Welsh town voted the most beautiful in Britain by leading travel guide
Nation.Cymru staff
A Welsh seaside town has taken the title of the best-looking spot in Britain, as chosen by leading travel guide Time Out
Time Out wrote: A bit of beauty can be found in just about anything – but in the UK, you don’t have to try too hard. To prove it, Time Out’s writers and editors have compiled a list of Britain’s most beautiful places. Good looks come in all shapes and sizes, and as such our list features pioneering modern buildings and entire towns alongside medieval cathedrals and mystical land formations.
The place that we think is the most beautiful spot in Britain right now? That would be the colourful Welsh town of Tenby. Time Out’s travel editor Grace Beard called the town ‘a halcyon dream of the Great British Seaside’.
‘Georgian and Victorian townhouses line the coastline, painted in baby blues, buttery yellows and pale pinks’, Grace described. ‘Skinny streets strung with fairy lights snake through the centre, and thirteenth-century medieval town walls – some of the best-preserved in the UK – still stand strong.’
There’s also the four gorgeous golden Blue Flag beaches that wrap around the town. North Beach is probably the busiest of them while South Beach is a quieter 2km stretch with views out to Caldey Island. Harbour Beach is an adorable sandy corner inside the historic harbour walls and, at low tide, Castle Beach offers access to St Catherine’s Island, home to a nineteenth-century fort.
And Tenby’s not just a pretty face. The town has a spectacular food scene to match. To accompany the gorgeous views, grab a fresh Welsh cake from Loafley, dine on small plates at The Mews or find locally caught mackerel and lobster at The Baytree.
As it happens, Tenby is right next door to Time Out’s favourite seaside town of 2026, Saundersfoot. Combine the two and you’ve got yourself an idyllic Welsh weekend.
Also making the most beautiful top 10 is fairy castle Castell Coch.
Time Out wrote: Anyone who’s ever taken the M4 out of Cardiff will be familiar with the sight of Castell Coch. Its three turrets that rise out of the furry beeches of Fforest Fawr are a fairytale view in themselves. But veer off the motorway and follow the road uphill and you’ll get to see this gothic revival masterpiece in its full glory.
Castell Coch (the ‘Red Castle’) sits on the ruins of a 13th century fortification and was designed by Victorian architect William Burges, who also oversaw the reconstruction of Cardiff Castle. He was commissioned by the third marquis of Bute, one of Britain’s wealthiest men at the time, and was allowed total free reign. The result is magnificent. Its piece de resistance is the vaulted ceiling of the drawing room, embellished with gold stars, butterflies and all manner of birds. On the walls below are murals inspired by Aesop’s fables and in the next tower along, Lady Bute’s bedroom is watched over by friezes of monkeys and pomegranates.
Combine your visit with a walk along one of Fforest Fawr’s trails – the woodland is particularly lovely at Easter time, when it bursts with bluebells.
The most beautiful places in the UK to visit in 2026
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