14 July 21, 2019The Sunday TimesTravel 40 Best British Beaches
on the line, and you’ll have bar-tailed
godwits for company.27 STONE BAY, KENT
Early birds might be able to snag a free
parking place on the clifftop on
Broadstairs’s Eastern Esplanade, but
the rest of us will have to swallow the
eye-watering £12 fee for the council car
parks. Leave the sardine-like day-trippers
of Viking Bay behind and follow the prom
north to this strangely beautiful curve of
flat sand and rockpools. Strange because
the sheltering white cliffs reflect the sun’s
heat, creating an Algarve-like microclimate.
Beautiful because, well, just lie back,
close your eyes and listen to the slap of
the waves and the cries of the kittiwakes.28 DUNWICH, SUFFOLK
In the 13th century, Dunwich had a
population of 3,000 and a port to match
London. Then the sea snatched it away,
leaving just the ruins of the Franciscan→ Continued from page 13
29friary, a leper chapel and a lot of myth.
The steeply shelving shingle beach is a
seducer of bird-watchers and romantics
that’s at its best early on a summer
morning. Park in the National Trust car
park and follow the beach two miles north
to Dunwich village; then visit the museum
(free; dunwichmuseum.org.uk), have
fish and chips at the Ship Inn (£13.50;
shipatdunwich.co.uk) and loop back
along the footpath over the heath. And if
you spot a wooden heart on the beach,
for goodness’ sake don’t pick it up.
They’ll tell you why in the museum.29 SANGO SANDS, HIGHLANDS
The north shore of Scotland wears a
crown of beaches that start in Kearvaig
and stretch 60 miles east to Castletown.
The gleaming cabochons on this coast —
Torrisdale, Armadale and Strathy bays,
and the unpronounceable Traighs of
Na h-Uamhag and Allt Chailgeag — seem
cut by the same divine jeweller, using
sparkling sands, rough-hewn rock, silver
streams and sapphire seas to inspire aweof the ocean on the cathedral-like white
arch — you’ll be overcome by a lingering
sense of smugness and the desire for
a pint. The thatched Sailor’s Return,
in Chaldon Herring, will oblige
(sailorsreturnpub.com).26 SWANLAKE BAY, PEMBROKESHIRE
The most famous “secret” beach in
Pembrokeshire is Barafundle Bay.
Featured in countless glossy magazines
and breathless travelogues, it’s usually
described as an undiscovered precinct
of paradise, accessible only on foot.
Truth is, it’s an average beach
undeserving of so much hype, which,
on a sunny day, can attract hundreds of
tourists in a vain search for solitude.
For the real thing, try Swanlake Bay.
Park in Manorbier — a gorgeous beach
overlooked by a Norman castle — and
follow the Pembrokeshire Coast Path
for 1½ miles west. You’ll find soft,
sheltered sand at low tide on the eastern
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