Three south Wales beaches have been named among the UK's best in list released by The Times.

The 16th edition of The Times and Sunday Times Best UK Beaches guide was released on Monday (July 15) featuring locations from across the country including Anglesey, Cornwall and Dorset.

The guide covers mainland beaches only, doesn't include any beach that takes over an hour to get to foot and where the bathing water quality is rated excellent.

Introducing the list, the news outlet said: "We’ve travelled 5,583 miles, visited 543 beaches and sampled 17 chip suppers to discover the nation’s superior stretches of sand for this year’s regional guide."

The Times' journalist Chris Haslam continued: "The 2024 tour of inspection took place in two parts: short trips on the south and east English coasts, totalling 12 days in early spring, and a 36-day tour from May 18, travelling anticlockwise from Norfolk to Dorset via northern England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the southwest."

"Notwithstanding the most miserable weather I’ve experienced in 16 years of inspecting the coast, I’m still in awe of the beauty of the UK.

"From Kynance to Caithness and Brancaster to Benone, the beaches of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are the most magnificent on earth."

Rules for taking your dog to the beach

The best beaches in Wales

The best beaches in Wales, according to The Times, are:

  • Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire (regional winner)
  • Llanddwyn, Anglesey
  • Porth Iago, Gwynedd
  • Penbryn, Ceredigion
  • Mwnt, Ceredigion
  • Manorbier, Pembrokeshire
  • Pendine Sands, Carmarthenshire
  • Mewslade, Gower
  • Oxwich, Gower
  • Monknash, Vale of Glamorgan

You can see the full Best UK Beaches guide via The Times' website here.

The 3 South Wales beaches among the UK's best

Three beaches in South Wales featured on The Times's list of the UK's best:

Mewslade

Mewslade Bay was named among the best beaches in the UK by The Times described as "arguably the most beautiful" on the Gower Peninsula.

Mewslade Bay beach is just a mile down the road from Rhossili Bay (pictured).Mewslade is just a mile down the road from Rhossili Bay (pictured). (Image: Getty Images)

The news outlet commented: "A mile east of Rhossili on the B4247 you come to the village of Pitton, where an easily missed acute right turn leads to Mewslade’s car park.

"From here, walk left on to the lane and immediately right on to the path signposted Mewslade Bay.

"Follow the trail for 550m to a rocky, V-shaped cove with caves, rock pools, empty sands and a distant view of the Worm’s Head promontory.

"This is arguably the most beautiful beach on the Gower Peninsula, but time your visit for a falling tide using the Tides Near Me app."

The beach is also dog-friendly.

Oxwich

From the Michelin-starred Beach House and the "unexpectedly good chippy" to the two-miles of sands, there is a lot to like about Oxwich Bay beach, according to Mr Haslam.

He said: "Where do I begin with Oxwich? Is it the Michelin-starred Beach House on the sands, where the £74 midweek lunch menu includes scallop and wakame mousse, clams, and charred gem lettuce in a clam and cider sauce (£74, beachhouseoxwich.co.uk)?

"The wood-fired barrel sauna? The two miles of sand? The dunes?

"The sheltered waters at the west end, the enchanting glades of Nicholaston Woods or the unexpectedly good chippy at the Dunes Café and Gift Shop?

"If it had a decent pub, Oxwich would be perfect."

The beach is also dog-friendly, has toilets and the water quality is described as excellent. 

Monknash

Monknash beach found its way on to The Times' list after being recommended to Mr Haslam by a farmer drinking in the nearby Plough and Harrow pub.

The Times' journalist explained: "I asked what the beach looked like. “Go and see for yourself,” he said, so I walked along a woodland path above a stream and a ruined watermill, and crossed a log bridge on to a beach paved in rock.

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"Then I saw the cliffs, rising in hundreds of thin layers of Liassic limestone, and felt somewhere between prehistory and another planet.

"Monknash is as weird and spectacular as the Giant’s Causeway, but, like the man said, you need to see for yourself."

The beach is dog-friendly.