Britain’s cheapest beaches revealed… with one offering parking, ice cream, a pint and fish and chips for just £12
From free parking destinations to the most expensive scoop of ice cream, find out where to get the best price for a day at the seaside
A DAY beside the seaside is one of the best ways to enjoy a bit of British sun.
But even a free afternoon at the beach can end up costing a lot - with food, drink and parking all quickly adding up.
In an attempt to find the best value location for Brits to visit for a healthy dose of sun, sea and sand, Sun Online conducted their own investigation into the cheapest and most expensive seaside locations around the country.
Looking at the UK's most popular beaches, we totalled the average cost of parking, a pint of beer, a portion of fish and chips and a single scoop ice cream to find out what a day on the sand - or pebbles - was really costing the public.
Results showed a big difference in prices, with the most expensive beach, Whitby, charging visitors almost double the cost of a day at the UK's cheapest beach in Scotland's Portobello.
World-famous Brighton beach was a close second for the most pricey destination, with by far the most expensive parking rates, based on a four-hour stay over the weekend.
For a cost-effective day out, Eyemouth beach on the Scottish coast was among the best around, while Bournemouth proved to be England's best value.
Heading towards the South-West of the country tended to hit the wallet hard though, with both Weston-Super-Mare and Newquay sunseekers paying close to £19 each.
It's bad news for English beach lovers on a budget, as four out of the six most affordable beaches in the Britain were found in Scotland and Wales.
Scotland reigned supreme at the top of the charts thanks to their free parking at two of their popular beaches in Portobello and Eyemouth.
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Sandy Portobello is particularly good value for those living in Edinburgh as it's just a few miles from the city centre and it costs nothing at all to park a car - although the local pub's cheapest pint of lager was also the most expensive in Scotland.
Over in Wales, the popular Llandudno beach - which is said to have one of the world's best piers - also provided a cheap day out with parking, a pint, fish and chips and an ice cream costing just £14.10. A nights stay in a hotel located right on the beachfront in
The English seaside just scraped into the bottom of the list of affordable beaches with Skegness and Bournemouth.
A pint of lager at a seafront pub in Bournemouth will only set tourists back £3.25, which is not to be sniffed at, and four hours of parking costs from as little as £4. You can stay in a seafront hotel on the North Parade of Skegness for as little as . Or save 72% on a stay at the Fairmont Hotel in central Bournemouth from just
Here are some of the biggest differences at the seaside car parks, pubs, chippies and ice cream vans across Britain....
The cost of parking
Unsurprisingly, Brighton beach charges the most for parking on a weekend, at £8.40 for a four-hour stay.
Even Whitby, which was the priciest beach in Britain, proved a distant second with parking rates of £6 for the same time period.
The cheapest destinations for parking actually didn't cost Brits a thing - in Scotland, both Portobello and Eyemouth beaches offer free parking within walking short distance of the sand. Portobello hotels are also well priced with rooms close to the beach starting from . Bargains are also to be had in Eyemouth where a double room in the
The price of a pint
A pint of lager in Whitby will set visitors back an eye-watering £4.50 for the most basic beer on offer at the closest pub. Hotel prices are somewhat reasonable though and start from
Meanwhile, the holy grail of beer prices can be found on the shores of Barmouth and Eyemouth, where a pint goes for just £3 all week-long. Team this with a cheap hotel stay with and
The cost of fish and chips
The perfect meal to compliment the salty sea air, a day at the beach wouldn't be complete without a hefty serving of fish and chips.
For the best value, Barmouth offers the classic British dish for just £5.20, while both Blackpool and Tenby are almost as affordable at £5.95 per portion. Blackpool hotels are also a steal. We found rooms at the based on 2 adults sharing.
The beach at Whitby has the most expensive feed at £9.99, closely followed by a pricey £9.95 takeaway in Broad Haven.
One for the kids - or the 'kids at heart' - the price of a single scoop ice cream cone flirts with the £2 mark right around the UK.
The cheapest scoop can be found at Portobello for just £1.80, while, surprisingly, the most expensive is in Eyemouth at £3.30.
