From building sandcastles to enjoying fish and chips, exploring piers and paddling in the sea - there’s plenty to enjoy at the seaside. And with many Brits and tourists loving a visit to a seaside resort, where are the UK's must-visit resorts located this May half term?

To find out, VSO has analysed and ranked 29 of the UK’s most popular seaside resorts using a variety of metrics including beach review scores, number of restaurants, number of cafes, the number of things to do, Airbnb pricing per week and average summer temperatures.

Brighton is home to the most popular seaside resorts in the UK

Rank	Seaside Resort	Avg. temp in summer	Beach review score	No. of restaurants	No. of cafes	No. of bars	Avg. cost of an Airbnb	Number of things to do	Seaside resort score
1	Brighton	16.2	3.8	907	112	53	£850	674	8.23
2	Swansea	15.1	5.0	526	59	29	£732	328	6.46
3	Bournemouth	16.7	4.0	561	67	19	£790	331	6.17
4	Blackpool	15.3	4.0	512	42	35	£680	402	6.14
5	Hastings	16.8	4.0	294	33	15	£824	189	4.89
6	Poole	16.6	4.0	251	47	12	£848	211	4.80
7	Southend-on-Sea	17.1	3.0	581	41	17	£938	262	4.71
8	Eastbourne	16.3	4.0	298	46	7	£825	183	4.66
9	Worthing	16.4	4.0	299	28	11	£823	143	4.48
10	Folkestone	16.6	4.0	160	29	4	£831	204	4.31

Brighton has been crowned the best seaside resort in the UK. It boasts the most restaurants (907), cafes (112), and things to do (674) compared to all seaside resorts analysed.

Data crowns Blackpool as the most affordable seaside resort, with the average cost of an Airbnb for a week at £680. This is followed by Swansea, with an Airbnb costing £732 for one week.

For sunseekers, research reveals Hastings on the southeast coast is the warmest town in the summer months, where you’ll experience an average of 16.8°C.