So as I’m a complicated man of many words I’m gonna break it into 3 categories for shits and giggles, actual beaches, seaside towns ( < 75k population); seaside cities (75k - 250k, any bigger than the city becomes more than the sea if that makes sense).

Beaches:

1. Praia da Ursa, Colares, Portugal - stunning cliffs and rock formations, wide stretch of fine golden sand lapped by pristine green-blue waters of the Atlantic, the treacherous hike to reach it, acts as excellent crowd control and gives it a special vibe.

2. Prassa Beach, Kimolos, Greece - near Milos, this beach has the most exotic clear blue waters I’ve seen anywhere, in May of this year our only neighbor for the first half of the day was a mini superyacht moored a few hundred yards offshore to the right.

3. Plaka Beach, Naxos, Greece - a very long and wide stretch of golden sand lapped by clear blue waters, when we were there in late May it was easy to have stretches of 100s of yards all to yourself.”

4. Cala Mesquida, Mallorca, Spain - one of the more famous beaches on the island and for good reason the waters are an electric hue of blue that stands out even among other beaches of Mallorca - the beach is also a fairly wide stretch of sand for being a “cala” but its fame means it still gets busy.

5. Lama Monachile, Polignano a Mare, Puglia, Italy - a small “cala” style beach surrounded by cliffs adorned with houses, with clear turquoise waters. The beach has a iconic look and become quite famous in recent years. Due to that and its small size it gets easily crowded, that plus the rocky shore knock some points off, but a special beach all the same.

Honorable mention: Firiplaka Beach, Milos; Sarikiniko Beach, Milos; Playa La Concha, San Sebastián, Praia de Creiro, Sesimbra, PT

Seaside Towns:

1. Polignano a Mare, Puglia, Italy - a gem of the Southern Italian seaside, Gorgeous whitewashed architecture adorned with marble, great bars and restaurants, quaint alleys with nooks and crannies at every turn.

2. Chora, Naxos, Greece - similar feel to Polignano, perhaps a touch more kitsch but again excellent restaurants and bars, the hilltop positioning offers nice views and the Portara temple ruins nearby are an idyllic to place to watch the sunset.

3. Sant Elm (San Telmo), Mallorca, Spain - a tiny but bougie-aired village, the town has a main thoroughfare with some cute restaurants, and the main a beach a small cala style one boasts again some of the bluest waters I’ve seen on Mallorca (which is saying something) the cliffs that form the mouth of the cala (cove) are dotted with impressive contemporary style mansions that look like they could be on some private island in California (only with prettier waters).

4. Nerja, Andalucía, Spain - about an hour drive from Málaga another quaint white-washed Mediterranean beach town.

5. Sesimbra, Portugal - about a half hour drive south of Lisbon, a cute beach town with excellent restaurants (nobody does seafood like the Portuguese) boasting IMHO some of the country’s best beaches.

Honorable mention: Lagos, Algarve, Portugal; Tossa de Mar, Costa Brava, Spain

Seaside Cities (admittedly I’m struggling with this category myself):

1. Cádiz, Spain
2. San Sebastián, Spain

All other contenders are probably places in Spain or Croatia to which I’ve never been. I avoided bigger cities because the likes of Valencia and Barcelona have too much of a non-beach adjacent identity. On second thought Nice probably fits the bill nicely, but I’ve never been personally.

This post was edited on 12/5/24 at 2:28 pm

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Posted by geauxpurple

New Orleans

Member since Jul 2014

14728 posts

Posted on 12/5/24 at 7:57 pm to purpgold718

When I think about the European beaches I have been to, I realize that it is more about the destination than the beach itself.

Amalfi Coast
Stayed there for a week. We went on the Beach in Positano. It is small and the sand is lava grey and pebbly but the Mediterranean scenery from Positano as well as some of the other towns along the coast is gorgeous.

Cinque Terre
Beautiful scenery, ho hum beaches. The beach town there is Monteroso al Mare. I was there on a cool spring day and there were few people on the beach.

Normandy
The Normandy beaches are fascinating. We got to see Gold and Omaha and got to walk way out on Utah, but no one was sunbathing in powder white sand.

French Riviera
We went on the beach in Nice. That was probably the nicest European beach destination I have been to but the beach itself is not up there with the Florida and California beaches in my opinion.

Barcelona.
Another nice beach but when we were there it was too cool for beach activities.

When I plan a European trip, beaches are not high on my priority list.

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Posted by purpgold718

Amsterdam, NL

Member since Sep 2008

748 posts

Posted on 12/6/24 at 4:56 am to geauxpurple

Nice insights thanks for the reply.

I am a bit contentiously curious about:

quote:
That was probably the nicest European beach destination I have been to but the beach itself is not up there with the Florida and California beaches in my opinion.

This general thought though, I find the European beaches (at least for example the ones I listed) to be far superior to anything in the continental US - in terms of clear blue waters, fine white or golden sand (depends on beach), lack of dangerous marine life (sharks), amenities (spanish Chiringuitos are life) or lack thereof on “wild/virgin/non-organized” beaches as they’re called depending on locale - Ursa & Prassa beaches being great examples. And the general vibe/surroundings (though this last part is subjective and can vary).

I think only (top) Caribbean, French Polynesia and Maldives type places would best the best of the Med, and only for the reefs etc they offer for snorkeling, but of course with that trade-off comes the sketchy marine life…and sometimes sketchier locals onshore (looking at you Caribbean).

Edit-to-add: for reference my missus is from Florida so I’ve been to beaches all around (Panhandle, Anna Maria Island, Southern Florida, Keys - we usually avoid the Atlantic side though, I liked Anna Maria the best of those, though Panhandle has arguably the prettiest water color in cont. US), lived in Hawaii for a bit as an Army brat growing up (but as I mentioned continental US that part is moot), but don’t have experience with Cali beaches.

For best non-continental US and non-European beaches I’d have to put Hawaii & Thai islands (Koh Phi Phi & Koh Rok) at the top, but found the best spots in Europe to be in some aspects comparable or even better (think the water colors I saw in Kimolos for example were the most impressive).

This post was edited on 12/6/24 at 7:14 am

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