The Best Family-Friendly Beaches To Visit In Wales This Year
The summer weather has finally arrived just in time for the school holidays! If you have kids, there’s no more delightful way to spend a summer day than by the sea. Luckily, being an island nation most of us are never more than a few hours’ car journey away from a lovely beach.
If you have children, then you will need to ensure that you have a suitable car seat for them. This is a legal requirement for all children under the age of 12 or until they’re 135cm tall, to give youngsters the best protection in the event of a crash. It’s recommended that babies and toddlers use a rear-facing seat that may be part of a baby travel system.
Once you are confident that the kids are travelling safely and you have packed your buckets, spades and sunglasses, you can head off to the beach! Some of the best family-friendly beaches are to be found in Wales. Here are some ideas.
Benllech, Anglesey
Benllech is a popular family beach on the east coast of Anglesey, an island off the coast of north west Wales connected to the mainland via the Britannia Bridge and the Menai Bridge. With its wide expanse of sands, rockpools, and views across the straits to the Snowdonia mountains, it’s not hard to see why it’s perfect for kids.
There are plenty of campsites and affordable accommodation nearby if you want to make a weekend of it and maybe explore the wider Snowdonia area, which is a hub for all manner of outdoor activities from mountain biking to zip wires and hiking.
Whitesands Bay, Pembrokeshire
The beautiful clean sands of Whitesands Bay in Pembrokeshire are ideal for young tots to play, while older children will love the wide shallow bay, which is perfect for watersports such as paddleboarding, surfing and kayaking. There is a large car park close by with toilets, a cafe, and pushchair accessible entry to the beach.
Nearby is St Davids, the UK’s smallest city with a historic cathedral dedicated to the enigmatic patron saint of Wales. It’s well geared up to tourists, with a good range of shops, cafes and restaurants.
Barmouth, Gwynedd
Heading back up to north Wales, if you prefer the bustle of a busy seaside town then you can’t do much better than Barmouth. It’s situated at the mouth of the Mawddach Estuary and it has an attractive harbour, set against the backdrop of the Snowdonia mountains. The beach itself is over three miles of golden sands, so at busy times it doesn't feel crowded.
There is all the fun of a traditional British seaside, with fairground attractions, donkey rides, amusement arcades and some of the best fish and chip shops in the country. The kids will also love the toytown railway that runs from Fairbourne village to the ferry crossing. Just a few miles down the road is the stunning Shell Island, with a large family-orientated campsite.