Greek islands. Can’t beat ‘em.

Or just about anywhere on the Mediterranean coast. Though watch out for the rocky as opposed to sandy beaches. Not as fun.

Most beaches in Europe are rock, not sand. I think many beaches in the U.S. and especially the Caribbean are better than the ones in Europe. However, the Greek islands, Croatian islands, and the Algarve in Portugal all will be nice places to hit up.

Paradise Beach on the (Greek) Island of Mykonos was fun —- great atmosphere and fun place to spend the day (BRING SUNSCREEN!). Though it’s a rock beach, and some people hate them, so there’s your warning.

If you’re looking for a nice sand beach there was a BEAUTIFUL one outside the campsite I stayed at with my Contiki Tour in Barcelona — I can’t remember exactly what town it was in, but it was outside of Barcelona and AWESOME. The night we got there we were all running up and down the beach and rolling in the sand.

The most scenic beaches in Europe have to be the Greek Islands…Porto Katsiki and Egremnoi on Lefkas Island, Smugglers Cove and Laganas beaches on Zakynthos/Zante, Malia on Crete and Faliraki on Rhodes are the best for parties..but only in the summer season.

Nerja in Spain has some spectacular coves and stretches of sand, and even though I cant stand the highly commercialised resort of Benidorm on the Costa Blanca in Spain, its Levante beach is beautiful and listed as such by UNESCO.

The Amalfi coast in Italy diddnt do anything for me…I had seen far better in Greece.

The West of Ireland has some stunning beaches…Ventry on the Dingle Peninsula being the best…but hardly ever do you get the weather there to chill on it!!

Hope this helps!

Hi

there are magnificent empty beaches in North Europe. Think Baltic, Scotland & Scandinavia. Problem is the weather !

On the Med there are scattered isolated beaches. The French coast from the river Rhone to Spain is pretty sensational. South facing, backed by dunes most of the way. No major towns on the coast, but several small holiday villages.

And if you want turquoise water over white sand try the Calanques.

Problem is that the best beaches have no road access and you need to visit by boat, or take a bit of a hike.

A couple of photos of beaches near me :
http://tlp.netfirms.com/newphoto12.htm
http://tlp.netfirms.com/newphoto18.htm

Peter

There’s plenty of sandy beachs in Europe, nestled between stretches of rocky coastlines, which makes them more visually attractive. True, the Mediterranean coast is not like the Carribean, as someone noted, but it is exactly like California and Baja. I prefer this type of landscape.

East coast of Italy has about 700 km of sandy beachs.

Casale-The House with No Bidet
http://www.virtualit…

Monaco and the Cote d’Azur have great &quoteople watching" beaches- and the weather isn’ bad either.

Turkey has some great beaches and don’t forget the Black Sea beaches in Romania, Bulgaria and Crimea.

Personally, I prefer the beaches on the Mar Cantabrico (Cantabria and Asturias: north coast of Spain) and in Galicia, Spain’s northwest Atlantic coast. Unless there’s a repear of the Prestige disastrous oil spill a few years ago, the waters are much cleaner (Bandera Azul) than Spain’s Mediterranean beaches, where I have seen Bandera Roja (swimming prohibited because of pollution) more than once and at several different beaches.
BTW
Pebble beaches like those in Nice filter the water and keep it clean.

Manada i think the beach you are referring to is Sitges beach, a half hour train ride from Barcelona. i cant understand why people never talk about it or have even heard of it. Sitges beach is the best beach ive ever been to, though i havent done the greek island hopping bit. anyhow the water is clean, there is no fish smell, and it is a white sandy beach. there is even a church on the sand with a cool old cannon. there are restaurants, shops, etc. if you ever go to barcelona, go to Sitges beach you will not be disappointed.

agreed, sitges is one of the best

Try the Algarve region in Southern Portugal, such as Lagos, etc.