Cley Next Sea Beaches Norfolk
Set in the mesmerising prettiness of the North Norfolk coast, Cley-Next-the-Sea is a picturesque village - all flint-faced cottages and foxglove-filled lanes - situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This area is sometimes nicknamed 'Chelsea on Sea', such is its popularity with well-heeled, 4X4-driving Londoners, and it's true that around 50% of Cley's (pronounced 'Cly') houses are now second homes. Its popularity with wealthy holidaymakers means that visitors won't be bereft of upmarket delis, fine dining and antique shops.
Cley Next the Sea beach :
The beach at Cley is shingle, and it's not a bucket-and-spade type of place, but suitable for piling up pebbles, coastal walks and sea fishing. It's reachable via Beach Road by car, or on foot along one of the footpaths that wind their way through the marshes.
Winterton Sea Beaches Norfolk
The North Norfolk coast is dotted by picturesque villages that lie close to wide, long, sandy beaches. Winterton-on-Sea is a marvellously off-the-beaten-track kind of place: a small, sleepy village dominated by top-heavy-looking thatched cottages, and close to some spectacular, secluded sands.
Winterton Sea Beach :
Winterton-on-Sea is a beautiful, custard-sanded Norfolk beach, with a wonderfully lonely feel. Backed by sand dunes and a nature reserve, it's a seemingly endless stretch: the type of beach where you can walk for miles and barely see another soul. Pools of water often form on the beach, creating safe places for children to play.
Brancaster Staithe Beaches Norfolk
Brancaster Staithe is a small fishing and sailing village on the dramatic North Norfolk coast, set close to beautiful beaches and salt marshes that teem with bird life. It's a great place for outdoor adventures such as watersports and walking. You can also access the Norfolk Coastal Footpath from here; it runs for 75km (47 miles) along the North Norfolk coast.
The beach at Brancaster Staithe is one of North Norfolk's better kept secrets. It's dazzlingly wide and flat, with golden sands that merge with salt flats, lagoons, creeks and the sky. It's famous for its walking and wildlife.
Holkham Bay Beaches Norfolk
The 69km (43 mile) stretch of North Norfolk coast is a mix of sublime sandy beaches, velvet-green pine forests, flourishing saltmarshes, weird mudflats, windmills and pretty villages. Much is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and there are some lovely walking trails. It's a wonderful area for birdwatching and wildlife, as well as watersports, and is as dramatically beautiful in the wilds of winter as it is basking in the summer sun.
Holkham Bay Beach :
Holkham Bay is the finest beach on the North Norfolk coast, and a contender for one of the best in Britain. Around 5km (3 miles) of shimmering white-gold sand stretch as far as the eye can see, hidden away behind a pine forest. It's a marvellous surprise following the short walk from the nearby car park.
Besides pines, the beach is backed by sea lavender and golden dunes, and a row of shabby-chic, brightly painted beach huts. Look out for dark green fritillary butterflies and peregrine falcons. But take care swimming - only swim where it is marked safe by red and yellow flags as there are strong tidal currents.
Walberswick Beaches Suffolk
Set on the serenely unspoilt Suffolk coast, Georgian town of Walberswick is a sepia-tinted, English seaside dream. It's a great place for boat trips, windsurfing, canoeing and to emulate and indulge in 1950s-style family holidays. It's also a celebrity magnet: the painter Philip Wilson Steer and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh lived here, and current Walberswick residents include Emma Freud and her husband Richard Curtis, and film director Paul Greengrass (of Bourne Supremacy fame).
Walberswick beach :
Walberswick is home to a long sand-and-shingle beach that is backed by grassy dunes. The village is surrounded by acres of protected marsh and heath land, which are great to explore and add to the charm of the quaint beach.
Southwold Beaches Suffolk
The Suffolk coast is the refined version of the English seaside experience, with pretty Georgian towns and tasteful piers. The main industry these days is tourism, but the towns here remain small and unspoilt, in part because of the problem of erosion along this stretch of coastline. The pretty town of Southwold is the picture of middle-class gentility, with its candy-coloured beach huts, lovely sandy beach and work-of-art pier.
