Irrespective of your style in seaside, Europe obliges. From the wild, wind-lashed shores of the Atlantic coast to mountain-fringed Arctic bays the place whales elevate their tails, and the sunlit, snuggled-away coves of Italy and Greece, we convey you the cream of the European coast with these high 20 seashores.
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See the Northern Lights from Haukland seaside within the Lofoten Islands, Norway © Getty Photos
1. Haukland Seashore, Norway
Rearing up out of the Norwegian Sea like a dragon’s spine, the island of Lofoten off Norway’s northwest coast is the Arctic dream – whether or not seen within the never-dying mild of the Midnight Solar or below dancing Northern Lights in winter snows. Haukland Seashore is out of this world, with spiky granite peaks thrusting above creamy sands and sapphire sea. The water is chilly (by no means hitting greater than 15°C), however you’ll be itching to leap in all the identical.
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Limestone cliffs body the chic Cala Goloritzè in Sardinia © Getty / iStockphoto
2. Cala Goloritzè, Italy
Sardinia’s east coast Golfo di Orosei punches excessive for coastal magnificence, however few seashores make you gasp out loud like chic Cala Goloritzè, with its snow-white pebbles giving option to a sea of purest aquamarine blue. Limestone cliffs jut dramatically above the bay, as does Monte Caroddi, a 148m-high needle of rock beloved of climbers. Attain it by boat or on the boat Cala Goloritzè Path.
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Seashores do not get extra distant than West Seashore on the Outer Hebrides, Scotland © Cody Duncan/ Getty
3. West Seashore, Scotland
Out on a limb within the wild North Atlantic, the Outer Hebrides stash away a few of Europe’s remotest seashores. Singling one out is hard, however West Seashore on the wee isle of Berneray is divine. Via dunes and wind-bent machair grasses, you attain this ravishing three-mile expanse of white sand, sliding gently right into a turquoise sea. It’s usually empty however for seabirds trilling overhead and the occasional porpoise or otter.
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Plage de Palombaggia in Corsica on the Mediterranean is sort of a dream © pkazmierczak / Getty
4. Plage de Palombaggia, Corsica
In Corsica’s southeast, Plage de Palombaggia bewitches with its lengthy curve of pale, powder-soft sand shelving into cerulean blue waters as clear as glass. Backed by aromatic umbrella pines, hemmed in by wooded hills that strum with cicadas come sunset, and overlooking the Îles Cerbicale, this might effectively be the seaside of your wildest Mediterranean goals. Convey a snorkel and picnic.
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Convey your towel and sunscreen for a day on the picturesque Playa de ses Illetes in Spain © Naeblys / Shutterstock
5. Platja Illetes, Spain
With its lengthy sweep of bleach-blonde sand and translucent azure waters, Formentera’s Platja Illetes matches the barefoot paradise invoice neatly. Comparisons are swiftly made with the Caribbean however, frankly, why would you wish to think about your self anyplace else? The seaside varieties the western part of the slender Trucador Peninsula and simply offshore are the 2 illetes (islets), Pouet and Rodona, which give the seaside its identify.
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The brief headland stroll is value it to get to the broad seaside at Barafundle Bay © Emma Farrer / Getty Photos
6. Barafundle Bay, Wales
A breezy stroll over gorse-cloaked clifftops on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path ramps up the anticipation for Barafundle Bay: an arc of butterscotch sand, rimmed by dunes and easing its means gently clear turquoise water. This bay usually tops the polls of the UK’s best seashores and in case you keep away from busy weekends in summer season, you’ll really feel the magic.
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Be awed by the pounding surf at Praia Da Arrifana in Portugal © Getty
7. Praia da Arrifana, Portugal
On the Algarve’s wild, wind-whipped west coast, crowds are few and the Atlantic waves are great. Cliff-wrapped Praia da Arrifana is a beautiful golden crescent, with a ruined fortress, beachside restaurant and loads of critical surf. For extra of the identical, hop south to lagoonside Praia da Bordeira, the place dunes fizz away into the good blue sea.
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Come to Cala Macarella bay on the Balearic island of Menorca and you may by no means wish to go away © S.Gruene / Shutte
8. Cala Macarella, Menorca
Making only a tiny indentation on Menorca’s southwest coast, Cala Macarella is playa fantasy stuff, with flour-white sand and startlingly turquoise waters. Nuzzling amongst cliffs stippled with pines and holm oaks, the horseshoe-shaped bay can solely be reached on foot or by boat. It will get extremely busy in summer season, so time it proper by arriving early or late or visiting within the off-season.
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Navagio seaside on Zakynthos island in Greece © extravagantni/Getty Photos
9. Navagio Seashore, Greece
The Greek seaside of 1,000,000 postcards, Navagio in Zakynthos is one place you is perhaps glad to seek out your self shipwrecked – therefore its prosaic nickname Shipwreck Seashore. With mighty cliffs flinging up above an ideal arc of sand and sea so blue it seems Photoshopped, this heaven-on-earth seaside isn’t any secret. However in case you dodge the excessive season, it’s nonetheless value boating it out right here to be momentarily floored by its magnificence.
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Get off the crushed observe in Mallorca © Adrian Weinbrecht / Getty Photos
10. Platja de Coll Baix, Mallorca
Half the enjoyable is managing to seek out this distant, thrillingly wild fantastic thing about a seaside on Mallorca’s off-the-beaten-track Cap des Pinar peninsula. A strolling path descends by way of pines and scrambles down the coast to Platja de Coll Baix. A stunning scoop of pale pebbles and crystal-clear sea, rimmed by crumbling cliffs, the bay is at its peaceable greatest early or late within the day.
