{"id":217728,"date":"2025-06-27T04:50:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T04:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/217728\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T04:50:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T04:50:23","slug":"britains-best-and-worst-beach-towns-revealed-with-popular-south-coast-resort-labelled-run-down-and-tacky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/217728\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain’s best and worst beach towns revealed – with popular South Coast resort labelled ‘run-down’ and ‘tacky’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jo Tweedy\u00a0<\/p>\n

THE BEST
Bamburgh, Northumberland<\/p>\n

\"Bamburgh <\/p>\n

Bamburgh Castle overlooks the coastline and woos hundreds of thousands of visitors every year to this stretch of Northumberland<\/p>\n

Small but mighty, Bamburgh village, nudged up to a particularly beautiful stretch of the Northumberland coast only has around 400 residents – but, according to Which?’s latest poll the prettiest sands in the land.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The downside?\u00a0It attracts more than 150,000 visitors each year because of it, with locals swamped by tourists in the summer months – and parking spaces rare as hen’s teeth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its imposing castle is regarded as one of the world’s most important Anglo-Saxon archaeological sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zoopla average property price: \u00a3464,500\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beer, Devon<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A beer in Beer:\u00a0Devon’s crescent of shingly beach has a limestone cliff backdrop<\/p>\n

Another tiny village with a divine crescent of beach, this time shingle, Beer lies in Devon’s East and is flanked by limestone cliffs.<\/p>\n

Once a smuggler’s haven, this fishing village’s closest town is Seaton, with the South West Coast Path accessible for walkers.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zoopla average property price: \u00a3454,000\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Portmeirion, North Wales<\/p>\n

\"Worth <\/p>\n

Worth the price: The coast around\u00a0Portmeirion, which costs from \u00a313 to visit<\/p>\n

So inspired was Noel Coward when he visited the folly village of Portmeirion that he wrote his play, Blithe Spirit, in just six days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This Italianate village sits against a rocky headland in North Wales and is so well preserved you have to pay to get in – \u00a320.00 for adults, \u00a313 for children.<\/p>\n

The beach? It’s full of white sand, plus hidden caves and views out across\u00a0the Dwyryd Estuary.<\/p>\n

Zoopla average property price: \u00a3171,969<\/p>\n

St David’s, Pembrokeshire<\/p>\n

\"Whitesands, <\/p>\n

Whitesands, the sweep of beach close to St David’s<\/p>\n

St David’s main beach, known as Whitesands Bay, is made up of fine, alabaster sand that merges into a rockier portion of coast, which reaches a crescendo at the craggy headland that is St David’s Head.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Walkers love it, as do surfers. St David’s is famously the UK’s smallest city with a population of around 1,750 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zoopla average property price: \u00a3326,108\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sidmouth, Devon<\/p>\n

\"Victorian <\/p>\n

Victorian favourite Sidmouth remains popular with beach goers heading to Devon<\/p>\n

At the mouth of the River Sid, 14 miles from Exeter, Sidmouth was a fishing village until the fashion for coastal resorts grew in the Regency period from 1811 to 1820.<\/p>\n

Edward VII checked into the Royal York Hotel in 1856, and when the Devon town was connected to a railway (no longer running) in 1874, well-heeled Victorians flocked there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The esplanade is lined with Grade II-listed hotels, with the 240-million-year-old Jurassic Coast just beyond it.<\/p>\n

Zoopla average property price: \u00a3489,333<\/p>\n

AND THE WORST…<\/p>\n

Bognor Regis, West Sussex<\/p>\n

\"West <\/p>\n

West Sussex’s Bognor Regis didn’t fare well – but that’s unlikely to put off the tourist masses this summer<\/p>\n

Bognor Regis is one of the UK’s best-known bucket and spade seaside towns today – but it started life as a small fishing village.<\/p>\n

The town’s popularity soared in the late 1800s after a railway station was built in 1864 that made the seaside hotspot much more accessible.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the resort has been known for cheap and cheerful UK breaks, with Butlins the beach’s most famous place to stay.<\/p>\n

Zoopla average property price: \u00a3356,463<\/p>\n

Bangor, North Wales\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Garth <\/p>\n

Garth pier in Bangor jutting out across the mud and sand of the Menai Strait, which separates Anglesey island from the Welsh mainland\u00a0<\/p>\n

The historic Welsh resort of Bangor took the unwanted number one spot in the Which? survey of worst seaside town in Britain back in May.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bangor has fallen since its heyday, with historic photos showing hundreds of people gathered to watch the opening of the pier during the Victorian period in 1896.<\/p>\n

Even as recently as 30 years ago, the area was still a beloved hub for tourists and holidaymakers, and even featured in a popular song by folk group Fiddler’s Dream in 1979 named Day Trip to Bangor (Didn’t We Have a Lovely Time).<\/p>\n

Away from the beach, Bangor has the longest high street in Wales, and is also the oldest Welsh city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zoopla average property price: \u00a3204,661<\/p>\n

Clacton-on-Sea, Essex\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Clacton-on-Sea <\/p>\n

Clacton-on-Sea has faced social deprivation in recent years, with unemployment, drug use and crime all issues for the town, say locals<\/p>\n

Another resort that’s a shadow of its former self,\u00a0Clacton-on-Sea was once one of Britain’s thriving seaside towns – popular with Londoners who would flock to the Essex coastline for a day at the beach and fun on the pier.<\/p>\n

A decline has seen the town battling spiralling unemployment, drug use and crime – with shops on the beachfront and in the town centre closed.<\/p>\n

Zoopla average property price:\u00a0\u00a3251,103<\/p>\n

Southend-on-Sea, Essex<\/p>\n

\"The\u00a0seafront <\/p>\n

The\u00a0seafront promenade and beach to the east of the Pier at Southend-on-Sea<\/p>\n

One travel guide described this Essex coastal resort as ‘Pugnacious and brash’, saying ‘Unless you’re after tacky arcades, flash amusement rides or sleazy nightspots, there’s not much to do’.<\/p>\n

There’s no getting away from the fact it’s still very popular though: Essex’s largest town, with a population of some 175,500, hosts nearly three million visitors each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zoopla average property price: \u00a3339,634<\/p>\n

Fleetwood,\u00a0Lancashire\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The sun sets over\u00a0Fleetwood beach in Lancashire; the town is set for a \u00a316million makeover<\/p>\n

Just 25 minutes from Blackpool, Fleetwood has long attracted holidaymakers with its low prices – including hotel stays that average around \u00a373 a night – and old-school seaside charm.<\/p>\n

And while it’s fared badly in Which?’s latest poll, it is in line for a \u00a316million upgrade, including a\u00a0major overhaul of the town’s iconic Art Deco Marine Hall and the local leisure centre.<\/p>\n

Zoopla average property price: \u00a3145, 744<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Jo Tweedy\u00a0 THE BESTBamburgh, Northumberland Bamburgh Castle overlooks the coastline and woos hundreds of thousands of visitors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,92,393,4884,1144,712,183,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-217728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-dailymail","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-northern-ireland","15":"tag-scotland","16":"tag-travel","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}