Welsh beaches are having a moment as the world finally wakes up to their beauty. Anglesey’s Llanddwyn Beach grabbed the number one spot in our 2026 Reader’s Choice Awards, pipping Cornwall, Devon and Scotland at the post, much to everyone’s astonishment and excitement. Why? Because Wales is still a modest land, preferring to whisper quietly about its charms. But as our awards show, with five Welsh beaches in the mix, these charms are many and they deserve to be better feted.
The rain held off this summer, the hottest and driest on record for Wales, the unusually warm Irish Sea was more tempting than ever, and a 65 per cent year-on-year rise in hotel searches proved holidays on Welsh turf are booming. Let’s face it, when the weather is kind Welsh beaches rival the world’s most dazzling – from great arcs of dune-wisped sand, to tiny cliff-clasped coves where you’d gladly wreck your ship if you had one, and remote bays where the Atlantic rages and seals honk.
This is the land of wild winds and waves, islands home to puffins and saintly legends, and headlands crowned by Iron Age hillforts and ruined castles. Indenting the coast are pastel-dipped coastal towns and villages where you can rock up for a harbourside pint or crab sandwich after a day on the sand. And the best bit? The 870-mile coast path knitting together the whole gorgeous lot, letting you weave some proper walking into a beach break.
Here are the five award-winning beaches that our readers rave about.
Llanddwyn Beach, Anglesey
Getty ImagesLlanddwyn Beach, Anglesey & Newborough
2026 Readers’ Choice Awards: 1st best beach in the UK
On the southern tip of Anglesey, you strike gold on crazily lovely Llanddwyn Beach, which has snuck into the number one spot in this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards. And frankly, no wonder – the dune-wisped beach is an instant heart-stealer, with great rolling dunes to gleefully leap down and powdery sands fizzing into the Irish Sea. It ripples east to Newborough Beach, hot on its heels in fourth place.
The trill of wading seabirds is the backbeat, especially if you choose a quiet time of year to visit. Winter dials up the drama, with wild winds, storms and fiery sunsets. At the bay’s northern crook is Ynys Llanddwyn, a tidal island topped by a lighthouse, whose dreamy light, rocky coves and stirring views across the silvery Irish Sea get a lot of love. The dark peaks of Eryri National Park pucker on the horizon.
What to do: Go for a life-affirming swim, but take care of tide times around the estuary and island. Time your visit at low tide to spot grey seals hauled out on the rocks and explore the island on foot. Head out to the 16th-century ruined chapel with links to St Dwynwen, patron saint of lovers and Wales’ very own St Valentine. Sunset ramps up the romance further.
Where to eat and stay: Bed down in a stylish cabin on the forest fringes at Murmur Y Coed, rounding out beach days with firepit stargazing. Ellis and Liam Barrie are the talented brothers behind converted potting shed Y Marram, where stunningly fresh local produce shines in dishes like mussel and lamb cawl and hand-dived scallops with pear and wasabi buttermilk.
Tenby South
Getty ImagesTenby South
2026 Readers’ Choice Awards: 4th best beach in the UK
Winging you back to childhood memories of never-ending days spent digging sandcastles and licking ice cream, Tenby is seaside central, with pastel-coloured Georgian houses frosting cliffs that stagger down to a pretty parade of beaches. Top billing goes to Tenby South, sneaking into fourth place in our 2026 Reader’s Choice. This mile-and-a-half-long scoop of dune-backed, wave-bashed sand is delightful. Starting at St Catherine’s Island, with its Napoleonic fortress, it arcs all the way south to Giltar Point, where fishermen angle for bass and views reach to Caldey Island, home to around a dozen Cistercian monks.
What to do: Go for a paddle or swim in shallow water, find space on the vast sands or walk along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path to Giltar Point for riveting views. If you fancy exploring the rocky coast, go sea kayaking or stand-up paddleboarding with Paddle Pembrokeshire.
Where to eat and stay: Pop into Tenby old town for locally brewed craft beer and barbecue in the courtyard at Tap & Tân. Stay at Penally Abbey, an ivy-draped dream of a Gothic country house on a hillside, surrounded by gardens and woodland. The ornately muraled restaurant, Rhosyn, delivers a hit of the coast in dishes like pan-roasted hake with samphire and crispy channel wrack.
