UK’s 50 best beaches 2025: Sandsend and Reighton Gap named among best beaches
Sandsend and Reighton Gap have been named among the best beaches in the North of England by The Sunday Times.
The 17th edition of The Times and Sunday Times Best Beaches Guide has been published and two on the list are based in North Yorkshire. It was published on Monday (Jul 7).
The chief travel writer, Chris Haslam, visited 756 beaches and 51 resorts across Britain and Northern Ireland.
He picked 50 out of these beaches as the best, with 10 new entries for 2025 and Sandsend taking the top spot for the North of England region.
Yorkshire beaches named among best in North of England by The Sunday Times
Regional winner: Sandsend
Mr Haslam said the increasing tourism and charm in Whitby has been its downfall and decided to visit the nearby Sandsend instead.
“Its unadorned beach, bisected by East Row Beck, gives space to sit, stare and breathe in the beauty of the Yorkshire coast,” he said.
“And the crab and chips at the Fish Cottage beats anything in Whitby.”
He ranked the water quality as ‘excellent’, and said the beach is dog friendly, has lifeguards, toilets and a cafe.
Reighton Gap
Reighton is a long, sandy beach near Flamborough Headland and overlooks Filey Bay.
“A wonderful beach where the black clay cliffs meet the white chalk of Flamborough Head and the sands are studded with Second World War concrete pillboxes,” Mr Haslam said in his review.
The water quality was rated as excellent, it is dog friendly, has a cafe and toilets.