Tropical cocktails, real golden sand, delicious barbeque in the middle of the city. Where can you find the best urban beaches in London

Summer is finally here and all of us dream about a beach, a deckchair and a cocktail. But this dream could become so easy a weekly or even a daily reality for Londoners, some of the lucky Europeans that can enjoy this vacation scenery right in their town.

So instead of packing a baggage and taking the train to the coast, you just have to throw down your towel at one of these summer’s urban beaches:

Neverland London

This Thameside urban beach, the first beach created on Thames, is BYOB (bring your own bottle) – you bring the spirits and the mixologists will create a delicious cocktail, as Neverland’s representatives mention on the beach website.

It can be the ideal place for careless summer days in Fulham. Beside a lot of sand, you’ll find here street food vendors, swings, summer flowers, and free-to-use deckchairs.

Entry is £10, and you can pay a little more to hire beach huts, partybeds or have a Beach Butler wheel over a mixology trolley where you can whip up your own cocktail. Entry tickets are best booked in advance as only a small number are left for walk-ins.

The Beach bar

Bloomsbury’s The Montague becomes a seaside escape this summer. So if you are in the mood for some beach party, this is the place for you.

The guests can relax at a tropical drink and barbeque dishes in a Bahamian setting with real sand and a beach-hut style thatched roofs.

Is better to call before visiting, of course. You could choose from many packages available on the website, they have even wedding offers.

Hampstead beach

This is a free-entry beach that offers all the thing you could possible need during the summer, at JW3: a stretch of golden sand, food, cocktails, special events.

All you have to do is to set the mood for long evenings of sun, fun and holiday vibes. This beach will be open from Sunday to Friday.

Brixton Beach

Brixton brought a little Havana vibe to SW9 this summer, setting up a rooftop urban beach, decorated with exotic flowers and mint, the perfect background for cocktails such as Piña Colada, Mojito or Cubanito.

There are also street food vendors, preparing mac ‘n’ cheese bites from Mac to the Future and dishes from Mama’s Jerk and Negril.

Brixton Beach is ready for music nights, yoga and salsa classes, brunches sessions throughout the whole summer. Artists like Paul Wollford, Ben Pearce, Norman Jay MBE will be playing on the rooftop.

Urban London Beach

Beneath the Emirates Cable Car is a temporary stretch of sand that comes with an eye-catching pure urban view of the London skyline.

The entrance is free, so hurry up, grab a book and an ice cream and just sink in a deckchair.