Beach Bum's Guide to Summer

Ryanair flies to so many gorgeous summer destinations, how do you choose which beautiful beach to sunbathe on next? With difficulty, but here are 20 ideas for you.

So many summer break destinations, so much sunshine — where to go first? Lydia Bell suggests 20 different beaches you could lounge around on

PLAYA DE SES ILLETES
FORMENTERA, SPAIN

Who goes: The Ibiza ultra-hip brigade
When the international clubbers descend on Ibiza in high season, the insiders head to chill-out islet Formentera, two miles south. You’ll still find sunset-to-dawn beach parties here, but set to a tranquil reggae soundtrack. If you have a problem with nudism, you may find Formentera a little outré, but the attitude here is just to relax and live and let live. The best beach of all is Caribbean-esque Playa de Ses Illetes, where some scenesters are known to lose themselves for an entire summer (quite a feat, as Formentera is only 19km by 6km). Illetes is the island’s hub, with a bay of yachts, water sports, and good places to eat. Thatched umbrellas offer respite from the sun, so sit back and relish the wild beauty.

ELAFONISI BEACH
CRETE, GREECE

Who goes: Families with water babies
If you want the real Crete, go west. Here, Chania is Crete’s most romantic town, an exquisite Venetian creation with a taverna-lined harbour looking over blue-green waters. The best beach within tripping distance is Elafonisi on the far west coast (1.5 hours, but seriously worth it). Its big boon – apart from Indian Ocean-esque sparkling waters and pristine sandbars that glow coral pink when bathed in sunset’s light – is the preservation order slapped on it. It’s refreshingly under-developed, with locals renting out rooms. Elafonisi is named for the tiny island it overlooks, separated from the shore by a metre-deep lagoon: perfect for children. Day-trippers descend in summer, so wade out across the lagoon to the islet and head south till you find a cove all to yourself.

ESSAOUIRA BEACH
ESSAOUIRA, MOROCCO.

Who goes: Beatniks, creatives, those who don’t really do beaches
Essaouira, its ancient, seagull-circled ramparts tumbling to a vast windswept bay, has been hosting hippies and artists since the 1950s, and it retains its chilled-out vibe today. Bracing trade winds mean beach time is better spent camel-riding than sunbathing, but if you like jewel-box riads, small art galleries and music festivals (the Gnaoua World Music Festival takes place here 23–26 June), then Essaouira is your beach bag.

LIDO DI VENEZIA
VENICE, ITALY

Who goes: Venetians and tourists alike
On an island in the southern lagoon of Venice, frequently gawped at by people on arriving cruise ships, this is the closest beach to Venice. Its real glory days were back in the early 20th century when it was depicted in Thomas Mann’s Death In Venice, but it’s still hugely popular with Venetians in summertime. There’s a golden, sandy beach, and the Lido is a great place to earwig on chit-chat and observe the locals. Beach huts here mean a cabin furnished with a curtain, from which you may then emerge and strike a pose.

PRASONISI BEACH
RHODES, GREECE

Who goes: Guitar-playing surfer dudes
Rhodes is the big daddy of the Dodecanese. And while it has its fair share of visitors it also has unspoiled landscapes and an intriguing culture in the labyrinthine back streets of the gorgeous Old Town. The most untouched beach is Prasonisi, a surfer’s paradise in the south that’s reachable only down long bumpy roads. Here, the Mediterranean and the Aegean part company, creating a magical sandy isthmus and some great conditions for riding the waves. Surfer dudes in camper vans congregate for chilled beach parties in the evenings, so listen out for the strumming of guitars.

PLAYA CALAHONDA
NERJA, COSTA DEL SOL, SPAIN

Who goes: Locals and holidaying British families
Nerja is the quieter, easterly stretch of the Costa del Sol. Here the beaches are awash with the scent of paella and there are no monstrous high rises. The heart of winding Nerja is the Balcón de Europa, a fabulous terrace that juts over the sapphire Med with wonderful views of the jagged coastline and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Playa Calahonda, a small and scenic fishing beach, is reached via a steep path on the left-hand side of the Balcón.

