Fourteen beaches between Portugal and the Greek islands where you can spread a towel without negotiating a footprint.
The European coast measures roughly 100,000 km. The places you fight a sunlounger for measure maybe 1,000 km of that. Here is a list of beaches by country where, with a small effort, you can still find quiet.
Portugal
Praia do Carvalho, Beja
A pocket beach on the Alentejo coast reached by a wooden staircase from the cliff. No bar, no parking attendants, no problem.
Praia da Bordeira, Aljezur
Wide tidal beach where the river meets the Atlantic. Surfers in winter, almost empty on weekdays in May.
Spain
Playa de Bolonia, Cádiz
Roman ruins (Baelo Claudia) at the back, a dune the size of a hill, and Tarifa wind keeping the crowds picky.
Cala Macarelleta, Menorca
Turquoise pocket of the south coast reachable by a 15-minute walk from Cala Macarella, which is enough to filter most beachgoers.
France
Plage de l'Escalet, Var
On the wild side of the Saint-Tropez peninsula. Park then walk south along the customs path to almost-private coves.
Italy
Cala Goloritze, Sardinia
On the Gulf of Orosei. The hike in protects it. Numbers are capped and the limestone arch in the water is the photograph.
Spiaggia di Tuerredda, Sardinia
Daily visitor cap in summer (1,100 people). Worth the booking.
Cala Bianca, Cilento
Long boat or long walk from Marina di Camerota. The whole Cilento coast is the Italian beach country no one talks about.
Croatia
Stiniva, Vis
The hidden cove on the south coast of Vis, with two cliffs almost closing around a narrow entrance. The scramble down is the filter.
Greece
Voutoumi, Antipaxos
Antipaxos has roughly 60 permanent residents and one of the clearest patches of water in Europe.
Plathiena, Milos
Quieter cousin of Sarakiniko, on the same north coast.
Seitan Limania, Crete
Short but steep walk down. The colour of the water at the bottom is genuinely improbable.
Limnionas, Kos
The west coast of Kos has small coves like this one that the package-tourism strip on the east never sees.
