Two North Wales beaches have been named among the UK's best in the 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 and 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 2 North Wales beaches among the UK's best

Two beaches in North Wales featured on The Times's list of the best in the UK:

Llanddwyn

Llanddwyn beach on Anglesey was named among the best in the UK described by The Times as "magic" with a "fairytale backdrop".

The news outlet said: "Llanddwyn’s magic emerges after a walk through the Newborough Forest on Anglesey’s south coast.

"On the left, the tidal island with its lighthouse and the ruined church of St Dwynwen: Wales’s female alternative to St Valentine.

"There’s a complicated back story involving a frozen lover and a fish that can tell your romantic fortune.

"To the right, three and a half miles of shell-littered sands, clear waters and sublime swimming.

"Across the bay is the fairytale backdrop of the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia)."

Porth Iago

Porth Iago is "hard-to-find cove on the sunset side of the Llyn Peninsula" according to The Times' guide.

But the hunt is worth it as its described as the "most beautiful swimming beach in North Wales".

The Times said: "A rectangle of sand bordered by straight edges of schist. Between them, a swimming pool shaped expanse of sheltered blue water, clear to the bottom and perfect for snorkelling.

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"There’s a campsite on the clifftop, and if you walk out to the tip of the headland you can pitch your tent in a spot all but surrounded by the Irish Sea (£12pp; fb.com/chrisporthiago).

"There’s no booking site but a surprisingly sophisticated automatic payment system at the farm gate."

The beach is also dog-friendly and has toilets.