Each year, Tripadvisor names the world’s best beaches as part of its Travellers’ Choice Awards. This year, a British beach landed just outside the European top 10.
Plan your perfect trip with Tripadvisor
View Deal
From the best beaches to top hotels, search and compare on Tripadvisor to plan your perfect day out, weekend adventure or holiday.
Best beaches in Europe
- Reynisfjara Beach, Iceland
- Praia de Falésia, Portugal
- Spiaggia dei Conigli, Italy
- La Concha Beach, Spain
- Playa de Muro Beach, Spain
- Falassarna Beach, Greece
- Nissi Beach, Cyprus
- Balos Lagoon, Greece
- Sotavento Beach, Spain
- Plage du Sillon, France
- Iztuzu Beach, Turkey
- Gorleston-on-Sea Beach, UK
- Praia dos Tres Irmaos, Portugal
- Weymouth Beach, UK
- Playa de Ses Illetes, Spain
Gorleston-on-Sea beach in Norfolk was crowned the UK’s best beach and came just outside the top 10 in the Europe rankings.
Lying just south of Great Yarmouth, Gorleston-on-Sea has a stunning sandy beach with a huge bay.
The beautiful beach is a firm favourite with locals and tourists, while it’s also popular for windsurfing, surfing and body-boarding.
A visitor wrote on Tripadvisor: “Beautiful beach. Town close by. Long promenade. A true little gem.”
Another person said: “What a fantastic large beach with room for everyone! The sand is lovely and soft when you first walk on it.”
A Tripadvisor spokesperson said: “A stunning bay with a huge, wide curving, sandy beach with ramp access plus model yacht pond and children’s splashpad.
“With adjoining shops, cafes, amusements and amenity areas, everything you need is close by.”
Norfolk is also one of the Royal Family’s favourite beach destinations and The Prince and Princess of Wales have often holidayed there with their family.
The Victorian seaside town was even used as the backdrop in the Richard Curtis film, Yesterday.
Weymouth, on England’s Jurassic coast, climbed five places in this year’s rankings to take 14th spot on the list.
Fistral Beach in Newquay, a favourite of surfers, landed place 22 on the list after missing out in 2022.
Bournemouth Beach also made the rankings, placing at 24 in the list of Europe’s best beaches.
“As a huge beach fan myself, I know the impossible-to-resist allure of sunshine and turquoise water—and certainly, there’s plenty of that on this year’s list,” said Sarah Firshein, the head of editorial at Tripadvisor.
“But there are some delightful surprises as well. In addition to the much-loved beaches of the Caribbean and Hawaii, our community is really looking to kick up their experiences, even exploring cooler destinations like Reynisfjara Beach in Iceland.
So whether you’re looking to pack a windbreaker or a swimsuit, our list has something for a wide range of travellers and it might even convince the most ardent beach sceptics to embrace some time on the sand.”
The winning European beach was Reynisfjara in Iceland which is known for its black sands and imposing rock formations.
Source: Read Full Article