2020 European Summer Vacation - Sea and Sand

I haven't been to Sardinia and that's part of what would make it my first choice on this list. Corsica is also lovely (but I speak having only visited the northern tip, Cap Corse).

Halkidiki has nice beaches, but I was there on November 1, so didn't get the whole vibe.

Having spent a fair amount of time on Kos visiting friends, I'd say that you can find some nice beaches with a car, but the most accessible around Kos town are long, flat, and not very soft - popular with package tours to all-inclusive resorts. Can't really remember the beaches of Samos, as I transited through pretty quickly, heading toward smaller islands like Lipsi and Agathonisi, where I enjoyed small, protected, fjord-like beaches and fresh fish.

These particular Greek islands don't have the picturesque "sugar cube" style and colors that you'd find in the Cyclades. Check photos online to decide whether they are "beautiful."

Thanks Laura. My list keeps expanding :)

Here is the question I should have asked from the start:

If you had to choose one southern European (Mediterranean) place where you could base yourself next to a beautiful beach with warmer waters that is close to a gorgeous small town to stroll in the day and evening, but also be a destination where you can take interesting day trips to see historical sites, other beautiful villages and secluded beaches, where would you go (destination and town/village)?

The issue I’m running into in my mind is “sandy”. Most of the med. beaches I’ve been to are lovely, but more rocky. Not like the Caribbean or Hawaii, for example. I’m sure there are exceptions but that might be the thing to look at most closely if it’s high priority, since it seems more rare.

On your other points I’d look at Nafplio. Beautiful town, great seaside views, amazing history nearby, plenty of nice beaches (but these aren’t perfect sandy beaches).

Also I haven’t been yet but maybe ask someone who knows about Portugal.

I took out the word sandy :)

Any beautiful beach will do.

Tavira in Portugal meets some, but not all of your criteria - it’s gorgeous, laid back, a good base for day trips, has great food and even better (and cheap) wine and sandy beaches. But the beach is out on the barrier island, so you have to take the short ferry across or drive to nearby Barril beach, where you can walk onto the beach. Also, the sea isn’t as warm as at the eastern end of the Med, but it’s much warmer than at the western end of the Algarve.

The villages of Jelsa, Vrboska and Stari Grad on the island of Hvar in Croatia have pebbly beaches but otherwise meet your criteria. It’s a fantastic island to explore, but Hvar town is best avoided in high season as a place to stay as it’s noisy at night.

In Greece, I would head to the smaller Ionian Islands, as they have a breeze to offset the intense heat.

The only problem with your wishlist is that it is very difficult to combine them all in one place. In the past people weren't interested in building towns and villages around beautiful beaches as there would be no purpose in doing so. What was required were sheltered coves that made good locations for ports and harbours. Consequently the vast majority of old towns and villages have small beaches of either rock or sand if at all. There are plenty of gorgeous, sandy stretches of beaches but these tend to be secluded and are not situated in places that are within walking distance to old towns.

One option that does come close is the town of Estepona on the Costa Del Sol. It's a traditional pueblo blanco that has retained much of its charm and it's also situated right in front of a long sandy beach. However the beach cannot be considered remote or secluded, there's a long promenade running the length and a variety of vendors, beach bars, loungers scattered along so it does get busy in the summer but you do have the ability to cross the road and amble through the Old Town in the evening and enjoy many of the excellent restaurants there. There's also the extensive choice of day trips to take.

I would cross Corfu and Kos off the list. I haven't been to Sardinia yet but it's on the list. Menorca is nice but I'd opt for Mallorca for greater choice and more interest.

This is a great website for Mallorca. Have a look at their guide to beaches in Mallorca and then you can explore what towns and villages are nearby to help narrow down locations. One of my favourite beaches is Es Trenc (gives any Caribbean beach I've been to a run for its money) however there's not much nearby as it's within a national park.

https://www.abc-mallorca.com/best-beaches-in-majorca/

I am another vote for Corsica, visited the southern part a couple of years ago and feel hook, line and sinker!!!

Maybe not the very warmest waters, and definitely not sandy, but definitely checks off all the other boxes: Nice, France.

It’s a very individual thing, but I was disappointed with Corsica and have no desire to return! Likewise, I wouldn’t consider Nice as ticking your boxes, other than good food and drink.

Northern Spain has a stunning sandy coastline, backed by mountains in the Picos de Europa and is more laid back than the southern resorts and ticks most of your boxes.

I'll throw in a wild card......the Isle of Wight. It's not the Med but The Solent in August isn't that bad (Bournemouth beach in the summer is heaving). August should be perfect weather, warm but not baking hot, perfect for exploring fantastically intact castles, Victorian forts, secret rocket test sites, Queen Victoria's summer residence, spectacular natural sites, gorgeous beaches and much more.

