Secret, secluded and stunningly beautiful: we pick the top beaches around the Mediterranean and beyond if you’re looking for somewhere remote, quiet, and without tourists
Making a list of the less-popular beach destinations is tricky — as soon as you list them, people start visiting — but we’ve put together a list of hidden gems that we think you’ll love all the same. Hidden coves, sparkling waters, white sand, palm trees and more — they’re all here. To the beach we go!
Praia da Ursa, Portugal
With a name meaning Bear Beach, Praia da Ursa is tricky to get to, mainly because of the two massive rock stacks either side, one of which apparently resembles a bear holding its cub. Europe’s westernmost beach is tricky to get to — you have to follow a narrow path down the cliffs — but because of this, it’s generally uncrowded, wild and natural.
The current is strong and the water cold, so it’s a brave beachgoer who ventures into the water, but the sand is warm and the unspoiled views out across the sea and back up the rocks are wild. The fact that not many people make it here means it’s also an unofficial naturist beach, so you might get more of a view than you bargained for.
To get there from Lisbon requires a 40-minute train journey to the town of Cascais. From there, it’s a 25-minute bus trip to the lighthouse at Cabo da Roca, and then a 15-minute walk on the clifftop trail and down to the beach. Is it worth it? Absolutely.
Cala Sa Forcanera, Spain
If you’re looking for undiscovered beaches, this one is particularly good, in that it’s only accessible by boat. Located between Santa Anna beach and Sant Francesc cove, it’s one of the calmest and quietest spots on the tourist trap that is the Costa Brava.
This tiny arc of sand sits at the bottom of some cliffs, on top of which stand the Marimurtra Botanical Gardens, one of the foremost gardens on the Mediterranean coast. Even if you can’t access the beach, the gardens are wonderfully peaceful and give amazing views.
Regarding the beach itself, I tell a lie: there is one small access road, but it’s closed to the public. If you want to get down there, the best thing to do is to rent a canoe or kayak from the town of Blanes, around one kilometer along the coast. If you do, you’ll arrive at magical blue seas and, if no one else is feeling curious, a place pretty much all to yourself.
San Giovanni di Sinis, Sardinia, Italy
On the western side of Sardinia, you’ll find the lazy stretch of sand called San Giovanni di Sinis beach. The area is rich in sea life, and is part of a protected marine region, but that just means it’s all the better for diving and snorkeling.
The beach itself runs for around two kilometers, starting at an ancient Phoenician-Punic colony. In fact, when you’re not sunning yourself, the whole area is worth exploring, containing as it does the Spanish Tower, built by Philip II as a defense to ward off pirates, and the quiet village of San Giovanni di Sinis is home to a 5th-century church.
If you’re not one for history, you can content yourself with swimming, windsurfing, and wandering the sand dunes looking out for pirates. If you don’t see any, that clearly means the tower is still doing its job.
Psili Ammos, Crete, Greece
Close to the popular Vai beach, known for its palm tree-backed expanse, Psili Ammos translates as ‘fine sand’, and shares that name with a number of beaches across the Greek islands. From Vai, it’s a five-minute walk along a footpath and over the hill to the south, and amazingly few people make the effort.
Due to the rare palm forests, the entire area is protected, so there are no hotels, bars, or any other bits of tourist bait in the area (aside from the tiny café on Vai beach). This means the area is secluded, quiet, and the warm, turquoise water is calm and inviting.
You can continue to walk as well; there’s a footpath that runs south along the coast all the way to Maridati beach, so if you’re looking for even more undiscovered coves, there are plenty to choose from. It takes around two and a half hours to get to Maridati from Psili Ammos, and as the path winds its way along the edge of the island, you’ll have your choice of secluded beaches to call your own for the day.
Calanques, France
Not just one beach, but a whole host of them now. Calanques are bays or inlets, and the 10-kilometer stretch of coast between Marseille and Cassis is known for these tiny, steep-sided coves, cut dramatically into the limestone rock with many featuring gorgeous beaches.
The area is also a national park, and is home to wildlife such as wild boar and peregrine falcons, eagles, geckos and pine martens, while out at sea there are dolphins, fin whales and sea turtles.
Despite being so close to Marseille, the second-biggest city in the country, the calanques are amazingly peaceful. You’d never know you were just down the coast from a busy port, and in a way, you aren’t. Marseille faces west, while you’re happily across the other side of the headland, gazing out across the Mediterranean having found your happy place.
Kynance Cove, the UK
Let’s finish with somewhere less obvious for a beach holiday (at least to those lucky so-and-sos in Southern Europe who have the weather for them). Britain is home to some wonderful beaches, from the vast, windswept vistas of Northumberland with the odd ruined castle staring mournfully out to sea, to the Scottish islands, the flat expanses of Norfolk and the rugged coastline of Wales.
Here, however, we’re in Cornwall, a popular destination for British staycationers. The region around Kynance Cove, all the way down on the poetically-named Lizard Peninsula, is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it’s right to be so.
The golden sands, clear seas and surrounding cliffs give the place an ancient, storied feel, and you can just imagine smugglers stowing their wares in the caves, ships crashing onto the rocks on stormy nights, or old salts sharing tales of life on the sea in an ancient tavern nearby. It’s time to write your chapter in that story.
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