The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland
Map of the U.K. and Ireland
Getting Acquainted with the U.K. and Ireland
Naturism in the U.K. and Ireland
Nudity and the Law
Websites
Separated by a Common Language . . .
Recommended Reading


Map of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland

The map at left includes two independent nations: The United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and the Republic of Ireland . The colors on the map are not reflective of national boundaries but rather of the way these two countries are subdivided for the purposes of this guide. The majority of nude beaches and other nudist entities are located in England, which is divided into three areas (red, aqua and yellow). The relatively smaller number of listings for Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland are grouped on the same page. There are no listings for Northern Ireland.

Getting Acquainted with the U.K. and Ireland

For the purpose of this guide, and for many other guides, it is expedient to collectively consider the two islands that are shown in the map above. Doing so presents a maddening matter of semantics. Iberia is such a great neutral term for grouping Spain and Portugal together. But what to call those two islands north of France? The British Isles sounds nice and concise... but the Irish aren't British and don't particularly appreciate the term. Until these two islands get together to settle on a name like "Narnia," we'll suffice with "the United Kingdom and Ireland." Technically, we should probably say "the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland," which does absolutely nothing toward the end of conciseness. Going back to the map above, for a minute forget about international borders. The big island on the right is Great Britain, which consists of England, Scotland and Wales. The smaller island on the left is Ireland. Now, think about international borders. Ireland is divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The word "Ireland" by itself can, depending on context, describe the entire island as a cultural entity of just the Republic of Ireland as a national entity. Just remember that the Republic of Ireland is an independent country that is administratively separate from the rest of the two islands, and it is one of the two countries that is comprised by the two islands. Now, take Northern Ireland and group it with Great Britain and, voila , you've got the United Kingdom—which is the other of the two countries that is comprised by the two islands. If you want to get really wordy, it's the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. To add another crouton to this salad of semantic confusion, the four regions that comprise the U.K.—England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—are more commonly called countries than states... which must must make the U.K. a super-country. The overwhelming majority of naturist places in the U.K. and Ireland are in England, which is a reflection of population distribution. Of the 61 million or so residents of the U.K., about 84% live in England, 8% in Scotland, 5% in Wales and 3% in Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland has a population of about 4.5 million. England, covering 50,346 square miles, is slightly smaller in area than Louisiana. It consists of nine regions. The two that contain the most listings in this guide—South West England and South East England—are shaded on the map above. The regions of England are further divided into counties, the names of which are very familiar since so many places in the U.S. and Canada take their names from them—Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, Suffolk, Norfolk... just to name a few. Scotland, at 30,414 square miles, is somewhat smaller in area than South Carolina. It's 32 council areas are comparable entities to England's counties. A single one of these 32 areas, Highland, covers a full third of the land area of Scotland. Highland roughly corresponds to the rugged and storied Scottish Highlands, which is both the most scenic and most sparsely populated part of Scotland. At 8,022 square miles, Wales is comparable in size to New Jersey. Wales is subdivided into counties. Finally, at 5,345 square miles, Northern Ireland is the smallest of the U.K.'s component countries and is about the size of Connecticut. The Republic of Ireland, covering 27,133 square miles, falls between West Virginia and South Carolina in size. Add in Northern Ireland and the entire island is almost exactly the size of South Carolina. The Republic of Ireland has four provinces which are further subdivided into counties.