Fly Prague to Gatwick, cheap train from the airport direct to Portsmouth Harbour and ferry to the island. Travel around easily by public transport or hire a car.

August in southern Europe is great for lounging around water, abysmal for traipsing around sightseeing.

We love the Greek Islands which have lots of history to take in. We live on an island in coastal Georgia and never go to Europe to go to the beach.
It may not be my kind of vacation, but the islands are nice. We enjoyed a couple of cruises that visited several islands and found that a very good way to see many.

Having been to the Caribbean, if you want great beaches, I would do the Caribbean instead of Europe.

There are many, many interestirng places in northern Spain, stretching all the way from Barcelona to Galicia. Except for Catalunya's Mediterranean coast, I wouldn't consider any of the beaches of northern Spain ideal for a beach-focused vacation. The weather is much cooler and damper than elsewhere in the country. Overcast days are extremely common. When I traveled through that area jn June 2016, I saw few leople actually in the water, and a lot of those were wearing wetsuits. It's a lovely area for sightseeing in the
summer when the rest of Spain is baking, but beach weather cannot be counted on.

I guess I can't vouch for one place or the other, but a thought, August has traditionally been "the" vacation month in Europe, so a great deal of the population will be looking to do what you are. Mykonos for example, while lovely and has most of what you are looking for, will be very crowded, with prices to match demand.

I guess I would target a lesser known destination (Corfu, Kos, maybe Naxos would also likely drop out) that does not target the package tour crowd.

Greece would be the warmest water, other parts of the Med always tend to have some chill, smaller to mid size towns away from resorts tend to have what you are looking for, I think food and wine would be decent anywhere in the Med.

I have a crazy idea - how about one of the coastal towns on Zealand in Denmark? We loved Tisvilde and spent a week there two summers ago.

“a lesser known destination Corfu and Kos”. These maybe lesser known to Americans, but I envisage that more Europeans head here than to Mykonos, which is known as THE lgbt island in Greece.

Lots of intriguing options! You could just flip an eight- or ten-sided coin, if you had one.

Nice, founded by Greeks about 350 B.C., and still offering Ancient Roman sights, plus the sublimely walkable Promenade des Anglais seaside passageway, would still seem to fit the bill. It’s a city of over 300,000 but strolling the old town, the area by the old port, or the neighborhood up by the Cours Saleya market, they still seem pretty intimate. The village and beach of ritzy Villefranche-sur-mer just down the coast, or Antibes in the opposite direction, charming Vence and St. Paul de Vence inland, and tiny but substantial Monaco offer nearby day-trip getaways. And yeah, food can be pretty good, too.

The quintessential beach vacation for us in Barcelona was to take the bus up to Tossa de Mar on the Costa Brava for a long weekend, when you google images of Tossa de Mar you'll see why ;-)

Though, know that Tossa is certainly not undiscovered these days, especially during the high summer months.

(PS: the beach at Tossa is quite sandy!)

I'm someone who is also looking for what you are, although I don't mind rocky or pebbly beaches if the water/scenery is beautiful enough.

I haven't been to Menorca, but I think Mallorca is an underrated destination IF you avoid the all-inclusive hotels that cater to Brits and Germans (or both). Unfortunately the long strands of sandy beaches tend to be dominated by all-inclusives in most places. This is largely the case of Alcudia Bay which is beautiful, but at the northern tip of the bay is Pollensca, which has been a resort town for a while so is not dominated by that post-war building. We stayed in nearby Cala St. Vincent, which had a couple pocket sandy beaches and a highly recommended B&B. We drove to Pollensca, Alcudia town, and other great beaches on the rocky park of Formentor (which was stunning all-around, but a bit hairy with the tourist buses and the roads). Mallorca is small so if you're willing to drive for day trips, but want beach time, Cala St. Vincent or Pollencsa may fit the bill for you. Soller is another option, I only visited by train from Palma, which is a really underrated city, very beautiful, with some lovely beaches not too far out of town as well.

I also love the island of Agistri about 60-90 minutes by boat from Athens, there are affordable hotels and sandy beautiful beach, although staying at Kerkafalia hotel with it's private "slab" into pristine water made the experience for me. My only concern is there's not much to do in town but grocery shopping and go to dinner. We hiked the island, took the ferry to the larger island of Aegnia (which does not have great beaches but does have some great ruins), and just relaxed, but that was over the course of 4 days, so you might get bored.

I haven't been to Sardinia but everyone I know who has says it's wonderful. The search continues, although I think this year I will be going back to Agistri as it's a perfect place to relax and enjoy some fantastic food.