Jumpingonthesandwagon

Some European cities have their own beaches. London will soon be one of them

There is a global trend to adorn land-locked cities with urban beaches. And this year London too will have its own.

Work started on the new venue — which is to be Europe’s largest manmade beach — on June, 9 with tonnes of sand ferried to the site by barge from north Norfolk.

The beach, the brainchild of an orgainsation of the same name, is located on the north western side of Greenwich Peninsula near the O2, 400m from North Greenwich Tube. The Beach is also hosting the Peninsula Festival during the Olympic Games, complete with big screens showing Olympic coverage, live music and a campsite.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson anticipates that this year will be “a summer like no other”. He said: “I’m delighted that after a thousand years, London will soon have golden shores to rival even the best of the Caribbean.”

Perhaps so, but what can we learn from other European cities who have already rolled out the sand carpet? Parisians love to escape to the seaside. But those that are unable to venture out can thank the Socialist Party Mayor Bertrand Delanoe for the creation of the beaches by the Seine river in 2002. The 800 metres of sand and palm trees, line the Rive Droite and on Rive Gauche (left and right banks) and there is a shuttle ferry linking the two. Though you can’t swim in the river there is a swimming pool suspended over the Seine. and you can swim in the deep waters of the Ijsselmeer lake.

Catch tram 26 from Centraal Station ot Ijburg, head towards the water and look for the flags. in the river so If you fancy a dip, there are inflatable pools where you can make a splash head for the Spree Bridge bathing ship, a heated pool in the hull of a container ship.