Love them or hate them, beach holidays are still the most popular way for UK people to get away. Their popularity has only soared in recent years thanks to far cheaper flights being offered by airline companies and the emergence of last minute deals online bringing more and more people around to the idea of going abroad rather than staying in the UK. Beach holidays stay popular as while the UK might be able to rival just about any country on culture and city breaks, its beaches and weather simply can’t compete with other countries, even ones that are only a few hours away by plane on the UK.

So what are the most important elements of a beach holiday? Obviously, the first and most important one is to make sure your destination is going to be warm enough to enjoy the beach. This is sometimes more complicated that it sounds especially if you’ve planned your beach holidays further afield where the weather is a bit less predictable. Seemingly warm weather can become a tropical storm overnight so don’t just look at how high the temperature is – take a look at seasons and be aware of freak weather like hurricanes if you intend to travel to somewhere more exotic.

It’s not just the weather that makes great beach holidays though. Another important aspect to planning a beach holiday is how crowded the beach is going to be! Summer holidays and any time where kids are likely to be off school are always going to be busier, but some beaches are worse than others. The level of people on the beach doesn’t often have much to do with how much you pay, so you can find deserted beach holidays for a great price providing you know when and where to look.

Checking out comments from other holiday makers online is a great way to see how well your selected beach is going to hold up for both climate and people!