What makes a beach a cut above the rest? Pristine white sand, glimmering turquoise water and a dramatic surrounding landscape will probably do the trick. Think of all that and you might be picturing a bay in the Bali or a cove in Caribbean, but there's one UK beach that also ticks all those boxes.
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Kynance Cove in Cornwall has officially been crowned one of the finest beaches on the planet in the 2024 edition of The World’s 50 Best Beaches. It was the only British beach to make the cut – and it only just scraped in. Kynance Cove landed in 48th place.
The beaches were picked by over 1,000 travel influencers, journalists and professionals and were ranked according to eight criteria: unique characteristics, wildlife, untouched, soundtrack of nature, accessible water, calmness of the water, business and frequency of idyllic condition.
World’s Best Beaches wrote of Kynance Cove: ‘The combination of turquoise waters and white sand makes it a remarkable standout, especially given its more northern location. At low tide, hidden caves and islands become accessible for exploration, adding to the allure of the area.’
It ranked 10th for the best beaches in Europe, alongside Achmelvich Beach in Scotland in 17th, St Ninian’s Beach in 43rd and Wales’ Three Cliffs Bay in 47th.
Believe it or not, there a loads of other drop dead gorgeous beaches in the UK. As the weather starts to warm up, plan a trip to one of Time Out's pick of the best beaches in the country. If you'd rather go a bit more off the beaten track, we've got a list of the most beautiful hidden beaches too.
