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25 best British beaches, as voted for by TripAdvisor users

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.

Woolacombe Beach - the UK's best beaches

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.

Rhossili Bay - the UK's best beaches

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:

  1. Woolacombe Beach, Devon
  2. Weymouth Beach, Dorset
  3. Rhossili Bay, Swansea
  4. St. Brelade’s Bay Beach, Jersey
  5. Porthminster Beach, St Ives, Cornwall
  6. Perranporth Beach, Cornwall
  7. Fistral Beach, Newquay, Cornwall
  8. Luskentyre, Isle of Harris, Scotland
  9. Hengistbury Head, Bournemouth, Dorset
  10. Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset
  11. Filey Beach, North Yorkshire
  12. Gorleston Beach, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk
  13. Nairn Beach, Nairn, Scottish Highlands
  14. Barafundle Beach, Stackpole, Pembrokeshire
  15. Llangennith Beach, Gower Peninsula, south Wales
  16. Hunstanton Beach, Hunstanton, Norfolk
  17. Saunton Sands Beach, Braunton, Devon
  18. Mwnt Beach, Cardigan, west Wales
  19. Durness Beach, Durness, Scottish Highlands
  20. Calgary Bay, Isle of Mull
  21. Bigbury-on-Sea Beach, Devon
  22. Godrevy Head, Hayle, Cornwall
  23. Shell Beach, Herm, Channel Islands
  24. Camusdarach Beach, Arisaig, Scottish Highlands
  25. Kiloran Beach, Isle of Colonsay