Three North Wales beaches have been named among the best in the country by the Times. Its annual list included the likes of Holkham, Bamburgh, Ballycastle, West Wittering and Findhorn, which were recognised as regional winners in other parts of the UK.
This year, Weymouth in Dorset took the crown as The Times and Sunday Times Best UK Beach 2023, with Rhossili Bay in Swansea named the best beach in Wales, reports WalesOnline. Meanwhile a trio of beaches in North Wales were also recognised as among the cream of the crop.
They were Barmouth, Traeth Penllech and Llanbedrog – all in Gwynedd. The Times and Sunday Times guide is described as the most definitive and comprehensive list of the UK’s 50 best beaches.
It’s the first year readers put forward their favourite beaches for a detailed inspection. On Barmouth beach the guide says there are great views “not only of the 2,930ft (893m) Cadair Idris, looming above the Mawddach estuary to the south (thanks to Karen Thomas from Lancashire for the reminder), but also of the serrated peaks of Yr Eifl on the Llŷn peninsula, Tremadog Bay (smoky and forbidding, like the backdrop to some HBO dragon drama) and the summer sunsets that turn the sands into a mirror at low tide”.
The guide also quotes Ted Lilley who has these words to say about Llanbedrog Beach, as he sits in his deckchair, pointing across a millpond sea. “On September 24 at around 6.55am the sun will rise due east of here, over Harlech Castle, 15 miles across the bay, and the Rhinogydd range beyond.” He added: “You should come back for that. It’s magic.”
And on Treath Penllech, the guide quotes Lynne Geldart from Welshpool, who recommended “one of Wales’s most secret beaches on the west coast of the Llŷn peninsula”. “Traeth Penllech holds very special memories for me as my late husband and I visited it with our two children on holiday for seven years running in the 1980s,” she said.
In addition to Weymouth beach as the ultimate winner across the UK, regional winners included Holkham in Norfolk, known for its “pristine sand, beautiful dunes and flourishing trees” for the east of England, while Bamburgh in Northumberland emerged as “the clear winner” among 44 nominated beaches in the north of England.
In the southeast of England, West Wittering in West Sussex earned praise for its “dog-friendly environment” and “culinary delights”, while Findhorn in Moray, Scotland, received acclaim for its “seven-mile stretch of sandy coastline”. Over in Northern Ireland, Ballycastle in County Antrim got the top spot for its “golden sands and awe-inspiring sunsets”.
