Beaches Near the London Olympics

Photo by Jon Whittle
Related Galleries: 


England




Related Content: 


Editor's Picks: London Travel Guide With No Olympics



Pages: 






 This is Freshwater West, arguably the most beautiful beach in Wales and the backdrop to movies like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Robin Hood. It's a famous surfer's beach as well. 

Enlarge Photo


Photo by: Jon Whittle









While beach volleyball in the 2012 London Olympics will actually be taking place at Horse Guards Parade in London, Freshwater West would have been a beautiful summer venue too.

Enlarge Photo


Photo by: Jon Whittle









Caldey Island is a small speck off Great Britain's western shore, inhabited since the Stone Age and now owned by monks of the Cistercian Order. 

Enlarge Photo


Photo by: Jon Whittle









The Welsh town of Tenby has an ample beach along its shore and the tiny island of St. Catherine a stone's throw away. 

Enlarge Photo


Photo by: Jon Whittle









 Tenby is as close to a beach town as you'll see in Wales. It's the opposite of the hectic life in London, made more so during the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. 

Enlarge Photo


Photo by: Jon Whittle









Whittle calls these the cleanest boat hulls in the world. As the tide comes in and out, the boat owners come out to clean their temporarily beached boats here in Tenby.

Enlarge Photo


Photo by: Jon Whittle









ISLANDS editor Robert Stephens, traveling along with Whittle, enjoys the tropical water. OK, maybe the Tenby beach isn't as warm as a Bora Bora lagoon.

Enlarge Photo


Photo by: Jon Whittle









The beach at Pendine Sands is the best of what you find in Great Britain -- dramatic bluffs along the shore and a quiet sandy beach.

Enlarge Photo


Photo by: Jon Whittle









Pendine Sands is a great beach to let the dogs run free.

Enlarge Photo


Photo by: Jon Whittle









Heading out to one of these beaches from London to get a break from the Olympics is only one of the options amid the Summer Games. See our London Layover article for more trip ideas.

Enlarge Photo


Photo by: Jon Whittle






ISLANDS photographer Jon Whittle, before the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London began, found this quiet corner of the United Kingdom for this photo gallery of the island beaches in Wales.
Escape the crowds of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London to see the nearby beaches that ISLANDS photographer Jon Whittle recently visited. Beach volleyball anyone?
read more

hiking holidays Finland hiking holidays Kuusamo hiking Kuusamo hiking holidays