The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
CAR-FREE BEACH BREAKS FOR SUMMER
ILE DE GROIX Brittany, France
In this most British corner of France, the beaches have echoes of Cornwall – deep bays bookended by rock pools and green and heathered headlands. Except here, 200-odd miles due south, the weather’s a bit better – the Ile de Groix even has its own microclimate. It’s a laid-back, timeless little island, perfectly cyclable with kids. Grands-Sables is Groix’s poster girl, a convex arc of fine, white sand – but there are numerous others, including pinot-blush Sables-Rouges and, a scramble down the rocks, the hidden nook of Poulziorec.
How Train from London St Pancras to Lorient (7hrs; thetrainline.com), ferry to Groix (45 mins; 0820 056156; compagnie-oceane.fr).
Stay Three-star Hôtel Ty Mad Groix has 24 rooms, three apartments, a sequestered pool and a nautical-vibe restaurant terrace. Doubles from £69 (00 33 02978 68019; tymad.com). Families might be better off renting a house (00 33 04774 99999; gites.fr).
PORQUEROLLES French Riviera
The glitz of the French Riviera didn’t make it across the water to Porquerolles, 20 minutes off the Côte d’Azur. This car-free crescent of land is oldschool Riviera, unspoilt and unfussy: a sleepy village square resounding with the clonk of pétanque, herb-scented maquis wilderness, pine-forested bays edged with bone-white sand shelving into emerald water and little sailing boats all facing the same way.
How Fly/train to Toulon-Hyères (0330 551 5151; easyjet.com or 0343 218 6186; eurostar.com); shuttle boat from Toulon/Giens port to Porquerolles (00 33 04949 30756; bateliersdelacotedazur.com).
Stay Blue-shuttered Le Mas du Langoustier is the smartest spot; it has a Michelin-starred restaurant, and its gardens lead directly to two beaches. Doubles from £173 (00 33 04945 83009; langoustier.com).
SERIFOS Greece
This unsung Cyclades island is where in-the-know Athenians go for beaches without the crowds – they outshine anything on Santorini or Mykonos, and you can find an empty stretch of sand even in summer. There are no glittering resorts, but several discreetly stylish places to stay.
How Fly to Athens; Seajet from Athens Piraeus port to Serifos (2h; 00 30 21071 07710; seajets.com).
Stay Coco-Mat’s eco residences are built of stone in harmony with the landscape. One-bedroom residences from £260 B&B (00 30 21080 10688; coco-matserifos.com).
TROPEA Calabria, Italy
Southern Italy’s great sandy beaches are not easily reached without a car, directions from a local and dogged persistence – so a great Italian beach with its own train station is a precious thing indeed. On the instep of Italy’s foot, Tropea is the jewel of Calabria. Teetering on a clifftop, the plasterpink town is Cinque Terre-stunning, only barely anyone knows about it – at least, barely anyone outside Italy – and lying 330ft below is the most beautiful curve of creamy sand, bright against the crystalline Tyrrhenian.
How Fly to Lamezia (0127 935 8395; ryanair.com); train to Tropea station (51 mins; £3.79).
Stay Villa Paola must be one of Italy’s most romantic boltholes: a 15th-century strawberries-and-cream convent, terraced gardens high above the sea. Doubles from £176 B&B (00 39 0963 62370; villapaolatropea.it/en).
LOPUD Croatia
You couldn’t drive even if you wanted to on Lopud – this dot of an Elaphiti island is car-free. In Sunj, it also has one of the loveliest sandy beaches on the Dalmatian Coast, reached after an up-and-down hill stroll through pine forest, towel tucked under your arm. You needn’t carry much else – relaxed beach bars serve grilled fish and cocktails to revivify after a swim in the seagreen Adriatic.
How Fly to Dubrovnik; ferry to Lopud (55 mins).
Stay Accommodation is limited to an ocean liner of a four-star hotel, Lafodia Sea Resort – granted, with cracking views from its pool deck. British Airways offers three nights for £312pp including flights (0344 493 0787; ba. com); and mainly basic rentals, with the exception of lovely six-bedroomed Villa Lopud with amazing sea views (00 385 91 296 5338; villalopud.com), and off-the-scale sensational Lopud 1483, an art collector’s restored monastery. Prices on application (00 385 91 322 0106; lopud1483.com).
FORMENTERA Spain
Two wheels are all you need on this barefoot beauty of the Balearics. Bike trails connect its beaches of white sand and luminous turquoise water – Ses is more Caribbean than Mediterranean – along wooden boardwalks through the wildflowers.