Southwold Beach :
Southwold's balmy, sandy Blue Flag stretch is backed by picturesque painted beach huts - ideal for a day of civilised seaside diversion, featuring deckchairs, sandwiches and thermos, perhaps even a panama hat. Towards Walberswick, the beach huts peter out and the beach is backed by dunes, until it meets the estuary of the River Blyth. There's a full lifeguard service in summer.
Southwold's 15th-century Church of St Edmund is a spectacular, huge and solid medieval church, with soaring interior arches, elegant tall windows and panelled roof. It houses a fine wooden screen and has some wonderful carved hand rests, featuring curious features such as a monkey preaching and a man playing two pipes.
Beaches Cowes Isle Wight
Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, is famous for Cowes Week (www.skandaicowesweek.co.uk), a huge summer sailing jamboree. However, the town attracts yachters all year round, and there are always hundreds of boats bobbing in the harbour of this pretty Georgian town.
Cowes beach :
Cowes beach is stony, and thus rarely busy, but has wonderful views across the Solent. Most people head to the resort to sail, or watch people sail, and the great thing about the coast around here is that there's always plenty of action, with billowing sails everywhere you look. The area is also packed with sailing clubs.
The two towns of Cowes and East Cowes are linked by a chain ferry - a boat pulled by a chain. You can take a trip over to East Cowes to visit Queen Victoria's old stomping ground: the opulent, Italianate Osborne House. You can't get more virulently Victorian than the house of the Queen herself, and Osborne House doesn't disappoint. It's complete with an Indian-style Durbar room and a wooden Swiss cottage in the garden for the royal children.
Yarmouth Beaches Isle Wight
The small town of Yarmouth is a pretty tangle of streets and a cosy Isle of Wight resort serving the beautiful striped cliffs and golden sands of Alum Bay. The coastline here is the island at its most dramatic: at its most westernmost point lie the Needles, chunks of chalk rising from the sea that resemble jagged teeth.
Yarmouth Beach
Alum Bay, a sandy beach set beneath technicolour cliffs, is the Isle of Wight's most stunning bay. In summer a chair lift, with stupendous views, takes eager visitors to the beach, but otherwise you can access the beach by a footpath via the broad gorge of Alum Bay Chine.
Ventnor Beaches Isle Wight
Sleepy staid rural backwater, back-in-time holiday resort, cache of childhood memories, Victorian hotspot, home of Britain's hippest music festivals; will the real Isle of Wight please stand up? Being on the island can often feel like time travel, but its hippest resort is Victorian Ventnor, with its dramatic cascade of terraces down a cliff, sheltered beach, and boho cutting-edge shops and restaurants.
Ventnor Beach :
Sheltered by high cliffs, Ventnor's sand and shingle beach is a brilliant suntrap. Another Blue Flag winner, it is clean, popular and overlooked by the town's terraced gardens. Tides can be strong here though (don't swim when a red flag is flying), and it's not a suitable place for watersports
Sandown and Shanklin Beaches Isle Wight
A short ferry ride from the mainland, the Isle of Wight is said to be Britain's sunniest spot, and has long been favoured as a holiday getaway. Its quaint resorts uphold the tried-and-tested formula (amusements and candyfloss) of the British seaside. They have a gentle, retro appeal, are close to some fine beaches, and include the twin resorts of Sandown and Shanklin, picturesquely set on a sandy bay.
Sandown Bay offers 8km (5 miles) of long sandy Blue Flag beach, backed by the picturesque backdrop of Culver Cliffs. There are lifeguards on patrol and watersports facilities, as well as a pier at the Sandown end.
Bournemouth Beaches Dorset
The beautiful Dorset coast is dotted by several thriving, busy traditional seaside resorts, hugely popular with families. Bournemouth attracts a young crowd of partying holidaymakers looking to live it up in the (hopefully) sunny surrounds and is a lively cosmopolitan town on a stunning stretch of coastline.
