Ask someone to name a UK city built for beach days, and Liverpool probably won’t come up. Music, football, the Cavern Club, sure. Sand between your toes, not so much. But spend a weekend actually exploring the coastline around the city and you’ll find something different. There are proper beaches here, some of the most beautiful in the North West, and most of them are closer than you’d think.
One catch: not every beach here is technically inside Liverpool. Crosby is the true ‘Liverpool beach,’ while the rest sit just over the border in Sefton and the Wirral. Close enough that it doesn’t matter once you’re on the sand.
Here are the five I keep recommending to my friends!
Table of Contents
Getting to Liverpool’s Best Beaches
Travel times are from Liverpool city centre.
Top Beaches in and Near Liverpool
Crosby Beach
Best for: Art, sunsets, easy coastal walks
If you only have time for one beach, make it this one!
Crosby is Liverpool’s most famous stretch of coast, thanks to Antony Gormley’s Another Place installation, 100 cast-iron figures standing in the sand, facing out to sea, slowly disappearing and reappearing with the tide.
Come for sunset if you can.
It’s also, weirdly, a beach with some family history for me. This is where my mum met my first boyfriend.
Don’t skip the ice cream van near the beach, proper Italian gelato, and I still think about it. Crosby also has some genuinely good pubs (and a spoons!)
There’s also one of those classic English “chippies” that serves a full Chinese menu alongside the fish and chips, a legacy of the Chinese immigrants who took over chip shops across the country from the 1950s onward. Odd-sounding if you’ve never had it. A proper English institution if you have.
Read More: Crosby Beach and Its 100 Naked Men: The Best Beach in the World?
Formby Beach
Best for: sand dunes, pine forests, wildlife
Nature lovers, look no further.
Formby is the one I keep coming back to. Sitting on top of the dunes staring out at the sea is, without exaggeration, one of my happiest places on earth.
The beach itself is huge and sandy, but the real character is in what surrounds it. You walk through pine woods to get there, the kind that smell like a different country entirely, and if you’re lucky and quiet, you’ll spot one of the red squirrels that call this stretch of coast home.
Where Crosby feels like an open air gallery, Formby feels like an escape. It’s the one to pick when you want quiet more than a photo op.
Read More: Exploring Formby Beach: From Pine Woods to Sand Dunes
West Kirby Beach
Best for: marine views, sunsets, relaxed walks
West Kirby is quieter, and that’s exactly why I like it. The tidal Marine Lake gives it a slightly different personality from a standard sandy beach, and from here you get some of the best views of Hilbre Island sitting out in the estuary.
It’s a beach built for slow walks rather than big days out. Fewer crowds, more sky.
Come at sunset and you’ll understand why it’s a local favourite for anyone who wants their coastal fix without the fanfare.
New Brighton Beach
Best for: family days, cafés, seaside fun
Cross the Mersey and you land somewhere that feels like it’s been lifted straight out of a British seaside postcard. New Brighton has all the trimmings: a proper promenade, a lighthouse standing watch at the end of it, and views back across the water toward Liverpool that are honestly worth the trip alone.
It’s the most family-friendly beach on this list, and it feels it.
Ice creams, buckets and spades, that unmistakable ‘day out’ energy. If you’re coming with kids or you just want the nostalgia of a classic British seaside afternoon, this is the one.
New Brighton sits over in Wallasey, on the Wirral side, so it’s a genuinely different world from the Sefton coast just a short journey away.
Thurstaston Beach
Best for: quiet escapes, nature, coastal hikes
Thurstaston is the wild card, in the best sense. Set inside the Wirral Country Park, this stretch of coast trades cafés and crowds for scenery. Red sandstone cliffs, open countryside, and coastal walking paths that make it feel far further from a major city than it actually is.
It’s the least crowded beach on this list, which is exactly why it belongs on it. If your idea of a good beach day involves more walking boots than flip-flops, start here.
More Than Music and Culture
Liverpool will always be known first for its music and its culture, and fair enough. But the coastline circling the city deserves its own reputation. From the cast-iron figures at Crosby to the wild cliffs at Thurstaston, this stretch of the North West has more range than most people give it credit for.
Finished exploring Liverpool’s coastline? Continue your adventure with my complete Liverpool travel guide, packed with the best things to do, places to eat & local tips to help you make the most of your visit.
Read my Ultimate Liverpool Travel GuideFrequently Asked Questions
Ask Ever!
If a day trip to the coast is on your list, this one is worth building an entire weekend around. Which beach would you head to first? Let me know in the comments below!
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