Naturism in the U.K. and Ireland

Naturism thrives in the U.K., more specifically in Great Britain, and especially in England. Ireland offers considerably less, which is a reflection both of a more conservative culture and a much smaller population. The Irish places detailed in this guide area all in the Republic of Ireland. Sadly, we do not have a single shred of information to report about Northern Ireland. In this guide, we detail 63 nude beaches in the U.K. and Ireland. About a quarter of these are well-known and well-attended, while the rest draw much smaller crowds. 46 are in England, six in Wales, five in Scotland and six in the Republic of Ireland. The bulk of these nude beaches are located along the English Channel—the roughly 400-mile-long southern shoreline that stretches from Kent (near London) to Cornwall. Studland Beach in Dorset, located more or less in the center of England's southern coast and about 100 miles southwest of London, is the U.K.'s most popular nude beach. In addition to nude beaches, the U.K. has plenty of naturist retreats—somewhere around 50 altogether. While a few of these are holiday resorts, most are more modest affairs that serve as social clubs and caravan parks for local populations. As with nude beaches, almost all the U.K.'s naturist retreats are in England. To the best of our knowledge, there are none in Ireland. Most naturists retreats in the U.K., like most of those in the U.S. and Canada, function as private-membership clubs. While most are welcoming of visitors, calling ahead may be necessary, and proof of membership in a naturist organization, like one that falls under the umbrella of the International Naturist Federation (INF), may be required. The naturist entities of the U.K. are attended mostly by the British. That is not at all to say the British are insular and unwelcoming. Quite the contrary. It's just a little thing called climate. Even on the south coast of England, if it is 72°F (22°C), then it is a warm day, and it rarely gets much warmer. Go north into Scotland and 72°F is a veritable heat wave. The British are well known for jetting off to sunnier locales in Spain and the South of France to enjoy their holidays, naturist or otherwise. That doesn't work in reverse. Sorry, but Spaniards don't go to Surrey for sans-swimsuit sunning, and the French don't flock to Fraisthorpe to frolic without frocks... oh, never mind. However, the U.K. has an unexpected selection of lovely nudist locales. So, while the U.K. may not be widely regarded as a naturist destination per se, tourists who have naturist inclinations—especially those visiting the southern realms of England—should be aware of all the naturist jewels that are often just a stone's through from the castles and countryside. As for Ireland, its nude beaches are far fewer in number and draw smaller crowds, and, unlike in the U.K., none of them are legally protected.

Nudity and the Law in the U.K. and Ireland

Of all the nude beaches in the U.K., just a small fraction of them are expressly designated and/or signed for clothing-optional use: eight in England, one in Wales and one in Scotland. At the other end of the spectrum, there are some beaches where nudity is expressly banned due to local laws. Otherwise, nudity in public places falls into a somewhat murky area of the law in which being naked is not illegal unless intended to "harass, alarm or distress." Basically, it is not acceptable to disrobe on a textile beach for the same reason it is not acceptable to disrobe at the gates of Buckingham Palace: people aren't expecting it. However, nudity is generally considered acceptable at beaches known to have a custom of bare bathing and at remote, sparsely populated sites as long as nudists are not acting in a manner that could be construed as affrontive, like walking toward textiles while naked. The book Bare Britain states that "If you mind your own business and take reasonable steps to ensure you don't confront other beach users, then there shouldn't be any problems with a peaceful and innocent pastime such as bare bathing." In other words, just use common sense and you will not run afoul of the law. Most of the U.K. beaches on this website can be considered safe havens for nudity. However, at just few sites, some visitors disrobe even through nudity is banned. Most of these are places where a custom of nudity once flourished but where authorities took action to end nudity, most commonly due to an excess of indiscreet behavior. In the Google Earth file for the U.K. and Ireland, we inform you of such situations so you can use due caution or avoid these beaches altogether. Generally, conflicts regarding non-affrotive nudity result in a nudist being asked or ordered to dress and nothing more, but if you are naked in the shadow of a sign that says "no nudity," we won't venture to guess the consequences. In the Republic of Ireland, none of the nude beaches are legally protected, nor are there any provisions of the law that allow discreet, non-affrontive nudity. Nudity in a public place is illegal. However, that does not mean that Irish authorities pursue nudists for the fun of it. Here is a summary of how the laws regarding nudity are actually manifested, according to the Irish Naturist Association website: "Despite the unfavourable legal situation, no member of the Irish Naturist Association has ever been prosecuted for bona-fide naturist activities. In reality, despite what the law says, the police are not interested in taking any action against naturists provided we behave in a responsible and considerate manner. If you wish to swim or sunbathe nude please use one of the beaches or bathing places listed here or a suitable secluded area. Please use discretion and common sense at all times."

