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| SPOTLIGHT | Tropical
beaches and jungle, Wildlife, natural heritage and sun-kissed
islands. |
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Europe Best beachs Travel Information
Some
of the most beautiful and magnificent beaches in the world follow the European
Coast. From the French Riviera to the Coast of Gibraltar there are hundreds of
great beaches and seaside resorts, perfect for those romantic getaways. Each year
thousands of people head for the beaches of Europe. Whether you are looking to
surf or party there is a beach for you. With golden sands and tiny little hideaways
there are many choices along the European Coast that make for a pleasurable and
enjoyable holiday or vacation. Here are my picks for the top 5 beaches in Europe
Biarritz Beach-French Riviera, France
During the 1960s
surfing took France by storm. Today Biarritz Beach on the French Riviera is the
surf capital of France. Every July the best surfers in the world come to Biarritz
Beach for the surf festival. Biarritz Beach is made up of hundreds of miles of
golden sands. In the past Biarritz Beach was overshadowed by other beaches on
the French Riviera, but is now one of the most popular places to visit in France.
During the 19th century, Napoleon III built his wife Empress Eugenia a royal
palace on Biarritz Beach. Empress Eugenia was one of the first people to make
going to the beach and swimming fashionable. Before the 19th century if you swam
in the ocean it was often believed you practiced witchcraft, a crime punishable
by hanging. Today, the royal palace is called the Hotel Du Palair and now accommodates
guests in lavish suites. The city of Biarritz overlooks the beautiful golden beach
and the Atlantic Ocean. Carlton Beach-Cannes, France Carlton
Beach is located in the middle of La Croisette. It costs $350 a day to bask in
the sun and sands of Carlton Beach. Carlton Beach is known for being a club of
the rich and famous. Unlike other beaches in France, the Carlton Beach is only
100 feet wide by 300 feet long, and the sands are freshly delivered each year
from a nearby beach. Carlton Beach offers several luxury hotels and a wide range
of water sports including surfing and kite sailing. The rich and famous love to
sunbathe and swim at Carlton Beach because it is quiet and secluded.
Brighton
Beach-Liverpool, England
Brighton Beach is located on the southern
Sussex coast of England and is one of the most popular and largest seaside localities
in England. Like Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York Brighton Beach offers entertainment
for the entire family. Brighton beach has several piers but the main attraction
is the Brighton Beach Pier. This pier opened in May of 1899 and now offers 24
hour entertainment. Whether you are looking for music, bars, or dancing Brighton
Beach has it all.
There are hundreds of hostels and luxury hotels to
stay in at Brighton Beach. Brighton Beach has some of the best nightlife in England
and has been dubbed a lovers retreat in recent years. Every year in August there
is a Gay and Lesbian Pride parade starting at Brighton Beach and ending in the
center of the city. Tarifa Beach, Spain
Tarifa Beach is
located on the southernmost point of Spain, facing the Moroccan coast, on the
Straight of Gibraltar. Because Tarifa Beach is known as one of the windiest beaches
in Spain it is perfect for kite surfing. During the day the winds can get up to
60 miles per hour. It is said that the winds make people anxious after a few days
because it is constant wind that never stops. The wind travels in two directions
and only changes at sunrise and sunset. You can only spend about a week at Tarifa
Beach before you start to get the jitters, so it is best to make it a short trip
if you aren't surfing.
Although Tarifa Beach has traditionally been a surfer
beach, many people are going there now not for the surfing but for the sun. Since
it is so windy on this beach it feels easier to bear the hot sun. Just remember
the sun rises in the east and sets in the west on Tarifa Beach, so turn around
and face the opposite direction in the afternoon. Tarifa Beach has miles of gorgeous
white sands, stylish surf shops, and lots of biking trails for the cycling enthusiast.
Kefalonia Beach-Karadavos, Greece With its turquoise blue
waters and white sands it is no doubt that Kefalonia Beach is one of the most
beautiful beaches in the world. Kefalonia is best reached by boat and with 7 marinas
it is easily accessible. There are no mooring fees at Kefalonia marinas so feel
free to stay as long as you want. Kefalonia is made up of hundreds of outlets
that are only reachable by boat. Kefalonia beach is quite secluded, even with
its many beaches and is fairly well-liked by the rich and famous for this reason.
Nicole Kidman and Madonna have been spotted on Kefalonia Beach numerous times.
Right outside of Kefalonia Beach is Viscardo Village which has been kept in
its original state since it was first built in the late 17th century. The village
is filled with street cafés and restaurants. Cycling enthusiasts will love
biking in this town, and photographers love it because of its history and beauty.
The movie "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" was filmed in the Village of Viscardo.
