The Cornwall beach named the best in Britain by the Sunday Times is not what you think

A beautiful beach in Cornwall has been named the best in Britain by the Sunday Times. The Towans, Hayle was also ranked the best in the South West in the newspaper’s prestigious annual list – Cornwall’s beaches taking four places in the regional top 10.

The annual Times and Sunday Times Best UK Beaches guide has been compiled with an 11-point checklist. Criteria include water quality, cleanliness, accessibility, parking facilities, lifeguard presence, hygiene levels at toilets and showers and dog-friendliness.

The other Cornwall beaches included in the guide also scored very well. But Chris Haslam, chief travel writer at The Times – who has personally visited and inspected all 50 beaches featured in the guide over the past eight weeks – praised The Towans’ offering of a “sense of space in untamed nature”.

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He said: “Towans water quality is rated excellent, they are dog friendly and the cleanliness, parking, lifeguard, catering and toilets are top notch. The water sports facilities are superb and the beauty is undeniable.

“But there’s something here that’s not on the checklist: a sense of space in untamed nature that lowers your heart rate, lowers cortisol, and weakens your limbs.”

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The 2024 guide only features beaches that are rated ‘excellent’ for water quality by national environmental agencies. And as usual, it only covers continental beaches.

Read on to find out about the winning beach in Cornwall and the other three Cornwall beaches named among the best in the South West by the Times and the Sunday Times.

The Towans, Hayle

Visit Cornwall describes Hayle Towans Beach as a “vast stretch of golden sand backed by sand dunes” – Towans means “dunes” in Cornish. The stunning views make it popular all year round, but its vast expanse means it rarely feels overcrowded.

Summerleaze, Bude

Another stunning stretch of golden sand, the beach has a range of activities for visitors including surfing, kayaking and stand up paddleboarding. It is also known for the Bude Sea Pool, a semi-natural seawater pool that dates back to the 1930s.

Porthcurno

Tourist bosses describe Porthcurno as an “oasis of stunning natural beauty”, pointing to “rugged cliffs with gorgeous white sands lapped by turquoise waves”. Its soft sands and high headlands that provide natural shelter make it popular with families and The South West Coast Path can also be accessed just behind the beach.

Kynance Cove

The National Trust’s stunningly beautiful Kynance Cove is known for its white sands, rugged rock formations and dark green and red serpentine rock – making it extremely popular with summer beachgoers and notable among geologists. It has also been scouted by TV crews, recently making an appearance in the fantasy series House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel.

The best beaches in the South West, according to the Times and Sunday Times

• BEACH OF THE YEAR: The Towans, Hayle, Cornwall

• Woolacombe, Devon

• Summerleaze, Bude, Cornwall

• Porthcurno, Cornwall

• Kynance Cove, Cornwall

• Mothecombe, Devon

• Soar Mill Cove, Devon

• Mattiscombe Sands, Devon

• Budleigh Salterton, Devon

• Branscombe, Devon

The annual Times and Sunday Times best beaches guide is published online today (Monday) and will go to print on July 21. It is the 16th edition of the guide, with the newspaper calling it “the definitive and most comprehensive list of Britain’s 50. the best beaches”.

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