The nearest beach to Bristol? Although Bristol is a port city, there are no beaches in Bristol, but you do have some great beach options in and around the one-hour travelling time in part due to the excellent M4 and M5 motorways.
But where is the nearest beach to Bristol?
The closest beaches to Bristol are the ones at Portishead and Clevedon on the Somerset coast with around a 30-minute drive. But we would really recommend you head to one of four seaside areas that each have a selection of beaches, we have Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea on the Somerset coast and Barry Island and Porthcawl in South Wales. These seaside towns between them have options to visit 21 beaches.
We have mentioned some travel times and as Bristol is a large city and can have heavy traffic you should take these as an indication and should check your specific Bristol starting point and time of day.
So let’s get started!
Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
Weston-super-Mare is a 45 to 60-minute drive depending on the route and time of day and is home to some great beaches. You don’t just get a beach but a resort town with plenty to do.
Weston-super-Mare is located on the Bristol Channel’s Somerset coast with great sandy beaches and one of the highest tidal ranges in the world.
You can explore the 6 Weston-super-Mare beaches below:
Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset
Weston-super-Mare can be busy when the weather is good and so we now just head further along the Somerset coast to Burnham-on-Sea. Although a little further you are not really adding much time and sticking to the magical 1-hour. Here you get a great seaside town with family-friendly sandy beaches like the one at Brean.
You can explore the 4 beaches at Burnham-on-Sea below:
Barry & Barry Island, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales
We have now chosen to head over the Bristol Channel to south Wales and our first stop is Barry Island. This is just breaking the 1-hour car journey but you get a great peninsula seaside resort.
You can explore the 6 Barry and Barry Island beaches below:
Porthcawl, Bridgend, South Wales
Heading a little further along the South Wales coastline you have Porthcawl by Bridgend. Although, further along, the coast from Barry it is actually still manageable at 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on which of the beaches you select. Not only do you get great sandy beaches but also the great Merthyr Mawr Sand Dunes.
You can explore the 5 Porthcawl beaches below:
