Beaches & swimming

Pale sand, serpentine stacks and turquoise water in a National Trust cove on the Lizard, much of it covered at high tide.

Cornwall

Miles of white shell-sand and turquoise shallows against the Harris hills — routinely voted among the best beaches in Europe, and empty most days of the year.

Na h-Eileanan Siar

Three-mile sweep of sand backed by Rhossili Down at the western tip of the Gower.

Swansea

Sandy bay framed by three limestone peaks, a salt marsh and a winding stream on south Gower.

Swansea

A mile of pink sand backed by dunes and a freshwater loch, guarded by the sea stack Am Buachaille — often called the finest beach in Britain, never called crowded.

Highland

Curved sandy bay under red-roofed cottages.

North Yorkshire

Curved beach of golden sand backed by dunes, reached by a cliff walk from Stackpole Quay.

Pembrokeshire

White-sand beach south of Morar with dune-backed turquoise water, the filming location for the 1983 film Local Hero.

Highland

A vast golden sweep of sand backed by pinewoods and saltmarsh, regularly voted Britain's finest beach.

Norfolk

Vast golden sands beneath the great castle.

Northumberland

The limestone sea arch that defines the Jurassic Coast.

Dorset

Jagged folded rock strata on wild coast.

Devon

Near-perfect circular bay scooped from folded limestone.

Dorset

White sand cove below the Minack cliffs.

Cornwall

Harbour town, 199 steps and Dracula lore.

North Yorkshire

Three-mile golden surf beach.

Devon

Newquay's great Atlantic surf beach.

Cornwall

Part-natural tidal pool built into the rocks of Summerleaze Beach in the 1930s, free to swim in all year.

Cornwall

White-sand Eriskay bay where Bonnie Prince Charlie first set foot in Scotland in 1745.

Na h-Eileanan Siar

Broad sandy town beach backed by a long esplanade, the heart of the Ayrshire seaside.

South Ayrshire

Broad sandy bay backed by a promenade and pleasure park, the classic Valleys seaside resort.

Vale of Glamorgan

A riverside lido on the Waveney, saved by local people in 2010 and now heated and open all year.

Suffolk

Three-mile stretch of empty white sand and dunes voted among Europe's most beautiful beaches.

Na h-Eileanan Siar

Golden-sand beach and small harbour on Arran's quiet west coast.

North Ayrshire

A 1932 seafront lido in Brightlingsea, the last in Essex, rescued and run by volunteers since 2018.

Essex

A Victorian swimming bath of about 1850 in Clifton, restored in 2008 as a heated pool with a spa and restaurant.

Bristol

Golden sands on the Tay estuary beside Broughty Castle, with a nature reserve alongside.

Dundee

A Grade II-listed 1935 lido with a heated 50 m pool and fountain in gardens on the edge of Cheltenham's centre.

Gloucestershire

White-sand hidden beach reached by a steep path, overlooking the Kyle of Tongue.

Highland

Long dune-backed Blue Flag beach beside the Royal Dornoch golf links.

Highland

Wooded coastal glen in Hastings Country Park, dropping past a small cascade to a hidden cove.

East Sussex

Long sandy South Ayrshire beach and promenade looking out to Ailsa Craig.

South Ayrshire

A heated seawater pool of 1909 on the Clyde shore at Gourock, with views across the firth to the Cowal hills.

Inverclyde

A 50 m lido of 1933 in Stoke Park, Guildford, built partly by unemployed men in the Depression and now open all year.

Surrey

A wide dune-backed sand beach below Harlech Castle, part of the Morfa Harlech nature reserve.

Gwynedd

Art Deco seawater lido of 1935 on the rocks at Penzance, with a geothermally heated pool beside the big unheated one.

Cornwall

Small granite-quarried cove in a wooded Penwith valley, long a haunt of painters and writers.

Cornwall

The National Lido of Wales, a 1927 pool in Pontypridd's war memorial park, derelict for years and reopened in 2015.

Rhondda Cynon Taf

Sandy freshwater beach on the shore of Loch Morlich in Glenmore Forest, ringed by pines beneath the Cairngorms.

Highland

Long dune-backed sands reached by a footbridge across the Lossie, a favourite family beach.

Moray

Seawater baths of 1833 on the Lymington River, one of the oldest open-air baths in Britain, looking out to the Isle of Wight.

Hampshire

Wide dune-backed beach and national nature reserve on the south Gower coast.

Swansea

A 33 m heated pool on the Portishead seafront, saved by a community campaign in 2008 and run by a local charity since.

Somerset

Sheltered west-facing sandy beach at Portmahomack, often visited by basking seals.

Highland

Edinburgh's own beach, a broad sweep of sand with a Victorian promenade and independent cafés.

Edinburgh

Wide family beach in a sheltered bay between Saltcoats and Ardrossan, with a promenade to the old fishing harbour.

North Ayrshire

A Grade II* Art Deco lido of 1938 shaped like an ocean liner, saved by a community campaign and reopened in 2017.

East Sussex

Golden beach of sea stacks and hidden coves right beside Durness village.

Highland