The 20 best beaches in Europe
From among Europe’s tens of thousands of miles of coastline, we’ve selected 20 of the best beaches all over the continent.
No matter your taste in beach, Europe obliges.
The continent’s astonishing 24,000 miles (38,600km) of coastline ranges from wild, wind-lashed shores along the Atlantic and mountain-fringed Arctic bays where whales raise their tails to sunlit, snuggled-away coves in Italy and Greece. And the beaches that lie along this almost endless littoral are equally varied – and wonderful.
From among thousands and thousands of candidates, these are the 20 best beaches in Europe.
1. Haukland Beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Rearing out of the Norwegian Sea like a dragon’s backbone, the Lofoten Islands off Norway’s northwest coast offer the Arctic dream – whether seen in the never-dying light of the midnight sun or under dancing northern lights in winter snows. Haukland Beach is out of this world, with spiky granite peaks thrusting above creamy sands and sapphire sea. The water is chilly, never hitting more than 59°F/15°C – but you’ll be itching to jump in all the same.
2. Cala Goloritzè, Sardinia, Italy
On Sardinia’s east coast, Golfo di Orosei gets top marks all around for coastal beauty. But few beaches make you audibly gasp like sublime Cala Goloritzè, with its snow-white pebbles giving way to a sea of purest aquamarine blue. Limestone cliffs jut dramatically above the bay, as does Monte Caroddi, a 486ft-high (148m-high) needle of rock beloved by climbers. Reach it by boat or on the Cala Goloritzè Trail.
3. West Beach, Berneray, Scotland
Speckling the wild North Atlantic, Scotland’s Outer Hebrides are home to some of Europe’s most remote beaches. Singling out one is tough – but West Beach on the wee isle of Berneray is just divine. After a walk through dunes and wind-bent machair grasses, you reach this ravishing 3-mile (5km) expanse of white sand that slides gently into a turquoise sea. It’s often empty but for seabirds trilling overhead and the occasional porpoise or otter.
4. Plage de Palombaggia, Corsica, France
Plage de Palombaggia, in Corsica’s southeast, is one of the best beaches in France. Its long curve of pale, powder-soft sand shelving into cerulean blue waters as clear as glass simply bewitches. Backed by fragrant umbrella pines, hemmed in by wooded hills that strum with cicadas come sundown, and overlooking the Îles Cerbicale, this could well be the beach of your wildest Mediterranean dreams. Bring snorkel gear and a picnic.
5. Platja Illetes, Formentera, Spain
With its long sweep of bleach-blonde sand and translucent azure waters, Formentera’s Platja Illetes fits the barefoot-paradise bill neatly. You might swiftly compare the scene to the Caribbean – but frankly, why would you want to imagine yourself anywhere else? The beach forms the western section of the slender Trucador Peninsula, and just offshore lie the two illetes (islets), Pouet and Rodona, that give the beach its name.
6. Barafundle Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales
A breezy walk over gorse-cloaked clifftops on Wales’ Pembrokeshire Coast Path ramps up the anticipation for Barafundle Bay: an arc of butterscotch sand rimmed by dunes that ease their way gently to clear turquoise water. This bay often tops the polls of the UK’s finest beaches – and if you avoid busy weekends in summer, you’ll feel the magic.
7. Praia da Arrifana, the Algarve, Portugal
On the Algarve’s wild, wind-whipped west coast, crowds are few, and the Atlantic waves are tremendous. Cliff-wrapped Praia da Arrifana is a gorgeous golden crescent with a ruined fortress, beachside restaurant and plenty of serious surf. For more of the same, hop south to lagoon-side Praia da Bordeira, where dunes fizz away into the brilliant blue sea.
8. Cala Macarella, Menorca, Spain
Making just a tiny indentation on Menorca’s southwest coast, Cala Macarella is the stuff of fantasy, with flour-white sand and startlingly turquoise waters. Nestled among cliffs stippled with pines and holm oaks, the horseshoe-shaped bay can only be reached on foot or by boat. It gets incredibly busy in summer, so time it right by arriving early or late in the day or visiting in the low season.
9. Navagio Beach, Zakynthos, Greece
The Greek beach of a million postcards, Navagio in Zakynthos is better known by its nickname, Shipwreck Beach, due to the rusted hulk of a cargo ship that washed up on its shores. With mighty cliffs flinging up above a perfect arc of sand and sea so blue it looks Photoshopped, this heaven-on-earth beach is no secret. But if you dodge the high season, it’s still worth boating it out here to be momentarily floored by its beauty.
10. Platja de Coll Baix, Mallorca, Spain
Half the fun is managing to find this remote, thrillingly wild beauty of a beach on Mallorca’s off-the-beaten-track Cap des Pinar peninsula. A walking trail descends through pines and scrambles down the coast to Platja de Coll Baix. A lovely scoop of pale pebbles and crystal-clear sea rimmed by crumbling cliffs, the bay is at its peaceful best early or late in the day.