Barafundle Bay
2026 Readers’ Choice Awards: 11th best beach in the UK
There’s no denying this bay gets a lot of love, but we just can’t resist Barafundle in Pembrokeshire. When the sun illuminates this wedge of creamy sand and glassy turquoise sea, you might pinch yourself just to check you really are in Wales. No, you won’t be alone trying to find a quiet patch to plonk your towel in peak summer, but don’t be put off. Visit midweek or in the low season and you’ll fall hard for this bay, bookended by rugged limestone cliffs and backed by dunes, pines and ancient woods flecked with bluebells and wild garlic in spring. The bay is a beautiful half-hour stomp over cliffs and down steps from Stackpole Quay National Trust car park.
What to do: Make a day of it by checking out nearby Bosherston. Here a trail threads through woods and past ponds where dragonflies flit above water lilies in summer. You’ll emerge on the dune-fringed, powder-soft sands of Broad Haven South, with views to the spire of Church Rock.
Where to eat and stay: Country pub fantasies are fulfilled at the ivy-swaddled Stackpole Inn, with a rustic interior and big beer garden for summer days. The restaurant rustles up dishes with locally farmed and fished ingredients – from Atlantic Edge oysters to Welsh lamb.
Newborough
Getty ImagesNewborough Beach, Anglesey
2026 Readers’ Choice Awards: 6th best beach in the UK
Curving for three and a half miles, flanked by marram grass-brushed dunes and backed by the Newborough National Nature Reserve & Forest, Llandwyn’s eastern beach is a beauty. The coastal marshes here thrum with birdlife and trails whip through Corsican pine forest all the way to Llanddwyn Island. You’ll have a pinch-yourself moment as you tiptoe through shady woods and onto expansive sands ruffled by the Irish Sea, with the great peaks of Eryri (Snowdonia) punching high in the distance. Shelving gently into the shallow sea, the beach is ideal for a paddle or wild swim, but brace yourself as even in summer the water is around 15°C - chilly but brilliant for getting the endorphins pumping.
What to do: Get out and stride. With light slanting through the treetops and pine-fresh breezes, the forest is a joy to walk. Hook onto the 4.4-mile, three-hour Saint, Sand and Sea Trail, signposted with blue waymarkers for a mood-lifting circular hike from forest to island. Keep an eye out for wildflowers like dune pansies, marsh orchids and sea lavender, as well as birdlife in the dunes and saltmarshes, including oystercatchers, redshanks, curlews and Brent geese. Bring binoculars for close-ups of the resident red squirrels.
Where to eat & stay: A few minutes’ drive away, the village of Newborough is sprinkled with holiday lets, including the Forest Lodge, sleeping eight. Or pitch up at Tŷ Croes Farm & Vineyard Campsite nearby. Swing by Red Squirrel Tapas for punchy Spanish flavours and wines after a day on the beach.
Rhossili Bay, Gower
2026 Readers’ Choice Awards: 14th best beach in the UK
Tacked onto Swansea like a stroke of genius, the Gower Peninsula is necklaced by some of Wales’ most entrancing beaches. Capped off by Worms Head and buffeted by Atlantic waves, the three-mile butterscotch sands of Rhossili Bay, fringed by dunes and cliffs, are magic in the low season but heaving on summer weekends. Time your visit wisely, however, and you’re in for a treat. There’s something magical about arriving here before the crowds rock up.
At low tide, in particular, the beach is just stunning. The sea peels back to reveal the wishbones of the Helvetia Wreck, a mighty ship that ran aground sailing from New Brunswick in Canada to Swansea in 1887. There are mirror-like rockpools reflecting sun and sky, encrusted with sea anemones, crabs and starfish. If you’re up for more adventure, this is a fantastic bay to dive in, with SUP, coasteering (an exhilarating mix of cliff jumps, cave swims and bouldering), and fine Atlantic swells for surfing at the northern end of the beach. With any luck, you’ll be sharing the water with seals, dolphins and porpoises.
What to do: Flicking out like a dragon’s tail, the tidal island of Worm’s Head is sheer drama. Lace up hiking boots to hike out to the peninsula, accessible two-and-a-half hours either side of low tide. Look out for razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes and puffins on the cliffs in summer. Go north instead of south and you reach the ragged limestone outcrop of Spaniards Rocks and the tidal island of Burry Holms, with its medieval monastic ruins and Iron Age hillfort.
Where to stay & eat: Remote, wondrous and just a step from the beach, The Old Rectory cottage has history and riveting views. For a simple lunch, Gower coffee or local ice cream with uplifting views, stop by the beach-cool The Lookout. Its neighbour, family-run The View, rolls out great breakfasts and lunch specials from Buddha bowls to Welsh rarebit on sourdough.