You can also contact us by clicking here.is the season to be beside the seaside – and to hype and critique coastal towns in surveys and rankings. The “in” and the “out” lists for this year help tourists choose where to travel. There’s no sense in going to Salcombe to have a laugh or to Skegness to eat Michelin-starred cuisine. More nuanced food is available in less obvious coastal villages. The most attractive spots are the ones that don’t neglect the sea. These three towns are routinely ranked last resorts or else ignored altogether, but they offer more than stuff to eat, drink, buy and post on socials – and are close to swimmable beaches.
Ayrshire
Clyde steamers and Glasgow and South Western Railway brought thousands of sunseekers out of inland towns and to the Ayrshire coastline a century before. They came to escape the smoke and noise of industry, breathe in the briny air, and admire the Isle of Arran and tiny Ailsa Craig – from afar or up close on an excursion. Bed and breakfasts along the elegant Park Circus (a long crescent lined by cherry trees that bloom red one side and then white the other), and Georgian villas at Eglinton Terrace, evoke the golden age of travel.
The Low Green is a large open field that lies between the centre of town and the beach. It’s not hard to imagine ladies with parasols and men in tall hats walking through it. This open space – perfect for picnics, kite-flying and impromptu games – and the absence of any clutter on the prom make the seafront unusually peaceful. Ayr refuses to be a traditional resort. There are few tourists and no tat. You can swing, get ice cream or a pint but amusement arcades with bucket-and-spade stores are not to be found. On the short block beside the Low Green the buildings are mainly residential – including care homes, that standard fixture of coastal towns.
The beach The old harbour is at the northern end of this golden sweep. The River Ayr was once a bustling river with quays and wharves. This was Scotland’s major west coast harbour by the 14th Century. In the 18th Century, over 300 ships unloaded American tobacco from Easdale, English slate, French wine and Spanish salt. You can walk south to find the ruins Greenan Castle. This 16th century clifftop tower is still standing. Sunsets on Arran are a life-changing experience. I watched a woman of retirement age do her tai chi moves while keeping her eyes fixed on the island – spiritually separate from the dog-walkers and prom-striders.
Robert Burns was baptized in the Auld Kirk. He was born near Ayr. In Tam o’ Shanter he says: “Auld Ayr – wham ne’er a city surpasses / For honest lads and bonny girls”. A lively pub The high street in Ayr is named after this poem. It is a mile away from the beach and claims to the oldest. Black Bull The opposite side of the River. The opposite side of the river. old bridge It is a pedestrianised beauty (or Auld Brif, if that’s what you call it, as inspired by another Burns poem). All the old pubs look inviting, but my favorite was the Twa Dugs – also named for a Burns poem. In Ayr Waterstones’ I found Gordon M Williams’ 1969 Booker nominated novel. From Scenes Like TheseIt was a brutally honest riposte for Burns-esque views of rural Scotland. I read it at the boozers.
Ayr’s residents will tell you that the town is in decline. Nine out of ten seaside towns will tell you the same thing. The column I write gets me around and I can confirm the busyness of the town and its good looks. It’s a quiet, sombre town that lacks the usual fun. But it is perfect for people who enjoy reading, writing, or going on beach walks.
What to do and see: Rozelle House Museum, Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Culzean Castle and Country Park
Bangor, Gwynedd
Bangor, the oldest town in Wales, was second from the bottom in the Which? 2025 The absolute bottom of the rankings in 2024. Maybe the latter partially anticipated the former. It takes great effort to remove derision from a place when it is casually thrown at it.
As the gateway to the island of Ynys Môn (Anglesey), a university town and former royal capital, Bangor doesn’t need star ratings or hip amenities. The origins of the city can be traced back to the founding a monastic settlement in the early sixth century. Later, a cathedral was built on this site. For centuries, Bangor was the spiritual and ecclesiastical hub for Gwynedd – a kingdom until the English came a-conquering – but remained a small settlement. At the beginning of Welsh tourism in the 18th and early 19th centuries, Liverpool pleasure steamers brought tourists to the Menai Strait and its big church.
The boom years came after 1826 with the completion of the Holyhead Road, linking London with Dublin – hitched to the recently created UK by the 1800 Acts of Union. Thomas Telford was given the task of building the first major state-funded civilian road in Britain since Roman times. The road (mostly on the A5 route today) swept through Bangor’s central area, making it a major staging point and creating Wales’ longest high street. Telford opened the magnificent Menai Suspension Bridge in 1826, replacing the ferry-shuttles. Robert Stephenson constructed a tubular railway bridge in the 1920s to cross the Chester-Holyhead Straits. Bangor, which had improved communications, became a small port with shipbuilding and sail-making, ironfounding, smithing, timber yards, and slate yards.
Walk to the natural end of this high street – which turns residential – and you come to the shore, a pier and a large park between neo-Norman Penrhyn Castle The sea. Bangor doesn’t have a beach in town, which could be the reason some raters don’t like it. But the Wales Coast Path It is eight miles to Llanfairfechan beach and 10 miles to Penmaenmawr. It’s possible that this is the best connected seaside resort in the UK. Eryri national park Snowdonia, the Unesco-listed Caernarfon Castle as well as Criccieth & the Llŷn peninsula The bus stops are close by, and Anglesey is right on your doorstep.
What to do and see: walk the Menai Suspension Bridge, kayaking off Caernarfon, Aber Falls Distillery
Millom in Cumbria
The Cumbrian coastline is the most fascinating stretch of littoral on these islands. The coast is often surrounded by a blue dome, backed by the cloud-drawing fells in the national park. It is a chapter in British social and political history. Whitehaven feels like a Devon town, but without the crowds. Workington is an ex-industrial city that’s fascinating. Nethertown, a hidden hamlet set in an amazing setting, is worth a visit.
Millom, at the southern tip of the old county of Cumberland, is a stop on the coast-hugging railway line – a superlative train ride – between Barrow-in-Furness and Sellafield. Millomites commute from south to north in order to find work. Millom used to have industry. hematite ore Hodbarrow was discovered in 1856, and the iron oxide mined until 1968. The population grew to 10,000. A large part of the land has been transformed into an RSPB nature reserveYou can also see redshanks (redshanks are a type of duck), great crested grèbes, oystercatchers and ringed-plovers in the surrounding wetlands.
Millom, a tiny village in the Lakes region, is a great place to escape the crowds and traffic of nearby villages. The Camra rating Bear on the Square Has real ales and good food. Live music is also available. The town has its own fell – Black Combe – and while only a 600-metre MarilynThe distance from the sea and its isolation make it seem even higher. The views from the summit are magnificent – with Blackpool Tower and Scafell Pike visible in clear weather.
The poet Norman Nicholson (1914-1987), was born and lived in Millom for almost his entire life. He avoided metropolitan literary circles, and claimed that the “provincial”, which is often disparaged, has more in-common with people from other times and countries and therefore “may be more aware of the enduring aspects of life and society”. The titles of his books Consider the location: Rock Face (1948); The Shadow of Black Combe (1978); Sea to the West (1981). St George’s Church has a stained glass window designed by Christine Boyce Nicholson wrote a book that inspired this. Millom, as a whole, is undergoing renovations. major rebuild There are heritage and health initiatives underway, as well as a walking and biking trail of 7.5 miles.
If you want to go swimming, visit Silecroft By train (one-stop) or by foot (3.5 miles); Haverigg beachPollution warnings are often posted on the.
What to do and see: Millom Heritage and Arts Centre, Swinside Stone Circle
More information is available: Visit Scotland, Visit Cumbria The following are some examples of how to get started: Visit Wales