11. Île de Porquerolles, Côte d’Azur, France
Too petite to name just one of its beaches, the car-free islet of Île de Porquerolles, dangling just off the coast of Hyères, offers a delicious amuse-bouche of the French Riviera – providing you sidestep the sun-worshipping day trippers in the height of summer, that is. Come in the low season to truly appreciate this crescent-shaped beach of pearl-white sand, skirted by pine and eucalyptus woods.
12. Rauðasandur, Westfjords, Iceland
On the Látrabjarg Peninsula in the remote Westfjords and reached by a winding mountain road, Rauðasandur – one of Iceland’s best beaches – is vast, empty and staggeringly beautiful. Formed by crushed scallop shells, its bronze sands are buttressed by dark cliffs, backed by an azure lagoon and tormented by a wild, wild sea. If you hike on Látrabjarg’s seabird cliffs, look for puffins and seals lounging on the rocks below. On clear days, views reach to the Snæfellsjökull glacier volcano, some 40 miles (65km) across the water.
13. Praia as Catedrais, Galicia, Spain
If you want to worship at the altar of the beach gods, Praia as Catedrais in Galicia is heaven. Taking its name – Cathedral Beach – from the way wind and water have gnawed this stretch of coastline into spectacular rock arches, towers and chambers, it's best visited at low tide when its long golden sands are properly exposed. In the height of summer, a free permit is needed to visit.
14. Sveti Stefan, Montenegro
The Adriatic doesn't get much more ludicrously photogenic than at the fortified island village of Sveti Stefan (Свети Стефан), which has one of the loveliest beaches in Montenegro. Here, pines, olive trees and oleanders peek above 15th-century stone villas, which quietly survey pink sands and limpid waters from their rocky perch. You can laze on the beach – but unless you’re staying at the Aman Resort, you can go inland by tour.
15. Lara Beach, Cyprus
A taste of Cyprus before the dawn of tourism, delightfully secluded Lara Beach makes a little notch on the island’s west coast. It’s a bumpy drive (a 4WD is advisable), but all the bounce becomes worth it when you reach the tremendously unspoiled sands and pristine waters of this conservation area – an important hatchery and nesting ground for loggerhead and green turtles. Monk seals also inhabit sea caves around the peninsula.
16. Zlatni Rat, Brač Island, Croatia
The poster child of Croatia’s coast, Zlatni Rat on Brač Island is no secret – but don’t let that stop you. Get a wriggle on in the low season instead to find greater peace at this phenomenal sand-and-pebble beach, which dips its pale, slender toes into the inky Adriatic and gazes wistfully up to the rugged cliffs and forested mountains of Dalmatia. Pine trees offer welcome shade.
17. Dueodde, Bornholm, Denmark
Appearing like a work of art in the painterly pastel light of sunset, Dueodde reclines at the southernmost tip of the island of Bornholm in Denmark, on the Baltic Sea. Backed by expansive dunes and pines, its sand is as white and soft as talcum powder – so fine-grained, in fact, that it was once used in hourglasses. You can walk for miles, finding space and solitude, and wade out to sea forever with water only reaching your knees. By night, the only light comes from the stars and blinking lighthouse.
18. Keem Bay, County Mayo, Ireland
Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way hides a crock of gold in its dramatic coastline – and nowhere more so than at gloriously remote Keem Bay at the far west of Achill Island. A precipitous coastal drive fires the appetite for proper wilderness – and here you have it. Bearing the brunt of stormy seas and the fickle whims of the Irish weather, this half-moon bay of golden sand spreads out at the foot of steep cliffs and grassy slopes. Basking sharks can sometimes be spotted offshore.
19. Myrtos Beach, Kefallonia, Greece
The road that helter-skelters down the steep hillside to Myrtos on the Greek island of Kefallonia quickens the pulse as much as the bay itself. From above, it looks as though mighty Poseidon has emerged from the deep and cleaved the coast in two, leaving behind this fiercely beautiful white-pebble bay, framed by sheer cliffs and lapped by the sea that ticks almost every blue on the color chart. It’s justifiably popular, so avoid peak times and seasons.
20. Spiaggia dei Conigli, Sicily, Italy
Sicily has some fantastic beaches along its gorgeous circumference – but a more wondrous spiaggia yet lies off the coast on far-flung, still-kind-of-a-secret Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island, which is closer to Tunisia than the mainland. Here you’ll be blown away by the Spiaggia dei Conigli (Rabbit Beach), with its bleached sands and shallow aquamarine water. Accessible only by boat or on foot, the beach forms part of a marine reserve where loggerhead turtles nest – making it, therefore, off-limits at night from roughly May to August.
Be inspired by more stunning coves, bays and strands with Lonely Planet's book Best Beaches: 100 of the World's Most Incredible Beaches.