More
About Most Beautiful Beaches in Europe>> | |
 | Top
Beaches |  |
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 Sandwood
Bay, Scotland | | Sutherland
isn’t short of abandoned beaches and turquoise shallows, but none guarantees
privacy like this. Four miles from the nearest road head, Sandwood Bay lies a
good hour from the car, across the sort of flat, thankless moorland that will
suck the life force from your soul — if the midges don’t get you,
the dive-bombing skuas almost certainly will. And then you get there: to the south
stands Am Buachaille, a magnificent sea stack standing in the surf, to the north
rise the cliffs of Cape Wrath, and in between, like some hard-won promised land,
lies a mile of soft, pink, dune-backed sand. Religious conversions are made of
less. | | |
| Terracina,
Itlay | | One of the best beaches on
Italy's mainland, Terracina's is very long, wide and offers plenty of comfortable
sand that is pay-parasol free, yet is within easy reach of cold drinks or simple
meals from beach cafés. | | |
| Playa
de Ses Salines, Ibiza | | Playa
d’en Bossa may get the hardcore vote and Benirras beach is great if you
like your full-moon parties tie-dyed and bongo-drummed, but if it’s a sophisticated
vibe you seek, no other beach on the island does it like Playa de Ses Salines.
Home to Malibu, Jockey Club and the fabulously cool Sa Trinxa — beach bars-cum-clubs
that spill out onto the sand — Ses Salines is sexy where so much of Ibiza
is sordid. It’s not a bad beach, either: white and pine-fringed, it stretches
for nearly a mile at the edge of a forested conservation area. | |
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| Porto
Pim, the Azores | | Volcanic
archipelagos aren’t famed for the blinding whiteness of their beaches and,
at best, Porto Pim is a fetching shade of grey, but the sand is fine and the water
crystal-clear. And at nearly 1,000 miles off the mainland of Europe, your chances
of spotting a whale or dolphin are decidedly good. Twenty cetacean species have
been spotted here to date, including orcas, blue whales, sperm whales and Risso’s
dolphins. Seeing them from your lounger on Porto Pim is a possibility, particularly
in summer when sperm whales come to calve, but five minutes down the road in the
main town of Horta, a slew of whale-watching operators will vie for your business.
Given half the chance, they’ll also talk you into a birding trek up the
3,420ft-high extinct volcano that dominates the island. | |
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| Gerakas
beach, Greece,Germany | | There
are three things toddlers really need from a beach: clean, white sand to shovel
into their mouths, gently shelving sea to supply their moats and, most important
of all, a crèche close at hand so that mum and dad can sip mai tais and
slip off back to their room. If ever a beach ticked those boxes with a big, fat
marker pen, it’s the fabulously beautiful Gerakas. | |
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| Little
Banana, Greece | | No sniggering
at the back — it’s curved, it’s yellow and, frankly, you should
be ashamed of yourself. Thirty minutes from Skiathos town, Little Banana is a
perfect crescent of golden sand washed by crystal-clear waters, and it’s
one of the oldest nudist pilgrimage points in Europe. There’s natural shade
at the back of the beach and umbrellas and loungers for hire, while the “mixed”
beach beyond the rocks is the perfect halfway house for nervous “textiles”
to release the naturist within. A small taverna serves salads and sandwiches,
but otherwise Little Banana — a 20-minute walk from the car park through
olive groves and forest — is as far from the sunburn-and-sangria resorts
as the Sporades get. | | |
| InterContinental
Carlton beach, Cannes | | Mind
you, it’s almost worth it: for a start, the sand is imported from Fréjus
(local sand just isn’t white enough) every year; plus, you never know who
is going to ask you to rub in their Ambre Solaire: Ralph Fiennes, Sharon Stone,
Samuel L Jackson, Charlotte Rampling and George Lucas were all here during this
year’s film festival. Suites are named after favourite regulars to this
self-styled Palace of the Stars right on La Croisette, including John Travolta,
Sean Connery and Elton John. | | |
| Cala
Sinzias, Sardinia | With one
of the best camp sites in Europe just 200 yards from some of the whitest sand
on the Med, Cala Sinzias
is as good a cheap-beach option as your euro will
buy. Throw in the EasyJet/Ryanair price war that’s currently tethering flights
to the £40 mark, and it’s probably cheaper to go on holiday there
than it is to stay at home.
Largely sheltered from the southeasterly sirocco,
Cala Sinzias is a spectacular sweep of broad, white beach backed by Mediterranean
pine forest. Hire a moped for about a fiver a day and you’re also just a
short hop from Cala Pira and a string of other stunning beaches along the Costa
Rei. | | |
| Patara
beach, Turkey | | It’s
not every beach that boasts its own 2,000-year-old ruins, but then it’s
not every beach that lists a Greek god among its famous sons. Stretching for 12
virtually undeveloped miles along the southwest coast of Turkey, Patara beach
lies less than a mile from an ancient Lycian harbour town said to be the birthplace
of Apollo. That’s bad news for Turkish property developers, who aren’t
allowed to build here, but good news for culture vultures, who can gorge on basilicas
and baths all within a 10-minute sandal-stroll of the beach. | |
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| Mar
Menor beach, Spain | | Fringing
the largest saltwater lagoon in Europe, Mar Menor is a supremely safe beach for
young teens to practise their watersports while mum and dad soak up the sun. However,
it’s the fact that Mar Menor is only five minutes from La Manga Club that
shoots it to the top of our list. A vast, astonishing sporting Valhalla spread
across 1,500 sculpted acres in the shadow of the Murcian hills, La Manga Club
has three championship golf courses, 28 tennis courts, junior academies for football,
rugby, tennis and golf, a riding school, a watersports centre, aerobics classes,
and kids’ clubs for children from 3 months to 12 years. If they get bored
out here, it’s time to send them out to work. | |
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