Britain, although one island and a bit, consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. While there are several seaside resorts that are well known the vast majority are in England, such as Blackpool in the north west of England, Whitby in North Yorkshire, Newquay in Cornwall, Bournemouth in the South West and Brighton. However some of the most spectacular beaches in Britain are to be found elsewhere.

When deciding upon which beaches in Britain merit the title of being "The Best" much depends upon your interpretation of what makes a beach great and this will have a number of influencing factors. If you are a young family with small children then you would want a beach that is clean and safe with adequate lifeguard cover nearby medical facilities for emergencies and other nearby forms of entertainment. Whereas, if you are an elderly couple your requirements may be the exact opposite, rather than heading for a popular beach you may well prefer a beach which has few, if any, other people enjoying the scene. In such cases other forms of entertainment and certain safety precautions do not hold anywhere near the level of importance.

Personally I enjoyed lively beaches when I was younger and often spent hot days on Blackpool beach and Southport beach. As I grew older my interests moved slightly more south towards a small place called Freshfield whose pine woods are one of the few sanctuaries for the British red squirrel. Beyond the pine woods are sand dunes and then a lovely long sandy beach. Although the beach at Freshfield was much, much, quieter than Blackpool beach, today I now find it far too lively for my liking.

As a child we annually visited Cornwall and Devon and while the beach at Newquay was extremely popular we spent most of our time searching for smaller coves and more tranquil beaches. Although Clovelly, in North Devon, does not have a spectacular beach it is one of the most beautiful places in that region to visit (the historic fishing village has a wonderful stepped road, which is lined by cottages with astounding gardens, leading down to the harbor). I am not too sure if the donkeys are still there as fewer beaches have them these days.

As a teenager I discovered Wales and what a discovery it was. There are countless wonderful beaches, one after the other, all along the Welsh coast. Most incredible of all is, Blue Flag status, Three Cliffs Bay and the surrounding area. Three Cliffs itself is a small bay near Swansea on the Gower peninsula and is named after the three cliffs that protrude into the sea. The geology of the area leads to massively different coastal scenes appearing around each corner which adds immensely to the enjoyment of visiting the region.

Later in my teenage years I visited the Outer Hebrides of Scotland and I was so blown away by the incredible scenery and numerous unique aspects of the islands that I began visiting at least once a year and eventually settled there in 1991. Although I find the standing stones at Calanais, on the Isle of Lewis, the most astounding sight in the British Isles it is the countless breathtaking beaches along the west coasts of the islands that most folk remember on their first visit. On the Isle of Harris, along the west coast, are the beaches of Luskentyre, Horgabost, Scarista and others. On the Isle of Lewis there is the sandy beach at Tolsta, one of the few found along the east coast of the island, as well as a number found along the south west coast such as around the area of Timsgarry and Valtos.

Next summer I am planning to visit Northern Ireland. Although my daughter has visited Ireland myself and my wife had not yet had the pleasure. In planning next years vacation I have discovered two beaches which I think look well worth a visit and can easily be described as the finest in the United Kingdom. Firstly the sandy, Blue Flag, Portrush Whiterocks Beach looks most appealing with other fine tourist attractions not too far away, such as the Giant's Causeway and Dunluce Castle. Secondly Tyrella Beach, a conservation area, caught my eye. This lovely sandy beach is to be found in the Dundrum Bay area backed by splendid sand dunes. I love sand dunes, although I am not able to enjoy them as much as when I was a child. Ever since 1997 Tyrella Beach has been awarded the prestigious Seaside Award so I am looking forward to visiting a spotlessly clean and well managed natural environment of outstanding beauty.

Below is a short list of my top five beaches in Britain, in order of preference. Positions one and two are held by the Isles of Harris and Lewis rather than a specific beach as all are equally spectacular and choosing just one from each island is virtually impossible. Unfortunately I excluded beaches on the other islands of the Outer Hebrides as I could easily fill the top five with just those. However I needed to leave room for at least one from Wales. Positions four and five are held by beaches in Northern Ireland that I have not yet visited so I would not be surprised if, after seeing them in the flesh, I decide they should be top of the list. Unfortunately you will notice that not a single beach in England has made my top five. Although Freshfield, in Merseyside, and other beaches along that stretch of coast would be in position six I could not really then think of others suitable to make this a top ten list. Although many consider some of the English beaches, mentioned at the start of this article, to be brilliant I felt that much of their appeal relied too heavily upon the other attractions of that seaside resort. For example Blackpool would not be anywhere near as popular without the Blackpool Tower, the fairground rides and other tourist attractions and much the same could be said of the others mentioned.

1 Isle of Harris

2 Isle of Lewis

3 Three Cliffs Bay

4 Portrush Whiterocks Beach

5 Tyrella Beach

After writing this article I suddenly realised that I had not mentioned where to find details online about finding quality accommodation in the respective areas. The official site for the Outer Hebrides is www.visithebrides.com but this site only lists a rather biased handful of properties www.enjoyhebrides.com has an even smaller list of hand picked, high quality, accommodation providers with a focus on the Isle of Harris and Lewis. As soon as I get a chance I will add details for accommodation in the other areas mentioned. However a quick search on your favorite search engine will bombard you with a multitude of sites offering accommodation!