Bournemouth Beach :
Bournemouth has a beautiful Blue Flag 11km (7 mile) stretch of broad golden sands, which are lapped by sparkling seas and have won awards for cleanliness and safety, including the impressive Quality Coast Award.
Beaches Scilly Isles Cornwall
This idyllic archipelago of 140 tiny islands is like another world. The islands lie 45km (28 miles) off Lands End, the most southwesterly point of the British Isles, and have a mild climate and miles of peachy sand beaches. This is the place to head if you harbour dreams of Robinson Crusoe-style solitude, or crave adventure and back-in-time family holidays.
Beaches in the Scilly Isles :
The best beaches are found on the third-largest island of St Martin's. In fact, a contender for Britain's best is the tropical-seeming, white-sand Par Beach. Other brilliant beaches are Lawrence's Bay and Great Bay - from where you can walk across to White Island at low tide.
Penzance Beaches Cornwall
Not only families, but surfers, artists, environmentalists, and foodies all feel the pull of the Cornish coast. Penzance is a great choice as a base: a less commercial town than others along the coast, it offers a mix of faded, elegant architecture and spine-tingling views, along with a stately promenade. Perched above Mounts Bay, it's ideal for exploring the dramatic coastline of southwest Cornwall, with its hidden coves and awesome cliffs.
Penzance Beach :
Mount's Bay, Penzance's town beach, is a beautiful sweep of coast and is overlooked by the remarkable offshore edifice of St Michael's Mount. But, for one of the country's finest beaches, take a trip 40km (25 miles) southeast, to Kynance Cove, with its brilliantly luminescent sea and pearly white sands. Previously difficult to access, the National Trust has built a road and car park to ease the way.
Weymouth Beaches Dorset
The family-friendly, bucket-and-spade resort of Weymouth is set on the stunning Dorset coast. George III (the mad one) first set the trend for sea bathing here, hence it is largely a Georgian town. It's by no means stuck in a time warp though: Weymouth's coastal waters are thought to be some of Europe's best for sailing, and it will be hosting the 2012 Olympic sailing events. With this in mind, the town is likely to see a lot of developments over the next few years.
Weymouth Beach :
A grand sandy arc, sprinkled with deckchairs and sun loungers, Weymouth beach is everything you might expect from a venerable British seaside resort. It features soft sands, blue seas, tacky attractions, pasty or pink (depending on the weather) families, and the chance to rent a pedalo or check out a Punch and Judy show.
Lyme Regis Beaches Dorset
Dorset's famously fascinating coastline stretches from Lyme Regis in the west to Christchurch in the east, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its geology traces 185 million years of history in stone. Lyme Regis is the capital of the Jurassic coast, packed with fossils and interesting geological formations, and is also famous for its literary connections - think Jane Austen and John Fowles.
Lyme Regis Beach :
Lyme Regis has two beaches that are a mixture of shingle and sand, separated by the iconic harbour wall known as the Cobb. The main beach is Cobb Gate, while to the west of the Cobb lies Monmouth Beach.
Blackpool Beaches Lancashire
Blackpool has never had any airs and graces, and has managed, by hook or by crook, to maintain its status as one of the UK's most popular places for tourists. Its success can be put down to an endless dedication to unpretentious holiday entertainment: from tacky pier shows to mind-blowing fairground rides, from tongue-in-cheek kitsch to the famous illuminations. It's something of a hen and stag magnet, but, on the upside, has pockets of retro charm that are like nowhere else.
Blackpool Beach :
The 11km (7 miles) of golden, sandy beach is the reason the holidaying hoards come here. Lifeguards are on patrol. Trams run up and down the entire length of the sands, and there are plenty of facilities - including three amusement-laden piers. The sands are overlooked by Blackpool's famous Eiffel-like tower - the only part of Blackpool that's in any way similar to Paris. This is the supreme British seaside resort, with an overwhelming extravagance of amusements, fairground rides, and surreal seaside kitsch.
