Europe's Top 50+ Beaches

• Cala Agulla // Spain

  

  Set in a beautiful bay on Mallorca's northeastern coast is the Blue Flag award winning beach of Cala Agulla. With a good-sized stretch of white sand, crystalline blue water and an unspoilt backdrop of mountainous landscape this is one of the island's most picturesque beaches.

  A short distance to the south of Cala Agulla is the resort of Cala Ratjada. Although… read more »

• Zahara de los Atunes // Spain

  

  Also going by the name of Playa el Carmen, Zahara de los Atunes is never unduly over crowded, even during the peak summer months, thanks largely to its sheer size. Stretching for more than six kilometres, its dune-like landscape of fine sand is backed by low cliffs, coastal flora, and unobtrusive villas.

  Offering waters so clear they have been awarded… read more »

• Cala Granara // Italy

  

  Set on n Isola di Spargi in Sardinia's Maddalena Archipelago is Cala Granara, another stunning beach that you could easily be forgiven thinking you were on a tropical island. Backed by lush island plants and palm trees, it is quite unusual in that most Italian beaches are backed by rugged cliffs.

  The shallow and clam turquoise waters lapping the silvery sands… read more »

• Drymades Beach // Albania

  

  Drymades Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches on the Albanian Riviera. It is a secluded slice of paradise featuring a natural rock formation that divides it in half. One side is full of white pebbles and the other is brushed with silky golden sand.

  Drymades Beach is located near the village of Dhermi on a small bay with incredible… read more »

• Playa del Cañuelo // Spain

  

  Playa del Cañuelo is a shingle beach some 400 metres in length. Situated on the border between Malaga and Granada, it is within Acantilados de Maro Cerro Gordo nature reserve. It's location within this protected region of coastline ensures there's no rampant development. Instead, visitors to the beach will find a couple of well-regarded restaurants catering for all your food… read more »

• Golden Bay // Malta

  

  Alongside the country's top beaches, Malta's Golden Bay Beach is located in the north of the island. Facing roughly westward into the enormity of the Mediterranean Sea, the next landfall would be Tunisia.

  One of the island nation's broadest beaches, at its widest point it has dimensions of more than 50 metres from sand to sea, while it has a relatively… read more »

• Lourdas Beach // Greece

  

  Lourdas Beach is easily reached from Argostoli, 17 kilometres away, by both car and bus. Also known as Lourdata, the beach sits at the base of high cliffs on one of the island's largest bays. A bus provides access for those who don't want to walk. Lourdas' northernmost end is primarily sand, slowly turning to shingle the further towards the… read more »

• Vega Beach // Albania

  

  Set on a short stretch of rocky coastline roughly 150 metres long by 15 metres wide, Vega Beach is a manmade creation close to the city of Vlorë. Access from its fine off-white gravel surface to the sea is via steps bypassing the rocks, which may make it a little tricky for some younger children. That said, a short pier… read more »

• Copacabana Beach // Croatia

  

  While not yet as famous as its Brazilian counterpart, Croatia's Copacabana Beach has a huge amount to offer. Located in Seka Bay, on the north side of the Lapad Peninsula, Copacabana has views to Daksa and the Elafiti Islands. It lies very close to Dubrovnik's tourist zone of Babin Kuk, used as a base for exploring the UNESCO-listed Old… read more »

• Slovenska // Montenegro

  

  Simply translating as ‘Slovenian Beach' since the architect who designed the area behind it hailed from that part of what was then a united Yugoslavia, Slovenska Plaža runs unbroken for a magical 1,600 metres.

  Comprising sand interspersed with naturally-occurring pebbles, it is a beach with great facilities, making it more than suitable for family outings to this beautiful stretch of coastline.… read more »

• Perazica Do // Montenegro

  

  With dramatic cliffs to one side, and a near-flat entrance into the stunning colours of the Adriatic Sea on the other, Perazica Do Beach is as alluring as any in Montenegro. A few hundred metres in length, it boasts only a handful of sun loungers, hired out on a first come first served basis.

  Its western position makes Perazica Do Beach… read more »

• Rørvik // Norway

  

  Tucked away on the southern coast of the Lofoten Islands, not far from the main E10 road is Rorvik beach. Despite being so close to the road this little beach is often overlooked as it isn't one of the better known Lofoten beaches.

  Whilst the surrounding scenery isn't quite as immediate as the towering mountains on some of the archipelago's other… read more »

• Rhossili Bay // UK

  

  Rhossili Bay is allegedly the finest beach in Britain and one of the best in the world. Whilst I am not going to disagree that this is indeed a stunning beach I think there is an awful lot of competition and it has quite a lot to live up to. So, just what makes Rhossili beach so great? 

  Well, three miles… read more »

• Matala Beach // Greece

  

  The fishing village of Matala was just that until the 1960s. However, since then, like many other things, it hasn't been quite the same! It was then that Matala became a popular destination for hippy travellers attracting the likes of Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell (who even wrote a song about it) in its heyday. 

  Many of these hippies… read more »

• Rauðisandur beach // Iceland

  

  Rauðisandur or Red Sand beach is a huge expanse of sand in the remote Westfjords region of Iceland. Unlike many of this volcanic island's beaches Rauðisandur has what we might consider normal coloured sand - most beaches here have black sand. This is probably where the name comes from as the sand does have a reddish hue to it in… read more »

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