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Pine and eucalyptus border the seaside of Île de Porquerolles in France © Monika Lewandowska / Getty
11. Île de Porquerolles, France
Too petite to call only one seaside, the car-free islet of Île de Porquerolles, dangling simply off the coast of Hyères, is a scrumptious amuse-bouche of the French Riviera – offering you sidestep the sun-worshipping day-trippers within the peak of summer season, that’s. Come within the off-season to really really feel the love for this crescent-shaped seaside of pearl-white sand, skirted by pine and eucalyptus woods.
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The golden Rauðasandur seaside, West Fjords, Iceland © Gareth Codd / Getty
12. Rauðasandur, Iceland
On the Látrabjarg Peninsula within the distant Westfjords of Iceland and reached by a winding mountain street, Rauðasandur is huge, empty and staggeringly stunning. Shaped by crushed scallop shells, its bronze sands are buttressed by darkish cliffs, backed by an azure lagoon and suffering from a wild, wild sea. In the event you hike on Látrabjarg chicken cliffs, hold an eye fixed out for puffins and seals. On clear days, views attain to the Snæfellsjökull glacier volcano.
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Playa de las Catedrales is an exquisite seaside within the north of Spain © Getty / iStockphoto
13. Praia as Catedrais, Spain
If you wish to worship on the altar of the seaside gods, Praia as Catedrais in Galicia is heaven. Taking its identify (‘Cathedral Seashore’) from the way in which wind and water have gnawed this stretch of shoreline into spectacular rock arches, towers and chambers, it’s greatest visited at low tide when its lengthy golden sands are correctly uncovered. Within the peak of summer season, a free allow is required to go to.
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The postcard-perfect fortified island village of Sveti Stefan in Montenegro © Sloneg / Getty
14. Sveti Stefan, Montenegro
The Adriatic would not get way more ludicrously photogenic than the fortified island village of Sveti Stefan (Свети Стефан) in Montenegro. Right here pines, olive bushes and oleanders peek above Fifteenth-century stone villas, which quietly survey pink sands and limpid waters from their rocky perch. You possibly can laze on the seaside, however until you’re staying on the Aman Resort you’ll be able to solely go to the precise island by tour.
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Lara Seashore in Paphos district of Cyprus is well worth the bumpy drive © Tupungato / Getty Photos
15. Lara Seashore, Cyprus
A style of Cyprus earlier than the daybreak of tourism, delightfully secluded Lara Seashore makes a bit of notch on the island’s west coast. It’s a bumpy drive (a 4×4 is advisable), however efforts are rewarded while you attain the tremendously unspoilt sands and pristine waters of this conservation space – an necessary hatchery and nesting floor for loggerhead and inexperienced turtles. Monk seals additionally inhabit sea caves across the peninsula.
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A uncommon sight of empty deck chairs on Brac Island’s Zlatni Rat seaside © Dreamer4787 / Shutterstock
16. Zlatni Rat, Croatia
The poster-child of Croatia’s coast, Zlatni Rat on Brač Island isn’t any secret, however don’t let that cease you. Get a wriggle on within the off-season as a substitute to discover a extra peaceable vibe at this phenomenal sand-and-pebble seaside, which dips its pale, slender toes into the inky Adriatic and gazes wistfully as much as the rugged cliffs and forested mountains of Dalmatia. Pine bushes provide welcome shade.
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Wander on the superb white sands of Dueodde on the southern tip of Bornholm © Go to Denmark
17. Dueodde, Denmark
Showing like a remembered dream within the painterly pastel mild of sundown, Dueodde reclines on the southernmost tip of the island of Bornholm in Denmark’s Baltic Sea. Backed by expansive dunes and pines, its sand is as white and comfortable as talcum powder – so fine-grained, in actual fact, that it was as soon as utilized in hourglasses. You possibly can stroll for miles, discovering house and solitude, and wade out to sea without end with water solely reaching your knees. By evening, the one mild comes from the celebrities and blinking lighthouse.
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Mountains meet the ocean at Keem Bay on Achill Island off the west coast of Eire © Rihardzz / Shutterstock
18. Keem Bay, Eire
Eire’s Wild Atlantic Means hides a crock of gold in relation to dramatic coastlines – and nowhere extra so than at gloriously distant Keem Bay on the far west of Achill Island. A precipitous coastal drive fires the urge for food for correct wilderness – and right here you’ve it. Bearing the brunt of stormy seas and the fickle whims of the Irish climate, this half-moon bay of golden sand spreads on the foot of steep cliffs and grassy slopes. Basking sharks can typically be sighted offshore.
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Standard Myrtos seaside at Kefalonia Island in Greece © Panos Karas / Shutterstock
19. Myrtos Seashore, Kefallonia
The street that helter-skelters down the steep hillside to Myrtos on Kefallonia quickens pulses as a lot because the bay itself. From above, it seems as if mighty Poseidon has emerged from the deep and cleaved the coast in two, abandoning this fiercely stunning white-pebble bay, framed by sheer cliffs and lapped by the ocean that ticks nearly each blue on the colour chart. It’s justifiably fashionable so keep away from peak instances and seasons.
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Spiaggia dei Conigli on Lampedusa in Sicily is vastly fashionable with vacationers © Natursports / Shutterstock
20. Spiaggia dei Conigli, Sicily
Sicily has some implausible seashores up its volcanic sleeves, however a extra wondrous spiaggia but lies off the coast on far-flung, still-kind-of-a-secret Lampedusa – Italy’s southernmost island, which is technically nearer to Tunisia. Right here you’ll be blown away by the Spiaggia dei Conigli (Rabbit Seashore), with its bleached sands and shallow aquamarine water. Accessible solely by boat or on foot, the seaside varieties a part of a marine reserve the place loggerhead turtles nest – it’s, subsequently, off-limits at evening from roughly Might to August.