Websites

The U.K.'s national naturist organization is called British Naturism (BN), while that of Ireland is the Irish Naturist Association (INA). Both these sites have information about nude beaches, and BN also has information on naturist retreats and social clubs. The Naturist UK Fact File (NUFF) is an excellently detailed website about nude beaches and other facets of naturism in the U.K., wherein visitors are able to comment on nude beaches. In our Google Earth file for the U.K. and Ireland, we have linked most nude beaches that we detail to their corresponding pages on on the NUFF website to facilitate access to trip reports.

Separated by a Common Language . . .

Yanks (i.e., Americans) are flummoxed by the insistence that automobiles have boots and bonnets. Brits are dismayed when Microsoft programs flag "colour" as misspelled. Oh, but we're not all that bloody different. We merely employ some non-overlapping words and phrases in our mutual quest to totally corrupt the language. Actually, there aren't that many words pertaining to naturism that are potentially confusing. Togs is sometimes used to mean clothing and can more specifically mean swimsuits in certain contexts. A sign that says "togs must be worn" means you can't swim naked. "Getting one's kit off" is a playful, and sometimes slightly naughty, way of saying "to get naked." We assume you can can figure out that a reference to "bare bums on the beach" does not means that it is overrun with naked panhandlers. But the word we have encountered most often, specifically with regard to naturist accommodations, that is likely to have an unfamiliar context is caravan ... not all that exotic a word. Caravan is the almost ubiquitous British word for what those of us on the other side of The Pond would call an RV (recreational vehicle), travel trailer or perhaps more generically just a camper. Otherwise, be prepared for some mutual chuckles and rest assured that if a bloke announces that he's pissed, he isn't going to punch you... unless he's a mean drunk. While English is the unifying language of the U.K. and Ireland, the two islands have complex and rich linguistic traditions. The Celtic parts of the two islands—which is to say all of Ireland, Scotland and Wales along within the county of Cornwall in England and the Isle of Man—each have their own traditional languages that are distinct but within the Celtic family of languages. Even though the Celtic regions are officially bilingual, all the Celtic languages have mostly vanished from everyday use. Among the Celtic regions, Wales has the highest percentage of citizens who are reasonably fluent in their traditional language, and that percentage is just 20% or so. As the number of fluent speakers of the various Celtic languages has shrunk, the prevalence of bilingual signage has increased toward the end of cultural preservation. If you visit Morfa Dyffryn Beach in Wales, as you walk along the beach you will encounter a sign, the left half of which reads "caniateir torheulo neu ymdrochi yn noethlymun tu hwnt i'r pwynt hyn." Those of us who have forgotten our high school Welsh can rely on the right half of the sign: "naturist swimming and sunbathing is permitted beyond this point."

Recommended Reading

The book Bare Britain is a beautifully photographed and detailed naturist guide that was published in 2005. The book is available through the publisher's website , which contains updates to the book. It is also available from the U.K. version of Amazon.com . On the U.S. version of Amazon.com , the book is not available directly from Amazon but is often available through associated vendors. However, unless you find a really good deal, it is usually cheaper to buy it from the U.K., even with overseas shipping. Bare Britain details places in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. There is considerable overlap with this guide, except for Scotland. Oddly, four of the five Scottish beaches listed in Naked Places are not included in Bare Britain . The book lists a number of remote beaches in the vast Scottish Highlands, however, that we have elected to omit from this guide. These are all places that have naturist potential but can't really be described as having solid naturist traditions. Bare Britain also includes information about non-landed naturist clubs (i.e., those that do not operate resort or camping facilities) that are not part of the content of this guide.