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Two beautiful Welsh beaches in new top 10 list of UK’s coastal gems

08 Jul 2025 4 minute read
Rhossili Bay

A new study, based on Tripadvisor reviews, has determined the best UK beaches to visit this summer and Wales features prominently.

Two Welsh seaside locations feature in the top 10 of the best beaches for a break with 10 gorgeous seaside locations in Wales in total making the top 40.

Marloes Sands Beach ranks fourth among the UK’s highest-rated beaches, with over 88% of Tripadvisor reviews awarding it five stars, while Rhossili Bay in Gower ranked in eight on the list.

The research, conducted by QR Code Generator, analysed Tripadvisor reviews to find the highest-rated beaches in the UK.

Beaches rated four stars or higher were ranked based on the percentage of five-star reviews compared to the total number of reviews.

Luskentyre Beach in Harris, Scotland, came first in the study with 93.79% of reviews (1,072 out of 1,143) rating it five stars. This beach boasts white sands, blue-green waters, and was named one of the UK’s best beaches in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards. It is found on the west coast of South Harris in the Outer Hebrides.

Scarista Beach in Harris, Scotland, ranked second with 90.50% of reviews (200 out of 221) rating it five stars. Less than six miles from Luskentyre Beach, it is rated as the best place to visit on the Isle of Harris. This white sandy beach speckled with seashells lies on the southwestern coast of South Harris and looks out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Marloes sands on the Pembrokeshire coast. By Manfred Heyde (CC 3.0)

Camusdarach Beach in Morar, Scotland, came third with 88.54% of reviews (309 out of 349) rating it five stars. Described as an arc of white, glistening sand and clear water, it can be found south of the estuary of River Morar, with views of the Isle of Skye. This beach was also featured in the film Local Hero and is a popular filming location to visit.

Marloes Sands Beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, ranked fourth, with 88.51% of reviews (231 out of 261) rating it five stars. This beach has dramatic coastal scenery and vast golden sands, surrounded by wildlife and ancient history. It is located southwest of the village of Marloes and looks out onto Skokholm Island.

Sandwood Bay in Sutherland, Scotland, came fifth with 88.10% of reviews (185 out of 210) rating it five stars. It is a natural bay with a remote, picturesque beach on the far north-west coast of mainland Scotland. Visitors will find a mile of golden sands and dunes, with rocky cliffs and a giant sea stack to complete the stunning vistas.

Other beaches in the top ten include Embleton Bay, Ross Back Sands Beach, and St Aidan Beach in Northumberland, Rhossili Bay in Gower, and Steve’s Beach on the Isle of Wight.

Top 10 UK beaches

Marc Porcar, CEO of QR Code Generator, commented on the findings

“Wales can proudly claim two out of the ten best-rated UK beaches. Welsh beaches can often be overlooked for southern destinations, but these reviews show how extraordinary these locations really are.

“These beaches are more remote than usual seaside towns that are overrun during the summer months. They offer visitors a quieter, more picturesque experience that is truly breathtaking.”

Sources: Tripadvisor

Methodology: The analysis used Tripadvisor review data to find the highest rated beaches in the UK. Beaches rated 4-stars and up in the UK were scraped from Tripadvisor to form an initial seed list of 860 beaches. Beaches with fewer than 200 reviews were filtered out, leaving 266 beaches in the list.

For each remaining beach, the proportion of 5-star reviews was compared to the total number of reviews, to calculate the percentage of 5-star reviews for each location. The final ranking is based on the beaches with the highest percentage of 5-star reviews.

Top 40 UK beaches


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J.Christy
J.Christy
18 days ago

The reason for the beautiful,clean,white sandy beaches is of course because, they were previously not on the Internet and protected from tourism.
Its important to protect what we have left of nature and wildlife from people who are destroying it.

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