LIFE’S A BEACH!
A beach holiday makes a brilliant staycation, whether you go for the day or stay a week. And with no one in the UK living more than 70 miles from the coast, it couldn’t be easier – especially with a little Halfords help...
EVEN IF you live right on top of one, there’s something special about a day at the beach. Messing about in rock pools, pounding along the hard sand with the dog, lolling near some dunes with a picnic, or just people watching and catching up on some reading as the waves play with the pebbles – there’s no single ‘best’ way of doing it.
It can be as relaxed or as organised as you like, and Halfords is there to help you every step of the way. From roof boxes that allow you to pack more in and ensure you can take everything you want with you, and gadgets to make the journey to the beach faster and more fun, to games to play on the beach when you get there, and kit for a perfect picnic, they have everything you need for a brilliant day at the beach.
And luckily for us, Britain boasts thousands of beaches, so there’s something to suit all tastes.
And to make sure your car makes it to the beach, it is worth heading to Halfords beforehand for a free car check – they will also check that your air con is in good shape for no extra cost.
Luskentyre, Outer Hebrides
YOU have to go to Harris in the Outer Hebrides for this gem of a beach, a belt of white sand washed by water that shifts from green-blue to stunning azure. Sand dunes add extra interest and the area is popular with walkers and cyclists. It’s a remote spot, with not much in the way of local cafés, so a cool bag is a must, and take plenty of bottled water, too.
Fistral, Cornwall
NEWQUAY’S Fistral Beach is one of WKH EXVLHVW VXU¿QJ EHDFKHV LQ Europe. A magnet for boarders, it’s D VDQG\ VWUHWFK EDFNHG E\ FOL̆V DQG dunes and marked out by the headlands on either side which funnel the water towards the coast. What that means is serious waves – all the big UK surf competitions take place here – but it’s also a great place for the beginner, with SOHQW\ RI SODFHV R̆HULQJ OHVVRQV gear hire and, once you’ve come out of the water, a ton of places to eat, drink and compare notes.
Rhossili, Swansea Bay
VOTED Wales’s best beach 2017, and a big TripAdvisor fave, the three miles of sandy shore at Rhossili Bay is popular with surfers, walkers, sandcastle builders, swimmers and ORYHUV RI ¿QH YLHZV ± RYHU WRZDUGV WKH tidal island of Worm’s Head and beyond to where seals and dolphins regularly appear. Access down the steps from the village is a bit of a FKDOOHQJH EXW WKHUH¶V D PXFK ÀDWWHU walk towards the Coastwatch Centre.
Blackpool Sands, Devon
NOWHERE near the Blackpool of donkeys and sticks of rock and VSLULWXDOO\ D GL̆HUHQW SURVSHFW altogether, Blackpool Sands in Devon has a second surprise in store IRU WKH ¿UVW WLPH YLVLWRU 'LYH LQ R̆ the pontoon moored in the bay, or scull out on a paddleboard or kayak hired from the local beach shop, which has pretty much everything you need for a day on the beach. The Venus Beach Café, open all day and into the evening, is a cut above, too.
Holkham, Norfolk
A BREATHTAKING beach on the east coast, Holkham is accessible over wooden boards through the dunes. Once you’re there, there’s a vast beach with miles of unspoilt JROGHQ VDQGV D ODJRRQ WKDW ¿OOV DW high tide and precious little to distract you. Bring a picnic, because there isn’t much in the way of beach shops, or wander down to the café at nearby Wells-next-the-Sea.
Pentle Bay, Tresco
THIRTY miles southwest of Land’s End and accessible by ship or plane, Tresco is home to Pentle Bay, where the sand is so blindingly white and the water so blue you half expect Ursula Andress to come paddling out of the sea. The water can be bracing but the climate on land is a couple of
Britain boasts hundreds of beaches, so there’s something to suit all tastes
precious degrees warmer than on the mainland. 2QO\ SHRSOH OLYH here, but there are cottages to rent, if you can get one. If not, camping makes sense.
Formby, Merseyside
$7 7+( PDVVLYH )RUPE\ EHDFK the tide goes out for miles, the GXQHV DUH D 6LWH RI 6SHFLDO 6FLHQWL¿F Interest and the pine woods behind them are one of the few places in this country where red squirrels still WKULYH *R LQ VHDUFK RI QDWWHUMDFN toads, wander along the hard sand to nearby Crosby to see Antony Gormley’s Another Place art installation, and keep an eye out for 6WHYHQ *HUUDUG MXVW RQH RI D QXPEHU RI IRRWEDOOHUV ZKR OLYH ORFDOO\
West Wittering, West Sussex
QUAINT yet smart, with a touch of the boho about it, this windsurfers’ SDUDGLVH LV DFFHVVLEOH RQO\ YLD D narrow, usually busy, road, which MXVW DGGV WR WKH H[FOXVLYH IHHO ZKHQ you get there. There’s beautiful sand on a clean beach, pools at low tide that make it ideal for paddling, and grassy areas for picnics, too.
Whiterocks, County Londonderry
AS YOU sweep down from the busier Portstewart, you’ll hit Whiterocks. Locals will tell you this Blue Flag beach is the better of the two, and it’s also just down the road from the Giant’s Causeway, at WKH EDVH RI OLPHVWRQH FOL̆V FDUYHG LQWR FDYHV E\ WKH VHD ([SHFW horse riders, windsurfers, bodyboarders and kayakers, seabirds – which colonise WKH PDQ\ FDYHV – and jutting headlands with HYRFDWLYH QDPHV OLNH (OHSKDQW Rock, Lion’s Paw and the Wishing Arch.
Sandsend, Yorkshire
NO FUSS, no nonsense, this is a YHU\ VWUDLJKWIRUZDUG YHU\ <RUNVKLUH beach, popular with parents and children looking for an old-school day out. Whitby and its gothic delights are just down the way, but KHUH WKH JUDVV\ FOL̆V JLYH RQ WR D beach criss-crossed by streams. Fossil hunters abound at low tide, searching for dinosaur remains, HVSHFLDOO\ DIWHU D FOL̆ IDOO ± ichthyosaurs pop up now and again. A real beach for the curious, it’s also ZHOO VHUYHG E\ SXEV DQG FDIpV