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A Handful of Europe's Best Beaches
You don’t need to go far to indulge in faraway beach life. Europe lines up with the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts to bring bathers, surfers, and swimmers good waves and the warm sands to lie back and take in the horizon. Here are three to try, which are just a cheap flight away.
Biarritz
A favourite with surfers, and party animals, Biarritz is a hot pocket of beach-life planted along the Atlantic coast. Biarritz has six main beaches, all of which attract a good swell and make for some surfer-friendly waves for both short boarders and long boarders alike. Come July, it plays host to a large surfing festival. However, if you want to indulge in the perks of beach life without surf contests and surfers, you could try bathing on the sand of Miramar, or the Port Vieux beach, where surfing isn’t allowed. There is an abundance of nightlife fun, catering for the hungry swarms of beach teens heading from the ocean. Try La Cayo Coco, a Havana-style, tequila-soaked drinking den a mere two minute walk from the beach. Splurge on a few of the Run-based cocktails and take to the floor for some salsa.
The Algarve
Portugal has its fair share of beaches; however visitors are predominantly attracted to the beaches in the Algarve: a mixed-bag of small cosy coves and stretches of sea. Like the beaches in Biarritz, it is the Atlantic coast that aligns them, not the Mediterranean, and so is rife with frequent strong tides, which makes some areas highly popular with surfers, but can be problematic for casual swimmers. The coast around Lagos has one of the best reputations, with strange limestone cliffs forming artistic rock formations that rise from the water. Amado beach boasts endless white-sand beaches, which attract the better swell and are best-suited to surfing and sometimes fishing. A number of cheap flights to Portugal make this a well-frequented destination, with airlines like Fly Monarch offering tickets to buy online. Because of its long-lived popularity, it may be advisable to travel off-peak; just to land a good spot on a beach. Fly Monarch offer cheap flights to Portugal and to Barcelona, home to a few city beaches.
Barcelona and Stiges
Barcelona may not seem the most obvious choice when it comes to beaches. Although it sits along the coast, it is a major European city, complete with smog, overcrowding and noise. However, if you don’t mind these extras of city life, check out Barcelonata Beach, a short walk from Las Ramblas, the heart of town. If you are looking for more seclusion, try Stiges, a half hour train ride from the city and the golden provider of seventeen beaches. Trains leave approximately every half an hour and cost about 4 Euros. In Sitges you’ll find pretty medieval buildings, serene monasteries and bohemian art galleries, as well as beaches whose waters you can jet-ski on without knocking into too many tourists. A few cocktail bars are also dotted through the town for wetting the palette at the end of a hot day.
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