Beach sights in Europe
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Praia do Guincho
The long, wild Praia do Guincho is a surfer's and windsurfer's paradise (the site of previous World Surfing Championships) with massive crashing rollers. The strong undertow can be dangerous for swimmers and novice surfers.
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Rhodes Town Beach
The town beach begins north of Mandraki and continues around the island's northernmost point and down the west side of the New Town. The best spots will depend on the prevailing winds but tend to be on the east side.
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Petra tou Romiou (Aphrodite's Rock & Beach)
Possibly the most famous and mythical beach in Cyprus, Aphrodite's Beach is most certainly one of the island's most beautiful. Driving along the old B6 road from Lemesos to Pafos (a highly recommended journey), you'll stop in awe as you see the vast indigo expanse of the Mediterranean beneath the intense blue of the cloudless summer sky, the white rock and the beach that curls around it. The view from the road is stunning. The two upright rocks look as if they might just walk out of the water.
Mysteriously, swimmers sit on top of them, making the less-acrobatic wonder how they've managed to climb all the way up. The sea here is cool and fresh, and the beach is wonderful f…
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Lagos
Lagos oozes life. A vibrant, sunny town, its pretty cobbled streets bristle with cafes, restaurants and bars. It's a magnet for backpackers and surf dudes, who swing between its clubs and nearby sweeping beaches and striking coastal coves. Lagos also has historical clout, having launched many naval excursions during Portugal's Age of Discoveries.
Lagos' little Igreja de Santo António (Rua General Alberto da Silveira; admission €2; 09:30-12:30 & 14:00-17:00 Tue-Sun), bursting with 18th- and 19th-century gilded, carved wood, is a stupendous baroque extravaganza. Beaming cherubs and ripening grapes are much in evidence.
Enter from the adjacent Museu Municipal (tel: 282 76…
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Burgas Beach
Although it can't compare with the far superior beaches at the nearby resorts, or even with Varna's urban stretch of sand, Burgas Beach still attracts plenty of locals on a hot summer day. It's a bit grubby at the southern end, with its long concrete pier, used as a diving platform by teenage boys and a fishing station by old men, but further on there are some smart beach bars and a couple of restaurants, and, in summer, the beach is kept clean by regular sweepers and watched over by lifeguards.
There are often high winds and high waves along this coast: not great for swimming, but OK for windsurfers. Boards may be rented from the Morski Klub at the northern end of the be…
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Governor's Beach
Lemesos' tourist appeal starts 30km east of the city, at Governor's Beach. With a private bus serving the area from Lemesos, many decide to spend their day chilling out (or, more appropriately, baking) on the several coves of dark sand, contrasted by the white chalk cliffs behind them. There are a couple of restaurants here and at least one place to stay, though the overall ambience is slightly marred by the sight of the large Vasilikos power station looming 3km to the west.
Beach techno parties are frequent during the summer here, so keep an eye out for leaflets advertising such events across the island.
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Beaches & Islands
There are coves around the Hotels Amfora and Dalmacija for swimming, but most people head to the Pakleni Islands (Pakleni Otoci), which got their name from Paklina, the resin that once coated boats and ships.
Taxi boats (30mins) leave regularly during the high season from in front of the Arsenal to the islands of Jerolim and Stipanska, which are popular naturist islands (although nudity is not mandatory), and then continue on to Ždrilica and Palmižana, the latter being a sandy beach.
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Arkadia beach
Lots of people do swim at Odesa's crowded, dirty beaches in summer, but that's not really what beach life here is about. With its English, Victorian-style sideshows and lines of cafes, bars and clubs, the most popular beach, Arkadia, is for hanging out - seeing and being seen. As you travel down the boulevard, enjoy the views of the old sanatoriums.
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Mylopotas Beach
The busiest and most popular beach on Ios used to be littered with people sleeping rough to avoid paying for accommodation. It's still busy and parties still prevail, but sleeping here is no longer allowed. Popular for good reason, the beach is long, sandy and safe, with a good smattering of watersports centres, cafes and places to stay.
