Summer is up and cities across Europe have planted palm trees and trucked in tons of sand to urban riverfronts to create the feeling of a lazy day at the shore. Urban beaches are a hit and Momondo guides you to our favourites.
In London, life’s a beach…with a little bit of imagination
Photo: Mrlerone
This year marks my sixth summer in London; the sixth time that I have chosen to spend the hottest months in a place where it’s impossible to pack away your winter clothes for the season because it’s quite likely that you will find it necessary to wear a cashmere jumper at least a couple of times in August. Being a passionate lover of sunshine, at some point at the height of every summer I find myself shivering at a table at a sidewalk café, clutching a mug of tea for warmth and thinking, ‘What is wrong with this place?’ But the rest of the time I find that making the most of the limited sunshine on London’s beaches is enough to keep me here for another summer.
‘London’s beaches?’ you are thinking, ‘isn’t that illogical?’ And you are right: this is a land-locked city. But innovative Londoners laugh in the face of geography: just because nature hasn’t given us a beach, not exactly, doesn’t mean that we can’t approximate the seaside lifestyle. It just requires a bit of imagination. In the past, some witty entrepreneurs have dumped piles of sand in parking lots to create urban beaches, but with no signs thus far this year of these grown-up sand piles, Londoners are looking elsewhere for beach living in their neighbourhoods.
Hampstead Heath
Photo: Jonanamary
When it comes to natural beaches, the bathing ponds at Hampstead Heath are probably the closest thing available. No, there isn’t any sand, but there is plenty of swimming, and they’re set among natural wooded glades where you can sunbathe to your hearts’ content (and, if you’re inclined to go to the single-sex bathing ponds, you might even be able to get away with some most un-English public nudity, although best to watch what the locals are up to before strip off).
HAMPSTEAD HEATH, London, NW3
Serpentine Lido
Photo: Virtual Farm Boy
The Serpentine Lido in Hyde Park is another great place to swim, but most particularly good for sunbathing, because of the excellent selection of striped sunloungers that make a day here feel rather like a classic 1950s seaside holiday even if you don’t feel it’s quite hot enough to go for a swim.
SERPENTINE LIDO, Hyde Park, London, W2 3XA
London Fields
Photo: Hoxtonboy
London Fields is increasingly a mecca for the young and hip of Hackney who are seeking a sense of the beach life near home: on sunny weekend days, the fields fill up quickly with groups of people in various states of dress more apropos for the seaside, complete with cool drinks, towels, and even barbecues. It is, to say the least, a little ad hoc as ‘beaches’ go, but the spirit is infectious (just be sure, unlike most of the hipsters, that you do apply plenty of sunscreen: as I learned firsthand recently, you can get a sunburn in England).
LONDON FIELDS, London, E8 3EU
South Bank
Photo: Dean Ayres
If real sand is what you’re after, however, you might want to consider heading down to the south bank of the Thames: it’s a tidal river, which means that the water ebbs back at certain times of day to display wide swathes of rather dirty sand. This doesn’t dissuade some diehards, however – more often than not there are a few people picking their way over the sand and pebbles. Flip flops not particularly recommended, however, in light of the amount of debris that’s floating around in the river, some of which is very interesting and some of which is…er, not.
SOUTH BANK, London, SE1, UK
Brighton Beach
Photo: CarolitaJohnson
And if all of these ‘beaches’ are still failing to satisfy your desires for sand and sun? Don’t forget on your visit to London that the south coast is not far: an hour’s train journey from London, and you can cram an entire British seaside holiday into a few hours: basking on Brighton’s pebbly beach, swimming in the freezing English Channel, eating fish and chips, and riding the decidedly terrifying (not because it’s good, but because it is ancient) roller coaster on the historic pier.
BRIGTON BEACH, East Sussex, BN1
Go further:
Beach life in Berlin
Beach Life in Prague
Beach Life in Stockholm
Beach Life in New York
Beach Life in Madrid
Beach Life in Amsterdam
Beachlife in Paris