Two of the world’s best beaches are under three hours from the UK

We Brits often take our access to other countries for granted. Our passport is one of the strongest in the world and there are dozens of new cuisines and entirely different cultures that we can reach within just three hours. That’s less than the time it takes to get from Perth to Melbourne or New York to Texas.

So, while no UK beaches feature on Beach.com’s new Global Beach Index 2026 (a crime, if you ask us), you don’t have to go too far to find beaches that did make the cut. While top spot was in the Caribbean and only a few European bays feature on the list, two of them are around three hours from the UK. 

Beach.com curated its index based on expert nominations,  in-depth analysis of nearly 100,000 reviews, half a decade of NASA satellite data and a decade of EU Program data. It ranked the beaches according to 18 metrics, which included popularity, water quality, accessibility and climate. 

In at number nine was Praia da Falésia in Portugal. The Algarve beach is just 40 minutes from Faro Airport, which you can get to from most UK airports in roughly two hours and 40 minutes. Beach.com said that visitors to the 8km-long Praia da Falésia ‘rave about its pristine environment’, natural beauty and consistently clear water.

Spiaggia Su Giudeu in Italy is the other closest beach to Britain on the list. Located on the southern coast of Sardinia with huge white sand dunes and calm cobalt water, it ranked 19th because, according to Beach.com, travellers get ‘happy emotional’ when describing their experience there. It’s an hour by car from Cagliari-Elmas Airport, which takes around two hours and 45 minutes to get to from London Stansted or Gatwick. For both beaches, Beach.com says you should visit between June and August to get the most out of them. 

All that being said, we don’t totally agree with the list – you can find some truly outstanding beaches here in the UK. There are adorable coves in Cornwall, cream sands in north Wales, dramatic cliff-backed bays in Dorset and idyllic isolated beaches in Scotland that we firmly believe all give beaches in warmer climes a run for their money. See Time Out’s full guide to Britain’s greatest beaches here. 

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