Romantic, non-crowded August beach or pool destination?

Difficult. So much of Europe is very crowded, doubly so at that time of year. You will have to work hard and be creative to avoid major crowds at anyplace that meets your description.

I doubt you will find any coast in Europe that isn’t busy or fully booked in August if you are looking to book for this year.

Comporta south of Lisbon in Portugal has some very exclusive hotels and is a pretty coastline. Quinta do Lago on the Algarve may also suit.

Thanks, it's certainly not ideal. We're prepared to make compromises, but I just don't know generally what is most and least crowded. What I'd love to find is a general ranking of the crowds, from most to least crowded in August. Such as: (most) French Riviera, Greece, Croatia, Italian beaches - down to lesser crowding in: Portugal - Madeira?, Malta, Cyprus, lesser visited regions of Greece?

For an August trip if you have not reserved by now your chances are slim. As I am sure you know August is THE vacation month for most Europeans (though not as much as some years ago) But Islands, coastal resorts, mountains and campgrounds are typically full at that time....But good luck.

Even places as obscure as Albania are packed.

Try Bulgaria...but that is very busy too...

Thank you, I will check out the areas of Portugal that you suggest. We don't need a beach, but then ideally we would stay at a luxurious resort with a great pool. Could that work? I'd love to check out Vienna, Prague, Brussels, Copenhagen, etc.

To beat the heat I would go up. Alpine lakes have beaches and resorts with pools.

We are contra travelers. The European coastal areas are very hot in August--very hot. That is when we go to the much cooler mountains--usually in Northern Italian Dolomites or in the Tirol region of Austria. Bavaria Ben has great properties and info on his website.

If you're ok with renting a car for your stay, I might suggest looking for an upscale gite (France) or agritourismo (Tuscany or elsewhere in Italy) with it's own pool. No crowds there and some are quite luxurious. And if you pick one within easy commuting distance to one or more larger tourist towns you can work your sightseeing around the more crowded times and retreat to your own 'resort' in the evenings.

Forget about quiet beaches in August, you'll struggle to find any. Your only option remains with pools and if you want complete serenity then renting a villa with a private pool is your option. The choices are endless and it would be impossible for anyone to provide a definitive list of ranking. A search for luxury villas to rent in Europe will return plenty of results.

There's something magical about Mdina, Malta or Gozo (beautiful and more rural)...but it will be blazing hot at that time. Plenty of pools and interesting properties, including luxury accommodations. Also consider the coastline of Turkey, it's gorgeous (although I think it will be crowded too unless you go off the beaten path, which does exist if you're willing to look hard enough).

If you would like a luxurious resort with a pool in an historic European city, consider this five-star hotel on its own island near Venice.

https://www.kempinski.com/en/venice/san-clemente-palace-kempinski/

They provide boat transport to and from Venice. The pool is a 20- meter one. And you could also visit the Lido beaches for a change of scenery.

Kardamyli maybe?

What about Lake Como or Lake Lugano? Are these areas spoiled in August?

How about the Baltic area? Along the Baltic coast in Germany?

Tia, last summer we had plans to go to the beach in Punta Umbria, Huelva for the 15th of August. We booked well in advance, it was my family and mother in law, and it was for a wedding, plus beach time. As happens sometimes, about 5 weeks before the wedding my wife informed me that we weren´t going and to find a different place to go, and that there was a beach.

As everyone has mention, going south everything was full. So we looked north. We got a place on the beach in Brittany, in the Finistere part. I grew up in coastal San Diego, so I´ve had enough beach in my life but I still enjoy seeing/being near the sea. The place we found was on the beach, a 50yd walk down. The beach was wide, flat, and very clean. The water was nice. The only problem was the weather wasn´t the best for laying out. But we did have a pair of days.

Except for true beach weather, the area has many of the things you are looking for. The whole coast has wonderful views, and the sunset were some of the best I´ve ever seen. For me the best was no big crowds. There were tourist, but not crazy lines or unsightly crowds. Quimper was a short distance and is very nice, and Locronan was fantastic. One evening they had a night time market, and it was well worth the visit.

Hope that helps.

Would you consider someplace outside Europe? (I know, blasphemy here...)

Availability will be an issue, but you might get lucky by checking out 5-star agriturismos in Italy (or the equivalent in other suitable countries). I assume any such place will have a pool, and it will not be surrounded by mobs of people.

Do you want to be so hot? I'd look further north. A castle stay in Ireland, perhaps? Also in Denmark, you're never far from a beach. Here's a very random listing I just saw north of Copenhagen, courtesy of booking.com - they have lots of filters, such as beach, balcony, spa, etc.

Do a quick check to see if Hotel Kekrafalia in Agistri, Greece, is available. You might be too late, but it's worth checking. It's a beautiful boutique hotel with a private beach/cement platform with sunbeds and the most beautiful water and views. And it's dirt cheap for what you get, you'd easily pay double for the quality of room/amenities/service even in most other places in Greece, not to mention other European destinations, and it's just 90 minute by slow ferry from Athens. Bonus: You can take the ferry to the neighboring island of Aegina for some ruins and history. The views are stunning, there's hiking from the hotel to natural beaches that will blow your mind. And Paris will handle your needs for fresh seafood or drinks with ease and a smile.

If Kekrefalia is booked, you could also try Rosy's Little Village - rooms are simpler but it also has a private bathing platform and is close to a couple cove beaches , or another hotel on the Skala side of the island that would tick all your boxes.

The Costa de la Luz (coast of light), Spain's west coast from Tarifa up to Portugal has miles and miles (and miles) of very lightly populated soft sand beaches between rocky points and cliffs. Except for a few (not even a handful) of small cities, there are enough services to meet your basic needs and not much more. Just sun, sand and ocean.

I was just on the southwest coast of France, just south of Arcachon. I really liked that area in June but I think it gets crowded during the high summer months. Costa de la Luz is remote for Europeans so it doesn't seem to get the monster crowds of most beach areas (including the north and east coast of Spain).

To make it luxurious, you need to find a parador to stay in. http://www.parador.es/en/blog/costa-luz-paradores

Have you considered Malta? Great history and architecture, oceans, luxury accomodations - not sure about crowds.

On our recent Mediterranean cruise one of the ports was Saranda, Albania. It is a beach resort and may be worth looking into.

Madeira checks all the boxes.

If you really want to avoid the crowds, have you considered moving your 10 year anniversary trip to September? I know it sounds a bit radical. This would allow you to celebrate not just once but TWICE and you can truly enjoy your time together without the hordes of tourist masses encroaching upon you both like locusts.

Santorini, your top pick, could then be a reality. Think about it.