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Sick of the winter? Craving that toasty glow of the sun on your skin? Same. And while soaking up that lovely warmth at your local beach might still be a few months away, Lonely Planet has just published its annual list of the world’s most glorious beaches for some sunny inspo.
Every year, the travel mag releases a physical guide to the best stretches of coast on the planet, but we’ve rounded up the top 10 for you to have a cheeky read.
Topping the list is Whitehaven Beach, which is nestled in the World Heritage-listed Whitsundays National Park in Queensland, Australia. If beautiful turquoise waters weren’t enough, the sand here is 98 percent silica (which means it’s softer and whiter than pretty much anywhere else in the world).
In second place is another Aussie destination – Squeaky Beach in Queensland. Its 700-metre shoreline is bordered by the state’s largest marine national park, and it gets its name from the squeaky sound made when you walk across the beach’s quartz sand.
Third was Anse Source d’Argent, a beach described as ‘heaven on earth’ by Lonely Planet, which is one of the many outstanding beaches in the Seychelles, but beaches in Norway, Greece, Thailand and Mexico were also included this year. Read on for the full top 10.
The 10 best beaches in the world for 2025, according to Lonely Planet
- Whitehaven Beach, Queensland, Australia
- Squeaky Beach, Victoria, Australia
- Anse Source d’Argent, La Digue, Seychelles
- Sunset Beach, Trang, Thailand
- Sarakiniko Beach, Milos, Greece
- Haukland Beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway
- Playa Balandra, Baja California Sur, Mexico
- Pfeiffer Beach, California, USA
- Hanalei Bay, Hawaii, USA
- Platja Illetes, Formentera, Spain
Everything’s beachy
You can have a look at Lonely Planet’s list of the world’s best beaches here last year here. Or, even better, have a gander of our roundups of the best beaches in Europe and across the world.
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