Best Coastal Paths in the UK
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best coastal paths in the UK are Baggy Point, Coalhouse Fort Park, Northey Island, Deer Park, Lilys Ponds, Ballyquintin Point, Ramsey Island Nature Reserve and Binevenagh.
The coast paths of the UK take in headlands, tidal islands, estuaries and towering cliffs, and this roundup gathers eight of them from three of the home nations. In England you can walk out to the tip of Baggy Point on the North Devon coast, follow the Thames past a Victorian fort at East Tilbury in Essex, or time the tide to reach Northey Island in the Blackwater estuary.
Wales offers a clifftop park above seal-strewn shores, the water lilies of the Bosherston Lakes in Pembrokeshire, and a boat trip to the seabird cliffs of Ramsey Island. Over in Northern Ireland, an easy loop rounds Ballyquintin Point at the mouth of Strangford Lough in County Down, and the basalt cliffs of Binevenagh soar above the plain in County Londonderry.
Some are short strolls fit for an afternoon, others need a boat or a careful watch on the tide, but all put the sea front and centre. Here are eight coastal paths to seek out across the UK.
Baggy Point
Photo: Lewis Clarke via Geograph.org.uk
Walk out to Baggy Point On the North Devon coast in England, Baggy Point is a long sandstone headland reaching out into the sea between Croyde Bay and the wide sands of Woolacombe. A fairly level track runs out along its southern side to the tip, easy walking with the sea on your left and grazed fields on your right, ending where the rock falls away to the water.
The crags draw rock climbers, and seals and seabirds work the water below. On the grassy plateau you can find concrete dummy pillboxes, put up when American troops trained here for the D-Day landings.
The headland belongs to the National Trust, and thrift and gorse flower along the cliff edge.
Coalhouse Fort Park
Photo: Ashley Dace via Geograph.org.uk
Explore Coalhouse Fort Park Beside the Thames at East Tilbury in Essex, England, Coalhouse Fort is a Victorian artillery fort of curved casemates, finished in 1874 to guard the estuary. A water-filled ditch runs around it, and the fort sits within a riverside park of lawns, play areas and quiet walks along the water.
The park is open all year, while the fort itself opens only on occasional days. From the riverside the views reach right across the Thames to the Kent shore, making this an easy, level walk with plenty of history and big estuary skies to take in.
Northey Island
Photo: Chris via Geograph.org.uk
Northey Island may be where the Battle of Maldon was fought in 991, its tidal causeway thought to be the crossing a Viking army held against the local Anglo-Saxon defenders, who lost. That same causeway is still the only way over, flooding with each tide so you cross on foot at low water.
A low, flat island in the Blackwater estuary a mile east of Maldon in Essex, it belongs to the National Trust and is ringed by saltmarsh and mudflats. A loop of about three miles circles it, through a protected estuary rich in Brent geese, curlew, redshank and other wintering and passing birds.
Deer Park
Photo: David Smith via Geograph.org.uk
Discover Deer Park Over on the Welsh coast, Deer Park is an expansive grassland park perched atop coastal cliffs, which despite its name has never actually been home to deer. What it does offer is a fine vantage point for watching seals on the shores below, so it is worth bringing binoculars to pick out the pups.
It is a small area but a genuinely lovely walk, and it belongs to the National Trust, so parking is free if you already hold a day ticket from another Trust site, and not expensive otherwise. On our visit there were also a few cows grazing the clifftop grass.
Lilys Ponds
Photo: Dylan Moore via Geograph.org.uk
Wander around Lilys Ponds In Pembrokeshire, Wales, Lily Ponds is the local name for the Bosherston Lakes, a system of man-made freshwater lakes on the National Trust's Stackpole estate. They were formed by damming valleys, and now spread across about a hundred acres in three long arms.
The lakes are known for the white water lilies that flower over the surface in early summer. A well-marked path of about a mile runs along the shore from the car park in Bosherston village, crossing the water on narrow causeways, and it can be extended over the dunes to the beach at Broad Haven South.
Otters, herons, dragonflies and a colony of horseshoe bats live around the water.
Ballyquintin Point
Photo: Eric Jones via Geograph.org.uk
Loop around Ballyquintin Point At the southern tip of the Ards Peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland, Ballyquintin Point is where the land runs out at the mouth of Strangford Lough. It is a low, grassy headland kept as a nature reserve, with an easy circular path of under a mile looping along the shore and back on quiet farm tracks.
The ground is coastal grassland, grazed and windswept, bright with wildflowers in summer and full of skylarks overhead. From the point you look across the lough mouth to Killard Point opposite, and on a clear day out over the sea to the Isle of Man.
A small wartime lookout hut still stands near the shore.
Ramsey Island Nature Reserve
Photo: Bill Boaden via Geograph.org.uk
Take a boat to Ramsey Island Nature Reserve Off St Davids Head in Pembrokeshire, Wales, Ramsey Island is an RSPB nature reserve reached only by boat from the little harbour at St Justinian's. Waymarked paths cross its heath and grassland, running along cliffs that rise to over a hundred metres, home to nesting seabirds, choughs, peregrines and ravens.
The island holds one of the most important grey seal colonies in southern Britain, with hundreds of pups born on its beaches each autumn. Boats run around the island as well as landing on it, in season and by advance booking, and there are no facilities beyond compost toilets, so come prepared for a proper wild day out.
Binevenagh
Photo: Richard Webb via Geograph.org.uk
Explore Binevenagh At the western end of the Antrim hills, in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Binevenagh is a high, flat-topped hill crowned with dark basalt cliffs. Its steep face drops away toward the flat farmland of Magilligan, the long beach at Benone and the wide mouth of Lough Foyle beyond.
A road, Bishop's Road, climbs onto the plateau on top, where a viewpoint looks out over the lough to the hills of Donegal across the water. The summit is open moorland and rough grazing, with a small fishing lake set among it, and the cliffs are a favoured launch point for hang-gliders and paragliders riding the updrafts.
The view from the top is enormous.
FAQs
Where do these coastal paths lie across the UK?
They span three nations. Baggy Point in Devon, Coalhouse Fort in Essex and Northey Island in the Blackwater estuary are all in England. Deer Park, the Bosherston Lakes and Ramsey Island lie in Pembrokeshire and along the Welsh coast, while Ballyquintin Point in County Down and Binevenagh in County Londonderry are in Northern Ireland.
Which of these need a boat or a tide check?
Ramsey Island in Pembrokeshire can only be reached by boat from St Justinian's, and Northey Island in Essex is cut off by a tidal causeway, so both need planning around the tide and the timetable. Most of the others, such as Baggy Point in Devon, are open at any time.
Are these coastal paths good for seeing wildlife?
Very much so. Ramsey Island and the Deer Park in Wales are known for grey seals, Northey Island in Essex draws Brent geese and waders, and Ballyquintin Point in County Down is alive with skylarks and summer wildflowers.
Conclusion
From the sandstone headlands of Devon to the basalt cliffs of County Londonderry, the UK's coast offers walking to suit every mood, and these eight paths show its reach. In England you can round Baggy Point, follow the Thames past Coalhouse Fort or cross to Northey Island on the tide.
Wales adds the clifftop Deer Park, the lily-covered lakes near Bosherston and a boat to Ramsey Island, while Northern Ireland brings the gentle loop of Ballyquintin Point and the soaring plateau of Binevenagh. Check the tide tables where they matter, wear boots that cope with mud and grass, and keep well back from cliff edges in a wind.
Whether you want a short stroll or a day on a wild island, these are the coastal paths to seek out across the UK.
