8 of Britain’s most stunningly beautiful beaches

With incredible golden sands and clear blue water you’ll struggle to believe these gorgeous beaches are actually in the UK!

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside! As an island nation many of us Brits are drawn to beaches. We like the hiss of the waves on the sand, the cries of the gulls, and the smell of salt on the air.

It’s lucky, then, that wherever you are in the UK you’re at most just 70 miles from the coast. While most of us love to head to the warmer waters of French, Greek and Spanish beaches in the summer, we shouldn’t forget that we have so many of our too – and that some are among the most beautiful you’ll find anywhere. Here are 8 of the best.

1. Pedn Vounder Beach, West Cornwall, England

Credit: visitcornwall.com | Adam Gibbard

Credit: visitcornwall.com | Adam Gibbard

Pedn Vounder near Porthcurno is one of the most remote beaches in Cornwall. To get to it you either have to take a boat, or hike along the coastal before scrambling down the cliff.

2. Uig Sands, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

Credit: visitscotland.com

Credit: visitscotland.com

The golden sands and clear blue water of Uig Sands look tropical, but the ‘bracing’ water temperature leaves you in know doubt that you’re in Scotland’s wild Outer Hebrides!

3. Holkham Beach, Norfolk, England

Another sunset, shot with DJI Phantom 4 #norfolk #holkhambeach #naturallandscape #drone #dji

See this Instagram photo by @dineshkris * 42 likes

Holkham Beach is a huge 4 mile expanse of windswept sand on the North Norfolk coast. The tide moves fast and far here, keeping the beach wondrously pristine and clean.

4. Pentle Bay, Tresco, Isles of Scilly

Credit: scillywalks.co.uk

Credit: scillywalks.co.uk

It’s hard to believe that Pentle Bay is in the UK: the brilliant white sands and warm blue to water look positively Caribbean, yet in fact it’s just 30 miles south west of the Cornish coast.

5. Rhossili Bay, Gower Coast, Wales

Credit: VisitBritain

Credit: VisitBritain

Popular with surfers and hikers alike, Rhossili Bay is a gorgeous sweep of unspoilt sand, guarded by the imposing Worm’s Head at one end and deep sand dunes to the side.

6. Durdle Door, Dorset, England

Credit: VisitBritain

Credit: VisitBritain

The limestone arch of Durdle Door on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast splits the two lovely beaches St Oswald’s Bay and Man O’War Cove, kept relatively crowd-free by the several hundred steps you have to climb down to get to it.

7. Barafundle Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Credit: bluestonewales.com

Credit: bluestonewales.com

Previously the private beach of the Cawdor family and now in the care of the National Trust, Barafundle Bay is one of the more remote beaches in Wales – the hike across the clifftops keeps all but the keenest beach-goers away.

8. Murlough Nature Reserve, County Down, Northern Ireland

VisitBritain / Britain on View

VisitBritain / Britain on View

Encompassing 1/5 of Britain’s dune heathland, the ASSI (Northern Ireland’s version of a SSSI – site of special scientific interest) Murlough Nature Reserve is a paradise for all sorts of creatures, from birds to seals and even rare butterflies!

OAG