Mablethorpe beach

The beach at Mablethorpe stretches out in both directions with that particular flat, sandy quality you get along the Lincolnshire coast - wide at low tide, firm underfoot, and backed by a proper promenade with all the usual seaside trappings. You can walk for miles either way without hitting much, which is either exactly what you're after or completely boring depending on your mood. The seafront has the bones of a traditional British resort: amusement arcades, fish and chips shops, a fairground that comes alive in summer. There's a nature reserve just inland if you want to escape the bustle and look for wading birds.

Families with younger kids will get a solid day out here - bucket and spade territory, paddling, the kind of place where they'll play in the sand for hours while you sit with a coffee. Walkers heading north or south along the coast path will find it a convenient stopping point. If you're staying at Haven Golden Sands just down the road, you're literally minutes from the beach on foot, which makes it painless for quick dips between holiday park activities. The adult-only Seymore Glamping Pods further afield offers a quieter angle if you want beaches without the noise.

It's not dramatic or wild - the sea never really gets angry here, and the landscape is resolutely flat. But that's rather the point. This is proper seaside ease, the kind of place where doing nothing is genuinely acceptable.