Set in the mesmerising prettiness of the North Norfolk coast, Cley-Next-the-Sea is a picturesque village - all flint-faced cottages and foxglove-filled lanes - situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This area is sometimes nicknamed 'Chelsea on Sea', such is its popularity with well-heeled, 4X4-driving Londoners, and it's true that around 50% of Cley's (pronounced 'Cly') houses are now second homes. Its popularity with wealthy holidaymakers means that visitors won't be bereft of upmarket delis, fine dining and antique shops.
Cley Next the Sea beach :
The beach at Cley is shingle, and it's not a bucket-and-spade type of place, but suitable for piling up pebbles, coastal walks and sea fishing. It's reachable via Beach Road by car, or on foot along one of the footpaths that wind their way through the marshes.
Winterton Sea Beaches Norfolk
The North Norfolk coast is dotted by picturesque villages that lie close to wide, long, sandy beaches. Winterton-on-Sea is a marvellously off-the-beaten-track kind of place: a small, sleepy village dominated by top-heavy-looking thatched cottages, and close to some spectacular, secluded sands.
Winterton Sea Beach :
Winterton-on-Sea is a beautiful, custard-sanded Norfolk beach, with a wonderfully lonely feel. Backed by sand dunes and a nature reserve, it's a seemingly endless stretch: the type of beach where you can walk for miles and barely see another soul. Pools of water often form on the beach, creating safe places for children to play.
Brancaster Staithe Beaches Norfolk
Brancaster Staithe is a small fishing and sailing village on the dramatic North Norfolk coast, set close to beautiful beaches and salt marshes that teem with bird life. It's a great place for outdoor adventures such as watersports and walking. You can also access the Norfolk Coastal Footpath from here; it runs for 75km (47 miles) along the North Norfolk coast.
The beach at Brancaster Staithe is one of North Norfolk's better kept secrets. It's dazzlingly wide and flat, with golden sands that merge with salt flats, lagoons, creeks and the sky. It's famous for its walking and wildlife.
Holkham Bay Beaches Norfolk
The 69km (43 mile) stretch of North Norfolk coast is a mix of sublime sandy beaches, velvet-green pine forests, flourishing saltmarshes, weird mudflats, windmills and pretty villages. Much is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and there are some lovely walking trails. It's a wonderful area for birdwatching and wildlife, as well as watersports, and is as dramatically beautiful in the wilds of winter as it is basking in the summer sun.
Holkham Bay Beach :
Holkham Bay is the finest beach on the North Norfolk coast, and a contender for one of the best in Britain. Around 5km (3 miles) of shimmering white-gold sand stretch as far as the eye can see, hidden away behind a pine forest. It's a marvellous surprise following the short walk from the nearby car park.
Besides pines, the beach is backed by sea lavender and golden dunes, and a row of shabby-chic, brightly painted beach huts. Look out for dark green fritillary butterflies and peregrine falcons. But take care swimming - only swim where it is marked safe by red and yellow flags as there are strong tidal currents.
Walberswick Beaches Suffolk
Set on the serenely unspoilt Suffolk coast, Georgian town of Walberswick is a sepia-tinted, English seaside dream. It's a great place for boat trips, windsurfing, canoeing and to emulate and indulge in 1950s-style family holidays. It's also a celebrity magnet: the painter Philip Wilson Steer and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh lived here, and current Walberswick residents include Emma Freud and her husband Richard Curtis, and film director Paul Greengrass (of Bourne Supremacy fame).
Walberswick beach :
Walberswick is home to a long sand-and-shingle beach that is backed by grassy dunes. The village is surrounded by acres of protected marsh and heath land, which are great to explore and add to the charm of the quaint beach.
Southwold Beaches Suffolk
The Suffolk coast is the refined version of the English seaside experience, with pretty Georgian towns and tasteful piers. The main industry these days is tourism, but the towns here remain small and unspoilt, in part because of the problem of erosion along this stretch of coastline. The pretty town of Southwold is the picture of middle-class gentility, with its candy-coloured beach huts, lovely sandy beach and work-of-art pier.
