombe is a worthy winner; with three miles of soft golden sands and inviting waters it is one of the most popular family beaches in Britain.
Weymouth Beach has super-fine sand, a beautiful bay, sweet little harbour and stunning scenery.
Rhossili Bay, which was last year’s top-rated UK beach, is a favourite of surfers and can only be accessed by a steep cliff path, which keeps it feeling remote.
Picture credit: Rhossili Bay, City and County of Swansea
Britain’s beaches were ranked above entries from Turkey, Cyprus and Portugal, showing that Brits don’t need to travel far for a wonderful beach-side holiday.
Here is TripAdvisor’s list of the top 25 UK beaches:
- Woolacombe Beach, Devon
- Weymouth Beach, Dorset
- Rhossili Bay, Swansea
- St. Brelade’s Bay Beach, Jersey
- Porthminster Beach, St Ives, Cornwall
- Perranporth Beach, Cornwall
- Fistral Beach, Newquay, Cornwall
- Luskentyre, Isle of Harris, Scotland
- Hengistbury Head, Bournemouth, Dorset
- Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset
- Filey Beach, North Yorkshire
- Gorleston Beach, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk
- Nairn Beach, Nairn, Scottish Highlands
- Barafundle Beach, Stackpole, Pembrokeshire
- Llangennith Beach, Gower Peninsula, south Wales
- Hunstanton Beach, Hunstanton, Norfolk
- Saunton Sands Beach, Braunton, Devon
- Mwnt Beach, Cardigan, west Wales
- Durness Beach, Durness, Scottish Highlands
- Calgary Bay, Isle of Mull
- Bigbury-on-Sea Beach, Devon
- Godrevy Head, Hayle, Cornwall
- Shell Beach, Herm, Channel Islands
- Camusdarach Beach, Arisaig, Scottish Highlands
- Kiloran Beach, Isle of Colonsay