PLAYA DE SOTAVENTO
FUERTEVENTURA, SPAIN

Who goes: Windsurfers who want to get away
Fuerteventura is the Canaries at its most tranquil, so if you come seeking the dusk-till-dawn antics of Tenerife, Lanzarote or Gran Canaria, you will be disappointed. This place is all about deserted coves and fishing villages, vast tracts of white sand caressed by rays, ultramarine lagoons hidden down rutted tracks. Playa de Sotavento, where the windsurfers flock, could be one of the most photographed beaches in Europe, yet is the most deserted. When the sun goes down, head north to the town of Corralejo for a tasty fish supper down by the harbour.

BIDDEROSA BEACH
OROSEI, SARDINIA

Who goes: Nature lovers, seekers of the perfect secluded beach
With more than 1,800km of exquisite coast, this isle is smug in the knowledge that it has the most translucent azure shallows in the Med – not to mention some amazing pearly white sands. The more famous Costa Smeralda stretches for 55km in the north-east, and the unspoilt south coast has many deserted beaches. Bidderosa beach in the east is composed of five pristine coves. To get there, you have to walk 4km through a nature reserve – and it’s well worth the trip.

KILESAND BEACH
SYD-KOSTER ISLAND, SWEDEN

Who goes: Urban Swedes
West Sweden’s tiny Koster Islands are flecks in the Skagerrak strait in Sweden’s first marine national park, Kosterhavet. Enticingly car-free, and bathed in endless summer light, the two islands are home to fishing villages, and are blissful places to spend a wallowy week swimming, sunbathing, and devouring salt-smoked mackerel. Often-deserted Kilesand beach is a kilometre-long sandy stretch framed by pine trees – great for cycling to with a picnic, past grassy meadows and red-painted houses along the way.

PRAIA DE ZAVIAL
ALGARVE, PORTUGAL

Who goes: Hikers and camping hippies
The Algarve’s most westerly stretch, with rugged cliffs plunging to topaz-blue waters, this is a perfect place for learning to surf, taking walks through wild-flower-filled hinterlands, or just lying in the sun on the sandy shore. Small and secluded, Praia de Zavial, near Sagres, has everything you need for a lazy beach day, including a café nearby serving the best burgers in the Algarve. Even at the height of summer you won’t find crowds; it’s not home to any resort, and is accessible only by car.

BARAFUNDLE BEACH
PEMBROKESHIRE, SOUTH WALES

Who goes: Families with active children
This blissful corner of South Wales offers a sandy beach within reach of Bristol. The secluded beauty of Barafundle’s beach is bookended by limestone cliffs from which you can see bottlenose dolphins and basking sharks. Backed by forest and dune, it’s within the National Trust’s Stackpole Estate, a haven of farmland, lake, woodland and beach. Children will enjoy the lily ponds of the estate, home to otters, swans, ducks and more. It’s one of the loveliest spots in Wales.

PLAGE DE TAHITI
SAINT-TROPEZ, FRANCE

Who goes: The beautiful people
France’s most chi-chi coastal stretch, the Côte d’Azur, is primed for action in summer months, when the jet-set (and everyone else) descends for a dose of Riviera beach action. The coast has everything you need, from intimate rocky coves to long swathes of golden sands where it’s hard to find a free square to lay down your towel (though it’s more likely in these parts that you’ll be paying for a sunlounger and a parasol). The buzzy Plage de Tahiti was made famous by a pouting Brigitte Bardot in the 1960s, and has been playing off this vibe ever since. And why not?

CONCHE DES BALEINES
ILE DE RÉ, FRANCE.

Who goes: Oyster-lovers
This Atlantic isle of salt marshes, pines, dunes and oyster beds – criss-crossed by cycling tourists in summer – is home to gorgeous villages full of seafood restaurants and markets selling fresh cheeses, fruits and seafood. The best beach is Conche des Baleines, tucked away in the south-west corner, a curve of creamy sand backed by grassy dunes. This spot is best enjoyed with a bottle of rosé when the sands are drenched in sunset light. There are busy cafés around its lighthouse, and you can cycle to the galleries and homewares boutiques of chic St Clément des Baleines.

PLAYA DE LA MAGDALENA
SANTANDER, SPAIN

Who goes: Bucket-and-spade-loving families
The beaches of Santander in northern Spain have long been the city’s number-one draw, and it’s a great springboard for exploring the Asturias hinterland. Magdalena beach, overlooking a picturesque bay, filled with sailing ships and boasting a misty mountain backdrop, is sheltered from the north-east wind. At 350m long, its vast, fine golden sands are peppered with happy children and sun-seekers. The waters are enjoyed by splashing dogs, windsurfers and ecstatic teenagers on inflatable doughnuts.