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Myrtos
One of Greece's best beaches can be found at Myrtos. Pull off the hair-raising stretch of road to admire the white sand and exquisite blue water set between tall limestone cliffs. There are minimal facilities at the beach itself. Be aware that the water here becomes deep quite quickly and there can be a strong undercurrent.
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Lagos Beaches
South of town the beaches - Batata, Pinhão, Dona Ana, Camilo and others - are smaller and more secluded, lapped by calm waters and punctuated with amazing grottoes, coves and towers of coloured sandstone. Avoid swimming at Batata and, to the east, at Ana. There's a ferry to Lagos beach.
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Beach
The beach on the Valea Morilor Lake's northwestern shores gets packed with sunbathers and swimmers at weekends. You can hire canoes, rowing and paddle boats from the boat station on the lake's southern shores.
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Ammoudara Beach
Ammoudara Beach, 3km from town, is a little better thank the town beaches and supports a fairly busy restaurant and accommodation scene.
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Beaches
A series of pleasant beaches stretches northeast from the Port Olímpic marina. They are largely artificial but this doesn’t stop an estimated 7 million bathers from piling in every year! Each autumn, storms wash much of the sand out to sea and the town hall patiently replaces it for the following season. From 2009, a series of underwater barrages in front of some of the beaches should reduce the waves caused by these storms and save a lot of trouble. The southernmost beach, Platja de la Nova Icària, is the busiest. Behind it, across the Avinguda del Litoral highway, is the Plaça dels Champions, site of the rusting three-tiered platform used to honour medallists in the…
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Gemikonaği (Karavostasi)
Gemikonaği (Karavostasi) Citrus groves stretch westwards from Morfou, towards Morfou Bay. The thin strips of beach are not so great: there's no shade, the pebbles are uncomfortable, and it's all a bit narrow. But there aren't many people about and the sea is pretty calm. The villagers from the Troödos foothills in the South used to make the short trip to Morfou Bay to swim before 1974, but due to the border, they now have to trek over 100km away to Larnaka.
The once-flourishing port of Gemikonağı dominates the bay, and you will spot the long-abandoned and slowly disintegrating jetty before you actually catch sight of the port itself. The town was once home to a large Am…
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Novy Svit Beach
Although 7km outside Sudak, the beach at Novy Svit Beach is very much part of the same experience. In high season, buses and marshrutky wind regularly across the slightly hairy but breathtakingly gorgeous mountain road connecting Sudak with this popular satellite. Each bus is jam-packed with day-trippers coming to water-ski, jet-ski, scuba dive, hire pedalos and swim.
Whether in the high season or the more relaxed and arguably more amenable shoulder period, Novy Svit bay is generally considered to have some of the best beachfront in Crimea. And that's not just because there's sand, albeit of a greyish complexion; it's also because of its scenic setting between the 474m Mt…
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Marine Terrace
A stroll along Marine Terrace, the walkway overlooking North Beach, is the most genteel pursuit on offer and one that harks back to the town's erstwhile halcyon days as a Victorian resort. When you reach the bottom of the 1.5-mile prom, it's customary to kick the white bar, although the locals can't seem to explain the rationale behind this ritual.
North Beach is lined by faintly shabby Georgian hotels, albeit with a couple of notable exceptions. The top-heavy Royal Pier lumbers out to sea under the weight of its cheerfully tacky amusements arcade. North Beach is also the main swimming beach as South Beach has few facilities, although both beaches have lifeguards and an E…
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Cascais
This former fishing village ('Kush-KAISH') has been tuned in to tourism since 1870, when the royal court first came here for the summer, bringing a train of nobility in its wake. It's now the liveliest beach resort on the Estoril Coast, attracting a young and international crowd.
For a hint of Cascais' former life as a fishing village, head for the fish market, between Praia da Ribeira and Praia da Rainha, where an auctioneer sells off the day's catch in an unintelligible rapid-fire lingo.
