In the rush down the A3083 to Lizard Point, many people miss the discreet sign on the right, pointing them to Kynance Cove. It’s a shame, because this dramatic spot is heavenly. The spectacular contrast between the white sand beach studded with outcrops, arches and caves and the colourful 200ft cliffs behind them is reason enough to visit. Add in the brilliant turquoise tones of the sea on a sunny day and you have, to many minds, the best beach in Cornwall.

The Gower coast is filled with gorgeous beaches, but we love Oxwich for the alluring mix of sand dunes, salt marshes and woodland that back its two-mile sandy stretch, and for the pretty village of Oxwich. Around the headland, Rhossili is staggering and dramatic, but Oxwich is gentler, with rolling hills behind it and safe shallow waters. These do make it a popular spot during the summer, but walk east, towards Tor Bay and Three Cliffs, and the crowds give way to walkers, twitchers and cyclists.

Thanks in no small part to its arresting array of limestone-carved arches and amazing views of them from the South West Coast Path, Dorset is a deserved chart-topper when it comes to outstanding beaches. For our money, Man O’War beach tops that list for being a respite from the crowds of more famous and more accessible spots (it’s a steep 800-metre long footpath from the clifftop car park, with 150 steps), for being a great swimming spot, and for its appealing mix of sand and fine pebbles.

It’s sandy, secluded bliss. There’s a beautiful walk to reach Porthdinllaen – a natural harbour and old fishing village that’s tucked from view by sweeping hills. No matter how blustery the trip, it’s almost always calm in this sheltered little cove, where the few tourists treat themselves to a pint from the Tŷ Coch Inn – once named among the ten best beach bars in the world.

Despite its glorious sweep, Runswick Bay is invisible until the last minute, when you crest an unassuming hill that leads down to it. From this point, surprises and hidden treasures unfold before you; the impossibly sweet village, comprising of 90 cute honey-coloured cottages capped with red tiles, doesn’t appear until you reach the bottom of the hill, packed in as it is under the shelter of the cliffs rising up Lingrow Knowle.

You’ll need strong legs to get to Saunton Sands, hidden as it is behind the largest dunes in Britain, but once you’ve conquered Braunton Burrows, what lies before you will have been well worth the effort. Three miles of gorgeous golden sands pounded by Atlantic breakers make it very popular with surfers, but video and film-makers have recognised its beauty too – as might you, from Robbie Williams’s ‘Angels’ video to Powell and Pressburger’s 1946 sci-fi film ‘A Matter of Life and Death’.

It’s not on the north Norfolk coast and you’ll be hard-pressed to find cold-pressed coconut oil, but what you will find at Winterton is one of Norfolk’s best-kept secrets. Wind your way through the picturesque village to a huge expanse of beach (complete with a ridiculously cute holiday park whose Hobbit-like round huts were inspired by huts in South Africa’s Hermanus Bay), dunes and grasses that are home to all manner of wildlife.

This Blue Flag beach is backed not by brash amusement arcades but a 20-acre expanse of grasses, wetlands and reedbeds filled with butterflies and birds. As if that weren’t enough, the gently undulating South Downs lie not far beyond as well. The sand dune spit of East Head, reached from the far western end of the West Wittering beach car park, makes for a great bit of exploration as an SSSI (site of special scientific interest), as do the shallow pools that emerge at low tide.