When it comes to planning your summer at the seaside, it doesn’t have to be a
case of Med or dead. The British beach holiday is back. We’ve always had
peerless coastal scenery — cliffs and coves, rock pools and surf schools,
miles and miles of footprint-free sand.
But these days the sun shines brighter, we’ve more Blue Flag beaches than
ever, and hoteliers and restaurateurs are laying on digs and dinners to
match our five-star strands. Here are six top beach destinations for summer
2007.
SALCOMBE, Devon
In 1924, an eccentric Salcombe inventor named Otto Overbeck patented the
Rejuvenator, a device that uses electrodes to “practically renew youth”. You
can inspect his bizarre gizmo at Overbeck’s Museum — but wandering around
Salcombe, you may wonder why he felt the need to bother.
This invigorating little resort is a positive fillip to health. Always a
seafaring town, now a jaunty haunt for yachties, it has slim streets
tumbling steeply into the harbour, where schooners bob, gulls caw and a
pincushion of sun-spangled mastsdefines the mood of the place. It all feels
fairly chic and vaguely Mediterranean: the newest addition is the Oyster
Shack restaurant (www.oystershack.co.uk), sister of the popular restaurant
of the same name in nearby Bigbury-on-Sea.
Salcombe is never snooty, though — the annual regatta week (August 5-11)
features crab-catching, sand-castle contests and “mud races” — and, as a
beach base, it’s brilliant. Bang in town, you’ve North and South Sands: the
former offering tasty seafood at the Winking Prawn; the latter, taster
catamaran courses for all the family (01548 843451,
www.southsandssailing.co.uk; two hours £47.50). Indeed, you could spend all
week in your wetsuit here, with scuba-diving, dinghy sailing and
powerboating outfits all in town, and surfing just along the coast in
Bigbury (www.discoverysurf.com).
A regular foot ferry dawdles across the estuary to west-facing East
Portlemouth, where you’ll find three more suntrap beaches, along with
bewitching sunset-view sundowners at the excellent (and eco-aware) Venus
Cafe — its strawberries-and-cream ices, made at nearby Langage Farm, are
life-changing. And if you like sterner shores, strike south past Overbeck’s
Museum (01548 842893, www.nationaltrust. org.uk), with its sensuous
subtropical gardens, onto Bolt Head, the starting point for the chunkiest
stretch of the Devon Coast Path — six miles of breaker-blasted scenic glory.
It’s here that you’ll find the Soar Mill Cove Hotel (01548 561566,
www.soarmillcove.co.uk; doubles from £250), luxuriating behind an idyllic
crook in the cliffs; or there’s Burton Farmhouse (01548 561210,
www.burtonfarmhouse.co.uk), at Galmpton, which does beautiful B&B and
cottage stays; doubles from £79.
Or, new for 2007, splice the mainbrace with the smart set by hiring a flashy
American houseboat (www.h2oresorts.co.uk)
on Salcombe estuary. For more information, visit www.salcombeinformation.co.uk
WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA, Norfolk
Next-the-Sea? Who are they trying to kid? Like most of the little shellfishing
ports on the North Norfolk coast, Wells is now marooned a mile inland,
stranded behind salt marshes, shingle spits and mazy creeks. But this only
adds to the romance, because a narrow-gauge railway glides you out along the
sea wall to the tot-friendly beach, where you can pootle in warm summer
shallows guarded by sandbanks and dunes.
There’s usually a smattering of fishing boats hauled up onto the sands, while
a cheerful parade of stilted beach huts in dolly-mixture colours exfoliates
gently along the shore. On a coast known for epic skies and elastic
horizons, Wells beach has a beautifully intimate feel. The town is a tangle
of cobbled streets knotted against the wee quay, possibly the most
picturesque working port in England. There are rock shops and fish shops —
and, along Staithe Street, proper family butchers where you can pick up
bacon rashers for your crab hooks.
Wells is the geographical capstone of the 50-mile road that coasts along the
rooftop of Norfolk, extending all the way from the majestic bling of
Sandringham estate to the pleasure-pier ker-ching of Cromer. Just to the
east, the flint-knapped village of Blakeney offers even better crabbing, as
well as seal-watching excursions with Beans Boats (01263 740505,
www.beansboattrips.co.uk). To the west is Burnham Market, with its boutiquey
collection of clothes stores and knick-knack emporiums. And for a nostalgic
day trip, skip aboard the steam train from Wells and chuff inland to
Walsingham Abbey.
If Wells beach gets busy or you crave wide-eyed wonderment, there are seven
sweeping miles of it just to the west, at Holkham. This beach is a vast
sea-bird reserve, with room enough for naturalists and naturists,
kite-flying and cricket — and for the Queen, who walks her corgis here when
at Sandringham, presumably in her kiss-me-quick crown. But what clinches
Wells as a top beach destination is the Globe Inn (01328 710206,
www.holkham.co.uk), newly overhauled by the people behind the Victoria at
Holkham (01328 711008; doubles from £160), a longstanding Sunday Times
favourite that specialises in colonial decor and stylish cooking. The Globe
is a stripped-down version of the same, on a Georgian square; and even in
high season, rooms go for just £110. For copious cottage-stay options, visit www.wells-guide.co.uk
TENBY, Pembrokeshire
