156 Beaches to Explore in England

Dawlish Warren is a beautiful Blue Flag family beach resort at the mouth of the Exe Estuary, near Exeter and Dawlish in South Devon. It offers more than just a traditional bucket and spade beach – it also boasts an internationally protected National Nature Reserve, a large grassed play area where you can enjoy a picnic, children’s amusements, shops, pubs, and cafes, all safely away from the road.

A stunning beach that at low tide forms long stretches of golden sand backed by dunes from Daymer Bay to Rock with superb views across Camel Estuary. At south the end of the beach is the grassy mound of Braey Hill which is worth a climb for excellent views of the area.

Dunster beach is a sandy beach on the edge of the Exmoor National Park in Somerset. The site is a collection of charming historic beach huts, the first built nearly 100 years ago by Lady Luttrell who resided at Dunster Castle. The huts housed Coastal Defence Workers and the Home Guard during World War II with trenches, barbed wire and pillboxes, although now just the pillboxes remain as a reminder of those darker days.

Dunwich is a Shingle beach located near Southwold in Suffolk. The spectacular Dunwich stretch of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Beauty contains some of the most beautiful heathland and coastal scenes on the heritage coast. A beautiful beACH FOR aunbath and also its calm water allows you to have a swim and more.

East Looe beach is a perfect location for swimming as the beach gently shelves providing easy access especially for the little ones. At low tide there is a large gently sloping sandy beach which is generally safe for swimming, although it is not recommended to swim by the river mouth beyond the pier. It offers good, safe swimming, the eastern end of the beach is rockier and hence less crowded than the western end, which starts at the Banjo Pier.

Eastbourne offers more than 3 miles of vast shingle beaches offering sand, and in some cases rock pooling opportunities, at low tide. From stunning cliffs and a Marine Conservation Area at Holywell, to windsurfing off Royal Parade and fishing at Harbour Reach, our array of beaches offer the perfect spot to suit everyone. The seafront is made up of mostly Victorian buildings which are split in half by Eastbourne Pier.

Felixstowe Beach enjoys a fantastic coastal location, just minutes away from a stunning beach along the Sunrise Coast. It was one of the iconic tourist location in this area and also the area around Felixstowe has some good walks, including the Martello Coastal Path, as well as a choice of cycle routes.

A beautiful sandy beach close by to the north, Filey Brigg has some good rock pools to explore and marks the end/start of the Cleveland Way Walk. The glorious 5-mile stretch of golden sand stretches from the rocky peninsula of Filey Brigg to the north down to Bempton, home to an RSPB reserve. It is one of the largest coastal developments of this kind in the UK and the first homes were completed in 2007.

Fistral Beach is quite simply one of the most consistent and best surfing beaches in the UK and Europe. With jewel-blue sea and a never-ending stretch of golden sand, Fistral is the perfect family beach, offering simple pleasures of sea, sand and surf combined. Fistral is the playground for hundreds of enthusiasts who flock to the beach to get a fix of the big waves.

Fraisthorpe Beach is ideal for an enjoyable day out and it's low clay cliffs make it easily accessible for all ages. It has plenty of space to walk and is also popular with Windsurfers. The sea is very shallow for a good way out. There were many pillbox structures lining this section of land during the two World Wars.

A beautiful and gently shelving sandy beach noted for its cleanliness and gentility, the area places special emphasis on the relaxed family fun at the seaside. Enjoy walks along the extensive greensward or take a short walk into the town center with its full range of shopping amenities. One of the ideal locations to relax and also you can have a bath here.

A vastt sandy beach which was surropunded by high cliffs and dramatic coves. Owned by the National Trust, it takes the brunt of the Atlantic swell and is one of the more exposed beaches of the North coast. From buckets and spades on sunny summer days to classic rugged Cornish splendour on a stormy winter's day, Godrevy offers the ultimate outdoor experience.

Gorleston-on-Sea has the biggest, sandiest beach for miles around, perfect for getting the family together to build sandcastles and fly a kite. Float your boat on the yachting pond, cool your toes in the paddling pool and explore the wide esplanade below the grassy cliffs. The glorious beach is a firm favourite with locals and visitors for lazy days in the sun, it's also one of the best destinations in the Great Yarmouth area if windsurfing, surfing or body-boarding is your preferred seaside act

The Pleasure Beach, a nine acre amusement park on Great Yarmouth seafront is home to four roller coasters and numerous other attractions. The largest and most popular ride at the park is the Roller Coaster which was built there in 1932. There are also around thirty other large rides at the park, as well as children's entertainment, amusement arcades, catering facilities, sweet shops and ice cream parlours.

The sandy beach at Greatstone is quite flat and stretches from north to south for over two miles, and is frequently 'washed' by the tide of the English Channel. It is situated near the largest town there, New Romney in Kent, England. Although permission was given for a company to construct large numbers of homes and facilities in the 1920s, only a small number were actually built.

Greenhill is a suburb to the northeast of Weymouth in Dorset, England, with a sand and shingle beach. Most of the beach is pebbles rather than sand but on the shoreline between tides, there’s plenty of sand for the sandcastle building. The entire beach is bordered by a pleasant promenade, take a lookout for the renovated Victorian lamp stands these were originally the lighting on the main Esplanade.

Gyllyngvase Beach is one of the most popular beaches in Cornwall, a Blue Flag status beach, with its wide arc of golden sand and inviting sea. Great amenities, with award-winning cafe, yet still only a 15 minute walk away from Falmouth town center. It is a popular year-round sea swimming spot and it also offers paddleboarding, coasteering, snorkeling, kayaking, and more, right off the beach.

Hayling Island has over 3 miles of beaches along the seafront facing the Solent and many more miles of shore around the Harbours of Langstone and Chichester. The three main beaches of the Island have won both the European Blue Flag and the Keep Britain Tidy Group – Seaside Award Flag for cleanliness and management.

Heddon's Mouth is the rocky cove Set on the rugged North Devon coast between Combe Martin and Lynton. The beach here is made up of medium-sized rounded rocks, like super-sized pebbles. The river runs down the middle of the beach and to either side cliffs rise up. In previous times it was a popular venue for smugglers but is now a popular destination for ramblers.

Hengistbury Head is a relatively unspoilt and south-facing pebble beach, with imposing clay and ironstone cliffs. It is a fascinating place not only for its wide variety of habitats but also for its internationally important archaeology and geology.