Southwold Beach :
Southwold's balmy, sandy Blue Flag stretch is backed by picturesque painted beach huts - ideal for a day of civilised seaside diversion, featuring deckchairs, sandwiches and thermos, perhaps even a panama hat. Towards Walberswick, the beach huts peter out and the beach is backed by dunes, until it meets the estuary of the River Blyth. There's a full lifeguard service in summer.
Southwold's 15th-century Church of St Edmund is a spectacular, huge and solid medieval church, with soaring interior arches, elegant tall windows and panelled roof. It houses a fine wooden screen and has some wonderful carved hand rests, featuring curious features such as a monkey preaching and a man playing two pipes.
Beaches Cowes Isle Wight
Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, is famous for Cowes Week (www.skandaicowesweek.co.uk), a huge summer sailing jamboree. However, the town attracts yachters all year round, and there are always hundreds of boats bobbing in the harbour of this pretty Georgian town.
Cowes beach :
Cowes beach is stony, and thus rarely busy, but has wonderful views across the Solent. Most people head to the resort to sail, or watch people sail, and the great thing about the coast around here is that there's always plenty of action, with billowing sails everywhere you look. The area is also packed with sailing clubs.
The two towns of Cowes and East Cowes are linked by a chain ferry - a boat pulled by a chain. You can take a trip over to East Cowes to visit Queen Victoria's old stomping ground: the opulent, Italianate Osborne House. You can't get more virulently Victorian than the house of the Queen herself, and Osborne House doesn't disappoint. It's complete with an Indian-style Durbar room and a wooden Swiss cottage in the garden for the royal children.
Yarmouth Beaches Isle Wight
The small town of Yarmouth is a pretty tangle of streets and a cosy Isle of Wight resort serving the beautiful striped cliffs and golden sands of Alum Bay. The coastline here is the island at its most dramatic: at its most westernmost point lie the Needles, chunks of chalk rising from the sea that resemble jagged teeth.
Yarmouth Beach
Alum Bay, a sandy beach set beneath technicolour cliffs, is the Isle of Wight's most stunning bay. In summer a chair lift, with stupendous views, takes eager visitors to the beach, but otherwise you can access the beach by a footpath via the broad gorge of Alum Bay Chine.
Ventnor Beaches Isle Wight
Sleepy staid rural backwater, back-in-time holiday resort, cache of childhood memories, Victorian hotspot, home of Britain's hippest music festivals; will the real Isle of Wight please stand up? Being on the island can often feel like time travel, but its hippest resort is Victorian Ventnor, with its dramatic cascade of terraces down a cliff, sheltered beach, and boho cutting-edge shops and restaurants.
Ventnor Beach :
Sheltered by high cliffs, Ventnor's sand and shingle beach is a brilliant suntrap. Another Blue Flag winner, it is clean, popular and overlooked by the town's terraced gardens. Tides can be strong here though (don't swim when a red flag is flying), and it's not a suitable place for watersports
Sandown and Shanklin Beaches Isle Wight
A short ferry ride from the mainland, the Isle of Wight is said to be Britain's sunniest spot, and has long been favoured as a holiday getaway. Its quaint resorts uphold the tried-and-tested formula (amusements and candyfloss) of the British seaside. They have a gentle, retro appeal, are close to some fine beaches, and include the twin resorts of Sandown and Shanklin, picturesquely set on a sandy bay.
Sandown Bay offers 8km (5 miles) of long sandy Blue Flag beach, backed by the picturesque backdrop of Culver Cliffs. There are lifeguards on patrol and watersports facilities, as well as a pier at the Sandown end.
Bournemouth Beaches Dorset
The beautiful Dorset coast is dotted by several thriving, busy traditional seaside resorts, hugely popular with families. Bournemouth attracts a young crowd of partying holidaymakers looking to live it up in the (hopefully) sunny surrounds and is a lively cosmopolitan town on a stunning stretch of coastline.
