[category]
[title]
We’re edging towards the final weeks of summer. The next month or so will be your last chance to see Britain’s seaside towns in their full glory – under a cloudless sunny sky and warm enough to spend all day on the sand. But with so little time left, you want to make sure that your next seaside trip will really be worth it. That’s where Which?’s annual ranking of the UK’s greatest coastal towns, cities and villages comes in.
The consumer company surveyed thousands of holidaymakers in order to build the ranking this year. In fact, it was Which?’s biggest seaside survey to date. Between them the participants made almost 12,000 visits to 135 different seaside cities, towns and villages.
Based on the votes, each place was given a star rating out of five in 11 categories that included its beach, seafront/pier, food and drink, tourist attractions, scenery, shopping, ‘peace and quiet’ and value for money. Then, they were all given an overall ‘destination score’ and ranked from best to worst.
Bamburgh took top spot. The Northumberland town earned five out of five stars for its beach, scenery and seafront, and four stars for value for money, peace and quiet and tourist attractions. This is the sixth year in a row that Bamburgh has topped Which?’s guide.
However, nowhere’s perfect. Bamburgh only got three stars for its food and drink offerings, two stars for is parking and a measly one star for its shopping. Still, all of that totalled up gave it the highest destination score of 84 percent.
Which? said that Bamburgh has ‘become more popular with tourists in recent years, but it hasn’t been swamped in holiday lets, and there’s still plenty of space on the beach – especially out of season.’
Bamburgh’s splendid three-mile beach was recently named one of the best in the world and is made even more magnificent by the looming Bamburgh Castle, one of the oldest castles in the whole of the UK (and which you might recognise from blockbusters like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Last Kingdom TV series, The BFG and Transformers: The Last Knight).
The food and drink offering in Bamburgh may be less plentiful than in other towns, but there are still a few excellent spots. Which? recommends seafood from The Potted Lobster, freshly baked sausage rolls from R Carter & Son butchers and cake from the likes of the Copper Kettle Tea Rooms or the Bamburgh Walled Garden.
The top three for 2026 all hail from the north of the UK. Runner-up in the ranking this year was Tynemouth, described by Which? as an ‘extraordinary setting of three impeccable golden sand beaches’. Third place went to St Andrews for its five-star beach, seafront, scenery and tourist attractions. Way down at the bottom of the pile was poor old Bognor Regis – which we reckon is still worth a visit.
The top 10 beach towns in the UK, according to Which?
- Bamburgh, Northumberland
- Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear
- St Andrews, Scotland
- Aldeburgh, Suffolk
- Crail, Scotland
- Frinton-on-Sea, Essex
- Portmeirion, Wales
- St David’s, Wales
- Bude, Cornwall
- Southwold, Suffolk
🏖️ Time Out’s list of the greatest seaside towns in the UK.
ICYMI: A lost underwater city is opening as a tourist attraction in a quiet UK seaside town.
Plus: One of the most beautiful towns on Earth is just one hour from London.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country