16 of the best beaches in Wales (2024)

You probably won’t be the only ones there. The world is too full of canny travellers and Instagram sunsets for the beauty of Welsh beaches to be anything like a secret. But even so, you’re going to find them less crowded than their rivals across the border in England. And they’ll be wilder too.

Here, the hills and mountains march straight into the sea and even the broadest strands are edged by cliffs or backed by mountains. Sure, the weather will sometimes add to the rawness of the scene. But that’s part of the attraction. Pack a windbreaker as well as your beach blanket. Read up about the wildlife you might spot from the walls of your sandcastle. And above all, be busy. Whether you’re rock-pooling, surfing, kite-flying, or cliff-walking, a day at any one of these beaches is sure to blow out every cobweb.

Main photo: Whitesands Bay, Pembrokeshire (Alamy)

1. Porth Swtan, Anglesey

If you love a secluded cove, you’ll find north Anglesey a happy hunting ground, though you might not get much further than Porth Swtan. Here, between low, grassy headlands — festooned in June with flowering sea pink — lies a crescent-shaped beach that gets smoother and sandier as the tide retreats. Just above, beyond the café and car park, a thatched museum shows you how the locals once lived. Bet their kids were down on the beach at every opportunity.

Café Y
Family-friendly Y

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2. Llanddwyn Island, Anglesey

Two enormous sandy beaches edge the southern tip of Anglesey, and are served by a big car park with loos and (in summer) an ice-cream van and food truck. Neither strand, however, is as spectacular as Llanddwyn Island in between. The site of a 5th-century nunnery, this long, narrow streak of rock is cut with sandy coves and tipped with two lighthouses, guarding the entrance to the Menai Strait. Don’t stand and gawp for too long: the island is frequently cut off at high tide.

Café N
Family-friendly Y

3. Porth Iago, Gwynedd

A tiny pocket of sand tucked between two long arms of rock, Porth Iago is made fabulous by the fact that you can park a camper van directly above it and eat your bacon sandwich each morning staring down at the turquoise sea. There’s a car park for day-trippers too, as well as a burger van and toilet block: in fact, the only hardship is the scramble back up again when you’ve had your fill of swimming, kayaking or fishing off the northern rocks for bass, plaice and pollock.

Café N
Family-friendly Y

4. Porth Neigwl, Gwynedd

On the map, the western end of the Llyn Peninsula looks like the head of a leaping jaguar. Its gaping mouth is actually an unbroken four-mile beach of sand and shingle and, even in a staycation summer, it’s never going to fill up (not least because of the tiny car park). Come for the dazzling sense of space and — if there’s a swell running up the Irish Sea — the surfing too. Make sure everyone’s been to the loo first, though. Otherwise you may find yourself making an unscheduled trip to the Sun Inn at Llanengan.

Café N
Family-friendly Y

5. Barmouth, Gwynedd

Fancy an old-fashioned day on the beach but with a twist? The seaside town of Barmouth is the place. Traditional attractions include amusem*nt arcades, swing boats and a narrow-gauge steam railway. The twist comes from the mind-boggling location. This is where Snowdonia’s national park meets the sea. So why not follow your donkey ride with an otherworldly walk through the reed beds of the Mawddach estuary, or maybe an ascent of Cadair Idris?

Café Y
Family-friendly Y

6. Traeth Bach, Ceredigion

Yes, it translates as “small beach”, but no, it won’t feel like that if you’ve got Traeth Bach’s golden sand and pyramid sea stack to yourself. That’s a distinct possibility at this wild and hidden cove, because it lies between two other highly rated (and more accessible) strands that draw off the crowds. So stock up on goodies at Penbryn’s Plwmp Tart café, aim to arrive as the tide backs off, and wear hiking boots. The two-mile walk finishes with a scramble down to the water’s edge.

Café N
Family-friendly N

7. Mwnt, Ceredigion

“What, here?” you’ll wonder, when you discover Mwnt was the scene of a furious battle in 1155. After all, this serene and gently shelving stretch of sand, set between low cliffs, is just 90m wide. The only things it seems fit for are sandcastles, swimming and (if you’re lucky) dolphin-spotting. There’s no lifeguard, but despite the secluded setting, you will find toilets and (in summer) a kiosk selling snacks and ice creams. Just be sure to come early: the National Trust’s car park isn’t much bigger than your beach blanket.