How Fly to Ibiza; ferry to Formentera; rent a bike.
Stay You’re spoilt for choice on Playa Migjorn: Gecko Hotel & Beach Club offers morning yoga and afternoon DJ sets at its hot-ticket beach club. Doubles from £314 B&B (00 34 9713 28024; geckobeachclub.com); Casa Pacha offers direct beach access, suites with either a private balcony or terrace, and a restaurant modelled on the classic beach chiringuito. Doubles from £345 (casapacha.com).
GOCEK Turkish coast
Between resorts, most of the Turquoise Coast remains untouched, sleepy and serene as it was a century ago, when only fishing boats and traditional gulets sailed its shores. The ragged coastline carves out uncountable coves, forested peninsulas and places to swim, virtually inaccessible except by boat. Gocek – where Icarus is said to have plummeted to the sea – has been spared mass tourism development. Tavernas dot the waterfront, where you can eat octopus while cooling your feet in the sea, and the marina is a playground for rich Istanbulites and the superyacht set.
How Fly to Dalaman; taxi to Gocek (25 mins; £20).
Stay D Resort Gocek is super-stylish enough to lure international stars from their usual Euro holiday circuit, with its fabulous restaurants, bars, spa and divine sandy beach. Doubles from £206 B&B (00 34 9713 22051; dresortgocek.com).
BIARRITZ AND GUETHARY France
Before Europcar was invented in 1949, les rosbifs were obliged to chose holiday destinations where everything was within perambulating distance. The pearl of the Basque Coast had it all: grand hotels and cocktail bars, illustrious visitors from Charlie Chaplin to Winston Churchill, a colonnaded prom and beaches where one could roll up one’s trousers to the ankle. Now it is reborn as cool surf capital of France, with buzzy new bars and Basque restaurants. For a change of scene, hop on the train to Guéthary, 13 minutes south.
How Train to Biarritz (0343 218 6186; eurostar.com) – et voila!
Stay The Belle Epoque, five-star Hotel du Palais has hosted everyone, and its restaurant La Rotonde recently won a Michelin star. Doubles from £333 B&B (0808 196 2712; hyatt.com). For a more modern stay, Hotel de Silhouette in the old port area has fabulous interiors and a secret garden. Doubles from £132 B&B (00 33 05592 49382; hotel-silhouetteIlletas
biarritz.com). In Guéthary, it has to be storied Le Madrid. Doubles from £60 room only (00 33 05592 65212; lemadrid.com).
ISCHIA Italy
Once pulling as glamorous a crowd as neighbouring Capri, the island of Ischia has become more of a multi-generational holiday destination in recent decades, with its bays of golden sand, thermal healing springs for ailing oldies, and seaside trattorias abuzz with extended families. A ferry speeds you across the Bay of Naples, wind in hair, shoulders dropping by the nautical mile.
How Fly to Naples; ferry to Ischia. Circolare buses beetle around the island (£1.03).
Stay Created from an Aragonese lookout tower, Mezzatorre – one of the illustrious Pellicano trio – is top digs. Doubles from £290 (00 39 0819 86111; mezzatorre.com). In Sant’Angelo – the pretty fishing village where Neruda learned to swim – Casa al Sole is a cute boutique hotel above the beach, 10 minutes’ walk along the coast path. Doubles from £206 B&B (00 39 0819 99027; casaalsoleboutiquehotel.com).
NAXOS Greece
A playground first for the gods – Zeus grew up here, Dionysus fell in love with Ariadne – and now for mortals on their hols, the Cyclades island of Naxos is blessed with some of Greece’s most wonderful and easy-to-reach beaches. Agios Prokopios is a mere stroll from the town, while a couple of miles south is wilder Plaka beach – a long, pale stretch of sand edging clear turquoise waters and backed by dunes and whitewashed cottages, from which you can walk straight out of your room and on to the sand.
How Fly to Athens; then to Naxos (00 30 21035 50000; olympicair.com/en); or fly to Mykonos, then ferry to Naxos. Stay There are lots of low-key casitas on Plaka; try Naxian on the Beach, all wood and creamy adobe. Doubles from £180 B&B (00 30 22850 24300; naxianonthebeach.com); or Medusa Beach Resort, with a fab beach/pool bar and dazzling white suites in palm-shaded gardens. Doubles from £112 B&B (00 30 22850 75555; medusaresort.gr).