The atmospheric back lanes and alleys to the west of the câmara municipal (town hall) are also worth exploring. In a shady square southwest of the câmara municipal is Igreja de Nossa S…
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Kourion Beach
This is a lovely beach of grey sand and small pebbles, with waves soaking the sand. The area is windy and attracts windsurfers and other wind-dependent sportspeople, as well as the general public, who come here for the stunning lack of visual clutter or buildings. Kourion Beach is around 17km west of Lemesos, within the British Sovereign Base Area (SBA), which is partly responsible for the lack of development in this pocket of the island.
The beach can be reached by public transport from Lemesos, although the locals like to drive their cars and 4WDs practically up to the water's edge. There is no shade, apart from the escape offered by several tavernas. The eastern end of…
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Aberdeen Beach
Aberdeen Beach is 800m east of the city centre. A spectacular 2-mile sweep of clean, golden sand stretching between the mouths of the Rivers Dee and Don. At one time Aberdeen Beach was a good, old-fashioned British seaside resort, but the availability of cheap package holidays has lured Scottish holidaymakers away from its somewhat chilly delights. On a warm summer's day, though, it's still an excellent beach.
You can get away from the fun fair atmosphere by walking north towards the more secluded part of the beach. There is a bird-watching hide on the south bank of the River Don, between the beach and King St, which leads back south towards Old Aberdeen.
Buses 14 and 15 (…
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Il Sorgeto
From the pier, brightly painted water taxis reach some of the island's best beaches, including the intimate cove of Il Sorgeto, with its steamy thermal spring. Sorgeto can also be reached on foot down a poorly signposted path from the village of Panza.
A world away from north-coast crowds, tiny Sant'Angelo is the most chic spot on the island. Quiet laneways spill down the hill, flanked by chic boutiques, galleries, frangipani and sunning cats. At the bottom on Piazetta Ottorino Troia, tanned Italians sip Campari soda and take in late-night summer music concerts. Keeping an eye on it all is the great hulking scoglio (rock), joined to the village by a long sandbar sprinkle…
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South Beach
There are a few scrappy beaches around the coast of the old town which are popular with some locals and visitors, but they're small and rocky and the water is often choked with seaweed. Around 1.5km west of the old town is South Beach, a long and well managed stretch of sand which has seen some major developments over the last few years. All the usual water sports are available, including jet-skiing, water-skiing, windsurfing and pedalos. The beach is lined with several giant hotel complexes, although the officially protected sand dunes at the far end should, hopefully, prevent further construction.
The beach is lined with several giant hotel complexes, although the offic…
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Lido Pizzo
Gallipoli's beaches stretch in great curves both north and south of town. To the north is the Lido Conchiglie and the disco quarter, but it's south you want to go, to the long sandy stretch of Baia Verde. Between September and May the lidos (managed sections of beach with umbrellas and beds) are closed so you can enjoy the beach pretty much all to yourself for free.
In May things start to crank up, the beach is raked to perfection and the lidos are renovated and repainted ready for the hectic summer months. Gallipoli's best lidos are Punta della Suina, and further south the super-pretty Lido Pizzo, backed by whispering pine trees. There's also the tiny La Purita beach on …
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Avdimou Beach
The closest thing to a deserted beach in this part of the island is Avdimou. As you park your car (which is the only means of getting here), a massive sign warns those inclined to nudism that there will be a heavy punishment if they even think of stripping here. As things go, this is a good indication that hardly anyone comes to this place, and that the beach is a peaceful and quiet one. Like most other beaches in Cyprus, it has no shade, and is a combination of small pebbles and sand.
The sea is not as choppy as at Kourion Beach and, with a good umbrella, this is the place for super-relaxation.
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Beach
Steps from Primorski Park lead down to the city's long, sandy beach, which is hugely popular with local sunbathers, paddlers and beach volleyball players. There are also a couple of tiny, outdoor, steaming mineral-water pools, more popular with rheumatic pensioners. The main attraction, though, is the long coastal lane, officially known as aleya Georgi Georgiev but more commonly referred to either as Plazhna aleya or Kraybrezhna aleya.
Some of the trendiest bars are found here, although most only have a brief existence in the summer sunshine and many change names from one year to the next.
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