OK so no-one will give away their best UK cottages, so how about your recommendations for places to stay nr beach with littlies?

[Monkeybird]

Come on, share! It's really hard to know where to go with little kids that isn't full of stag nights now (Tenby) or has too many bloody hills for the pushchair (Whitby) or is too tacky and dirty for words (anywhere between Llandudno and Ulverston)...

So let's make a brilliant list of villages, towns, resorts, areas to go on holiday in the UK... Please?

I'll kick off:

Bamburgh in Northumberland is lovely. Fantastic castles, brilliant beaches, Bamburgh itself has nice little cafes and shops and a big green to run round on and a good pub with rooms (we've stayed there) serving edible food . Close to Alnwick with excellent 2nd hand book shop and castle/gardens

Caldbeck in the Lake District is also great - good village with cafes (excellent vegetarian food at the mill cafe), nice beck (small river) running through village you can walk miles along

Also been to Mawgan Porth in Cornwall a coupla times - lovely beach, it's Cornwall, what else to say: there's loads to do.

Would like more Welsh recommendations in similar mode to above...

Blakeney, N Norfolk, great for muddying and crabbing.

Langland Bay, near Mumbles, 5 miles from Swansea. Caswell Bay, a few min's further on. Both fantastic sandy beaches perfect for swimming, crabbing, rock pooling etc. Great for kids. Caswell has a very nice chalet park a 3 min walk away too, so ideal for simple beach holiday.

Thanks - been to Blakeney actually, years ago but forgot about it for kids...

Newport in Pembrokeshire - bit of a cheat cos I live here, but it is such a nice place to be with kids - in fact the only problem is that there are so many holiday homes we can't afford to buy a house
There is an amazing big beach on one side of the bay, then the Parrog on the town side of the bay which I prefer with my DD as there are lots of tiny little beach inlets one after the other, so I don't have to worry about her wandering off or trying to watch her from a great distance.
Lots of pubs and the friendliest cafe in the world that will produce anything in kids size (hot chocolate in a teacup for DD is our usual request).
Only disadvantage is that the Coast path is completely unsuitable for littlies unless you are a great deal braver than I am! (BTW I don't work in the tourist trade )

Llyn penninsula. Really fantastic area if you have littlies - lots of nice beaches, pretty seaside villages, great local food.

Elie in Fife has a very nice beach and it's also a great area for preschool kids with lots to do.

Isles of Scilly (off Penzance, Cornwall) fantastic for children - beautiful unspoilt beaches, no cars on some of the islands so like stepping back in time. Boat trips, seal watching, etc. No manufactured entertainments but great for peace and quiet and pottering on the beach!

thankyou - brilliant recommendations of bits I'd not heard of. Hotpasty would love to go to Scilly Isles, but isn't it VV expensive? Are there self-catering places?

Look up Isles of Scilly Travel Co online - they cover most options. Can be prohibitively expensive but depends how you do it. You can self-cater, also camping is a cheaper way of doing it. You can travel on the Scillonian ferry and the campsite owners collect your stuff from the ferry in a tractor trailer. I have been in guesthouses and swish hotel (once) there - have yet to camp but that's next. Is beautiful - can't recoommend enough!