BRELA BEACH
DALMATIAN COAST, CROATIA

Who goes: Western Europeans, particularly Italians
Talk about romantic. Visitors can’t get enough of Croatia’s sparkling waters, fishing ports, hidden islands and palm-fringed beaches: it’s eye candy for the soul. Once you get over the fact that few Croatian beaches are sandy, you’ll fall in love with their beachy blueprint: the secret cove of blue-green shallows nestled between high rocks. Along the Makarska coast, south of Zadar, Brela is a full 6km of pebbly beach forming itself into private nooks and backed by shady pines and olive groves.

COLLIOURE
LANGUEDOC, FRANCE

Who goes: Art lovers and artists
“In France there is no sky as blue as the one in Collioure,” said Henri Matisse. Matisse liked to wax lyrical about tiny, idyllic Collioure as its luminosity and general gorgeousness cured him of a bad case of artists’ block (the village sells his prints and postcards in every shop and gallery). Being only 20 minutes from Spanish Catalonia, there are Catalan accents in the architecture of its harbour, and the Pyrénées loom in the near distance. Although Collioure is mobbed in August, during the French holidays, it’s still an exquisitely pleasant one-stop-shop for lapping up good food, good art and natural beauty, laden as it is with seafood restaurants overlooking the bay, and small waterfront hotels from which you can dive directly into deep, clear, cobalt waters.

CALA FORMENTOR
MALLORCA, SPAIN

Who goes: Travellers in search of the “real” Mallorca, and the occasional celebrity
Happy holidaymakers descend on Mallorca every year, but it’s still possible to find the perfect stretch of sand. Cala Formentor, a kilometre-long narrow strip of finest white on the Formentor peninsula, is accessed by a pleasant drive through Mallorca’s northern reaches. Shrouded by palms, overlooking mountains, and with dappled turquoise waters, this is one of the island’s most captivating spots. There’s plenty to keep you occupied, from pedalos to jet skis and glass-bottomed boats (and even a surfing school), and two restaurants will keep you fuelled with chilled beers and fish dishes. The hotel Barceló Formentor is where Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier honeymooned.

ES CODOLAR BEACH
IBIZA, SPAIN

Who goes: Grown-up party people, wellness gurus and Ibiza insiders
Ibiza is the Balearic island of extremes. It is rocky yet covered in a thick spread of fragrant pines. It’s a party island and a rural haven of olive, fig and almond crops. If you’re looking for low-key insider Ibiza, your summer beach of choice should be Es Codolar. Yes, it is a pebble beach, but this serves the purpose of driving away the hordes. It is backed by the Ses Salines salt flats (making the water salty and buoyant) and a nature reserve full of brooding birds. And true to that tradition of Ibiza’s wonderful contrasts, it’s also home to Macao Cafe on the Rocks, a super-cool beach bar whose chilled-out dance music mingles with the sounds of breaking waves, serving great Italian food and cocktails.

LARA BEACH
CYPRUS

Who goes: Swimmers and foodies
In Cyprus, head west. You’ll find lush meadows, forests, sleepy monasteries and quiet beaches where turtles lay their eggs. Stay in Polis, a beach resort surrounded by citrus groves and looking across to the Akamas peninsula and its hiking trails. The area has a burgeoning agro-tourism industry, with idyllic lodgings that exude authentic Greek-Cypriot hospitality.

DOG’S BAY
CLIFDEN, CONNEMARA, IRELAND

Who goes: Wild-swimmers, hikers, romantics
Connemara is the unspoilt gem of the west of Ireland, and Dog’s Bay and Gurteen Bay, lying back to back, are the best picks in the area for walking and swimming (if you can stand the Baltic temperatures). The mysterious thing about horseshoe-shaped Dog’s Bay is how its sands got so white (it’s actually because they are “foraminiferal”, or composed of seashells), and why its waters are of the palest turquoise (pass). Have lunch in the nearby town of Clifden, where there are little shops, art galleries, and pubs playing live music, and serving Guinness and oysters.