Café N
Family-friendly Y

8. Whitesands Bay, Pembrokeshire

This is the Pembrokeshire coast as you imagined it — a half-mile stretch of lifeguarded sand, set between cliffs and backed by heather-coated hills. More often than not the sea is busy here, animated by Atlantic swells. So bring a wetsuit, book a surf lesson and get ready for a day that mixes wild-eyed excitement with catatonic exhaustion, as well as the odd trip to the café for a hot chocolate with cream. For the full, blissed-out effect, hike to the top of 600ft Carn Llidi, just as the sun begins to set. You won’t forget the view.

Café Y
Family-friendly Y

9. Marloes Sands, Pembrokeshire

The National Trust owns the headland, and the seabird colonies of Skomer and Skokholm are just offshore. But it’s not just the puffin-spotting that should lure you to Marloes Sands. This is the Pembrokeshire coast at its most spectacular: a splintered, wave-pounded wreck of sea stacks and cliffs that becomes a haven for beachcombers and fossil-hunters as the tide retreats. Come early or late to be sure of a space at the car park, half a mile inland, and don’t forget your binoculars.

Café Y
Family-friendly N

10. Barafundle, Pembrokeshire

Yes, it’s a lovely beach: sandy, sheltered and free of any man-made infrastructure. But really it’s the wider environment that makes Barafundle Bay unique. Managed by the National Trust, the Stackpole Estate is a rich mix of woodland, lakes, meadows and dunes, and home to 30 species of butterfly. Come early, travel light (it’s a half-mile walk from the café, car park and loos), and plan a day that’s as much about wildlife as sploshing.

Café N
Family-friendly Y

11. Manorbier, Pembrokeshire

“The pleasantest spot in Wales” was how Giraldus Cambrensis described Manorbier in the late 12th century. Nearly 900 years later, there’s still much to love. Surfers will like the way Atlantic swells find their way into the bay, adventurers will enjoy the clifftop walks, and parents will be thrilled by the sight of their little ones building sandcastles beneath a proper 12th-century fort (though they need to keep an eye on them in the water as there’s no lifeguard). Giraldus grew up here and went on to travel widely across Britain and Ireland. Chances are, you’ll be happy staying put.

Café Y
Family-friendly Y

12. Castle Beach, Pembrokeshire

Tenby is where the traditional seaside holiday meets Pembrokeshire’s tumultuous history as well as its cliffs and strands — and the result is a delight. Think medieval walls, pastel-painted houses and, best of all, a girdle of gorgeous sandy beaches. Blue-flagged Castle Beach in the middle is best, tucked away under the 12th-century fort, with lifeguards on watch and every conceivable type of ice cream close at hand.

Café Y
Family-friendly Y

13. Priory Bay, Pembrokeshire

Castle Beach too busy for you? Then take a 20-minute boat trip from Tenby’s harbour to Caldey Island. This weather-beaten nub of rock, pasture and woodland was a monastic site as early as the 6th century, but what beach-lovers will remember most is the tropical-island caress of its soft, fine sand. With its back to both wind and waves, north-facing Priory Bay is the place to enjoy it: a calm, toddler-friendly sanctuary despite the lack of a lifeguard, with ice creams and toilets near by in the island’s pocket-sized village.

Café Y
Family-friendly Y

14. Rhossili Bay, Gower Peninsula

The Gower Peninsula is not short of stonking beaches but Rhossili really is a step up. Three miles of unbroken sand, protected by the National Trust, and set against a wall of hillside, this is indisputably one of Britain’s finest beaches, so long as you like your ocean busy and don’t mind the lack of lifeguards. Not surprisingly, there’s a surf school here. Waves break in Rhossili Bay when many other beaches are millponds.

Café Y
Family-friendly Y

15. Marros Sands, Carmarthenshire

For the intrepid, there’s Marros Sands, a mile’s hike from Marros village. It’s only exposed during low tide — come any other time and you may be greeted with a disappointing streak of pebbles at the water’s edge. But its inaccessibility means the treasures here are reserved for those who put the work in. What treasures, you ask? A network of caves run along the western end of the beach, near which you’ll find the remains of a 19th century schooner named Rover. And if you’re very lucky, the petrified forest that’s normally covered by the surf is also exposed to the sun.

Café N
Family-friendly N

16. Ferryside Beach, Carmarthenshire

Prepare to get muddy at Ferryside Beach, whose soft sand mingles with the Taff Estuary where the River Tywi flows into the sea. When the tide goes out, you get a gorgeous sweep of coastline with views of Llansteffan Castle across the estuary. But marshy conditions in some spots mean it’s not popular for families looking for an all-day picnic spot. Instead of a blanket therefore, pack your wellies — the beach is a great place to root out co*ckles while rock pools are teeming with marine life.

Café N
Family-friendly Y

Additional reporting by Qin Xie

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