Travel with kids: UK’s best beaches for families

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Travel with kids

Published on Sunday, 19 June 2022 11:02

Last Updated on 18 June 2022

Monica Costa

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With staycations on the rise and families once again looking to get away during the summer, it’s never been more important to pick the right destination. A study has named UK’s best beaches for families based on a range of metrics such as safety, friendliness and entertainment. Ventnor Beach on the Isle of Wight has been named the most child-friendly beach in the UK, and also boasted the best safety score of all shores analysed in the study. Runner-up top kid-friendly beaches included Woolacombe Beach in Devon and Whitesands Beach in Pembrokeshire.

The study gathers data on safety and happiness scores, TripAdvisor ratings, transport availability and frequency, as well as kids menu availability and price data, to find the most accommodating coastlines for kids around the UK. 

Based on these metrics, it was Ventnor Beach on the Isle of Wight that took the title of the best beach for kids in the UK, as it boasts one of the safest shores and most entertaining coastlines for families to visit. 

Ventnor also scores a high friendliness score, based on the ONS Happiness Survey, and offers a wide variety of affordable kids menus along beachfront eateries.

Woolacombe Beach in Devon and Whitesands Beach in Pembrokeshire also made it into the top best beaches for children, as both are equipped with lifeguard services, great public transport availability and a variety of food provisions for kids. 

The study also considered which activities are the most likely to keep little ones entertained while they’re away, based on TripAdvisor reviews and ratings.

This analysis revealed the best-received experience for children was railways, the most popular of which is in Yorkshire, North Bay, and aquariums, the best of which is in St Andrews, and amusement parks, with Blackpool Pleasure Beach proving the most popular.

Parents will also know the value of beachfront eateries offering an affordable and varied children’s menu, with the study counting up the number of kid-friendly eateries located along each beachfront, and calculating the average price per dish.

This revealed Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex caters the most to children’s diets, followed by the Denes Beach in Suffolk and Woolacombe beach in Devon.

Other metrics analysed in the study included public transport availability, duration and frequency, lifeguard service availability and local friendliness score, determined by the ONS.