24-04-2025
Britain's 20 best seaside hotels, campsites and cottages: Property expert picks their favourite spots to stay right by the beach
The weather is, finally, warming up - and when the skies are blue, there is nowhere more beautiful to be than beside Britain's seaside.
Alex Fisher, the editor of Coast magazine, which celebrates destinations and attractions in shoreside locations has picked her favourite self-catering, camping and hotel stays close to beaches in the UK.
Classic destinations on the list, published in the Guardian, include Cornwall, Dorset and the Isle of Wight alongside stretches of sand in Northumberland, Cumbria and Argyll.
In Southwold, home to Suffolk's most famous pier, Fisher suggests the pastel-blue painted Astondene, a self-catering property that sleeps eight and is described as 'a pebble's throw from the long sand and shingle beach'. A week's stay costs just over £1,000 - around £125pp.
Of the Cornish suggestions, there's Anchors Aweigh in Helford Passage, which sits on the banks of the River Helford. The three-bed house is available from around £900 a week and sleeps six people.
It's close to the historic 16th century pub The Ferryboat Inn too, which serves up delicious seafood lunches.
For younger families, the travel expert plumps for Shoreside Huts in Alnmouth, Northumberland - the property is £270 for a two-night stay based on two adults and two small children staying. The off-grid property has St Oswald's Way coastal path on the doorstep too.
North of the border, the Coast editor picks out a contemporary take on a bothie, saying her pick would be Tahuna Bothies in Newburgh, Aberdeenshire.
The blonde-wood cabin-style self catering stays were designed by architect Stuart Davidson and puts guests amongst the sand dunes on Newburgh beach - with the chance to star-gaze one of the biggest reasons to stay.
Four people can stay from £122 a night in low season.
Aberafon Campsite in Gyrn Goch, Caernarfon, makes the cut, says Fisher, because it puts those pitching up betwixt mountains and the sea on the stunning Llŷn peninsula - and pitches only cost £12 for adults and £6 for children - under threes go free.
Those looking for a characterful bolt-hole in Northern Ireland, the expert says, should check in at the Ballygally Castle Hotel in County Antrim. The property has doubles from £120 including breakfast.
This week, Conde Nast Traveller also highlighted UK hotels that it says should be on the radar of travellers, including a pretty coaching inn in the Peak District.
The Cavendish Hotel at Baslow near Bakewell was one of three UK hotels to feature in the Hot List 2025.
Rooms at the 28-room property, which is owned by Chatsworth's Devonshire family, start at £193.
Coast magazine editor's pick of 20 places to stay in the UK
Bournemouth Beach Lodges, Dorset
Astondene, Southwold, Suffolk
Prince of Wales Terrace, Deal, Kent
No. 124, Brighton, East Sussex
The Albion, Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight
St Mark's Bothy, Brownsea Island, Dorset
The Wheelhouse B&B, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly
The Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin, Argyll
The Waterside Hotel, West Kilbride, Ayrshire
Anchors Aweigh, Helford Passage, Cornwall
Caban, Pendine Sands, Carmarthenshire
Manse on the Beach, Cloughey, County Down
Penkenna House, Crackington Haven, Cornwall
The Barnacle Goose, Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria
Shoreside Huts, Alnmouth, Northumberland
Tahuna Bothies, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire
The Old Point House, Angle, Pembrokeshire
Aberafon Campsite, Gyrn Goch, Caernarfon
The Cabin, Tenby, Pembrokeshire
Ballygally Castle Hotel, County Antrim