Bournemouth Beach :
Bournemouth has a beautiful Blue Flag 11km (7 mile) stretch of broad golden sands, which are lapped by sparkling seas and have won awards for cleanliness and safety, including the impressive Quality Coast Award.
Beaches Scilly Isles Cornwall
This idyllic archipelago of 140 tiny islands is like another world. The islands lie 45km (28 miles) off Lands End, the most southwesterly point of the British Isles, and have a mild climate and miles of peachy sand beaches. This is the place to head if you harbour dreams of Robinson Crusoe-style solitude, or crave adventure and back-in-time family holidays.
Beaches in the Scilly Isles :
The best beaches are found on the third-largest island of St Martin's. In fact, a contender for Britain's best is the tropical-seeming, white-sand Par Beach. Other brilliant beaches are Lawrence's Bay and Great Bay - from where you can walk across to White Island at low tide.
Penzance Beaches Cornwall
Not only families, but surfers, artists, environmentalists, and foodies all feel the pull of the Cornish coast. Penzance is a great choice as a base: a less commercial town than others along the coast, it offers a mix of faded, elegant architecture and spine-tingling views, along with a stately promenade. Perched above Mounts Bay, it's ideal for exploring the dramatic coastline of southwest Cornwall, with its hidden coves and awesome cliffs.
Penzance Beach :
Mount's Bay, Penzance's town beach, is a beautiful sweep of coast and is overlooked by the remarkable offshore edifice of St Michael's Mount. But, for one of the country's finest beaches, take a trip 40km (25 miles) southeast, to Kynance Cove, with its brilliantly luminescent sea and pearly white sands. Previously difficult to access, the National Trust has built a road and car park to ease the way.
Weymouth Beaches Dorset
The family-friendly, bucket-and-spade resort of Weymouth is set on the stunning Dorset coast. George III (the mad one) first set the trend for sea bathing here, hence it is largely a Georgian town. It's by no means stuck in a time warp though: Weymouth's coastal waters are thought to be some of Europe's best for sailing, and it will be hosting the 2012 Olympic sailing events. With this in mind, the town is likely to see a lot of developments over the next few years.
Weymouth Beach :
A grand sandy arc, sprinkled with deckchairs and sun loungers, Weymouth beach is everything you might expect from a venerable British seaside resort. It features soft sands, blue seas, tacky attractions, pasty or pink (depending on the weather) families, and the chance to rent a pedalo or check out a Punch and Judy show.
Lyme Regis Beaches Dorset
Dorset's famously fascinating coastline stretches from Lyme Regis in the west to Christchurch in the east, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its geology traces 185 million years of history in stone. Lyme Regis is the capital of the Jurassic coast, packed with fossils and interesting geological formations, and is also famous for its literary connections - think Jane Austen and John Fowles.
Lyme Regis Beach :
Lyme Regis has two beaches that are a mixture of shingle and sand, separated by the iconic harbour wall known as the Cobb. The main beach is Cobb Gate, while to the west of the Cobb lies Monmouth Beach.
Blackpool Beaches Lancashire
Blackpool has never had any airs and graces, and has managed, by hook or by crook, to maintain its status as one of the UK's most popular places for tourists. Its success can be put down to an endless dedication to unpretentious holiday entertainment: from tacky pier shows to mind-blowing fairground rides, from tongue-in-cheek kitsch to the famous illuminations. It's something of a hen and stag magnet, but, on the upside, has pockets of retro charm that are like nowhere else.
Blackpool Beach :
The 11km (7 miles) of golden, sandy beach is the reason the holidaying hoards come here. Lifeguards are on patrol. Trams run up and down the entire length of the sands, and there are plenty of facilities - including three amusement-laden piers. The sands are overlooked by Blackpool's famous Eiffel-like tower - the only part of Blackpool that's in any way similar to Paris. This is the supreme British seaside resort, with an overwhelming extravagance of amusements, fairground rides, and surreal seaside kitsch.
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