We may be biased, but Yorkshire is home to the best beaches in the UK. For one its has the oldest seaside town in the UK, and two, have you seen our stunning coastline recently? And, as the sunny weather is here, you may be heading to the coast this weekend, so here is some inspiration, as three Yorkshire beaches have been named among the best in the UK in a new survey.
Boggle Hole, Whitby Sands and Marske Sands have been named in this year’s annual list of the 50 Best UK Beaches for 2026 by The Times and The Sunday Times. Each year, they release the list of beaches that were inspected within the previous eight weeks, which is a rare feat these days.
Celebrating the UK’s coastline, the list has a 12-point checklist with criteria such as cleanliness, accessibility, parking, lifeguard provision, the condition of toilets and showers, dog-friendliness and, above all, water quality. This year an extra criterion has been added, namely community engagement.
We are proud of our beaches, doing the local area proud. However, taking the top spot for Northern beaches this year was Low Newton-by-the-Sea in Northumberland.
UK’s 50 best beaches for 2026
Whitby Sand
Writing about Whitby Sands, Haslam said: “I’m just back from my 18th annual circuit of the British and Northern Irish coasts, and I’ve never seen our seaside look more beautiful.”
Marske Sands
Nestled directly between the seaside resorts of Redcar to the north and Saltburn-by-the-Sea to the south, the Times reporter wrote: “the pristine, four miles of Marske Sands: popular with lovers of the sunrise. That may be why Antony Wright parked his Headland Espresso truck in the car park. I’m not one to get excited about non-alcoholic beverages but for his coffee I’ll make an exception.”
Boggle Hole
Located near Whitby, a short walk along the beach from Robin Hood’s Bay is the idyllic spot, Boggle Hole. It is an absolute gem to come across, and Haslam thinks so too. He wrote: ” If you’ve checked your tides app before coming, the very best thing of all lies before you: a patchwork beach of flat sand draped between stacked slabs of fossil-rich shales with caves to explore and top rock-pooling.”
Chris Haslam, the award-winning chief travel writer said: “I’m just back from my 18th annual circuit of the British and Northern Irish coasts and I’ve never seen our seaside look more beautiful. We’re now heading into the third heatwave of what we might look back upon as a summer to match 1976, so it would be a shame to waste those sunny days sitting in airports, queuing at immigration machines and fighting for sunloungers. You can do that next year. This year, drop your towel on a UK beach.”
Check out the Sunday Times full list here.
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Feature Image Credit: Photo © Rich Tea (cc-by-sa/2.0)
