An iconic beach has been ranked as the most popular seaside destination in the UK.
Brighton Beach, in East Sussex, has been voted the most popular seaside site on Instagram after a study by travel and luggage experts Bounce.
They analysed thousands of Instagram posts and found that the beach was ranked number one with over a million hashtags.
Brighton beach dominates Instagram with second place Scarborough Beach a long way behind.
The second-placed seaside destination has just a tenth of Brighton’s popularity with 176,976 posts.
In third place is Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall, with 130,900 posts.
Writing about Brighton Beach, they said: “Brighton Beach dominates when it comes to social media popularity, topping the list as TikTok and Instagram’s favourite beach in the UK, with over one million posts (1,004,649).
“The southern beach destination has inspired over a million Instagram posts, showing the area’s traditional pubs, pebble beach, and sea fishing scene.”
Brighton Beach also dominated on TikTok. Bounce said: “TikTok’s most beloved UK beach is Brighton Beach, which has 83.4 million views on TikTok.
“The south coast beach is home to Brighton Palace Pier and the world-class Artists’ Quarter where visitors can dive into Brighton’s creative and cultural scene.
“TikTok videos of Brighton Beach showcase the area’s diverse culinary scene, where travellers can visit a range of eateries and bars while visiting the waterfront.”
Despite Brighton’s online popularity, it hasn’t proven a hit with everyone.
On Tripadvisor, one visitor said everywhere stank of pee while another said the seagulls were “turkey-sized” and “aggressive”.
Another person said the beach was “great but the seagulls are a menace” while other visitors said the air smelled “like a public toilet that hadn’t been cleaned for weeks”.
The main complaint on Tripadvisor was a lack of sand.
One reviewer commented: “Miles of pebbles, hardly a grain of sand. There is really nothing to do on an English beach but shiver and throw a stone into the cold grey-green murky water.”