ILE DE RÉ Charente-Maritime, France
Popular with Parisian families, the Ile de Ré stretches out from La Rochelle into the Atlantic, ringed with golden sand and aquamarine shallows. Holidays are lived at its edges: cycling the coastal paths, horse riding on the beaches, messing about in boats offshore and, in the evenings, eating and drinking in its waterfront restaurants and oyster shacks.
Fly/train to La Rochelle; bus/taxi over the bridge; then hire a bike.
Stay Le Collectionist has 10 superb houses to rent, from £3,680 a week for six-bedroom Villa Piquecos (020 7131 0270; lecollectionist.com). Or try Hotel Senechal – understatedly stylish, with rooms for all budgets. Doubles from £82 B&B (00 33 05462 94042; en.hotelle-senechal.com).
BINIBECA Menorca, Spain
With its coves of pale sand shelving into safe, iridescent turquoise shallows and ready-made villa resorts, Menorca is set up for family beach holidays. Unassuming Binibeca, 20 minutes from Mahon, has everything you need to happily stay put all week: a couple of heavenly beaches of fine white sand, a bunch of low-key restaurants and decent beach bars.
How Fly to Mahon; Flybus shuttle/taxi (20 mins; 00 34 9668 30699; flybus. com/en).
Stay Vintage Travel has villas in Binibeca and neighbouring Biniancolla, from £798 a week (01954 261431; vintagetravel.co.uk); 2021 newcomer Barceló Nura is the area’s first luxury hotel. From £99 B&B (020 3727 0251; barcelo.com).
Algarve, Portugal
Thanks to its eastern location in the protected Ria de Formosa Natural Park, the charming town of Tavira and its great sweeps of surrounding wideopen champagne-sand beaches remain wild and untouched by the development that blights the Algarve coast further west. Hop on a ferry the short distance to Ilha de Tavira, a sand island where flamingos wade and children play in the shallows.
How Fly to Faro; regional train or bus to Tavira (30 mins; around £3).
Stay A cloistered 16th-century convent has been restored, painted lemon-yellow and turned into the 36-bedroom Pousada Convento de Tavira. From £175 (020 3285 6472; pousadas.pt).
SITGES AND GARRAF Costa Barcelona, Spain
Sitges is Barcelona’s Brighton: a splendid seaside town just an easy train ride from the city, arty and inclusive, a long strip of beach, lively clubs, bars and restaurants, and a strong LGBTQ+ scene. Only here, the beaches are golden, the sea is blue and it’s sunny 300 days a year. Its colonial mansions have hosted Barcelona’s weekending bourgeois and bohemian for decades, Dali and Picasso included. One stop along is blink-and-you-miss-it Garraf, which has one of the coast’s best seafood restaurants, a delightful clean, sandy beach, and Soho House’s groovy Little Beach House. Doubles from £116 B&B (00 34 9352 21552; sohohouse.com).
How Fly to Barcelona (0344 493 0787; ba.com); train to Sitges (30 mins).
Stay All three Medium Hotels (Renaixença*, Romantic**, and Sitges Park***) are charming, great value, and very Sitges. Doubles from £77 (00 34 9320 96640; mediumhoteles.com/en).
ANTIBES
Côte d’Azur, France
Slip on your espadrilles, hop onto the Eurostar at St Pancras and, a few hours later, step into the dazzling light of Antibes beside glittering azure waters. Antibes has that precious Riviera commodity, sand, at Plage de la Salis and in Juan-les-Pins, home of jazz and, in the 1920s, F Scott Fitzgerald. Seek out other gems by train, alighting at ochretoned Menton for its blend of French and Italian flavour, Eze’s stunning secret bay, and Villefranche-sur-Mer’s pretty cove.
How Train from London St Pancras to Antibes (trainline.com); or fly to Nice. Stay Hotel Belles Rives, the deco-fabulous five-star and setting for Tender is the Night. Doubles from £165 B&B (00 33 4936 10279; bellesrives.com). Or its sister Hôtel Juana. Doubles from £130 B&B (00 33 4936 10870; hoteljuana.com).
GALLIPOLI Puglia, Italy
Those who have had the misfortune of driving in Puglia may be happy to learn that parts of its coast are connected by rail. Gallipoli is a charming fishing town in Salento, down at Puglia’s rustic heel, where you can find simple local cuisine in its winding backstreets, and lovely stretches of sand lapped by the Ionian Sea.
How Fly to Brindisi (0344 493 0787; ba.com); train 2hr/bus 1hr to Gallipoli. Stay Seventeenth-century Palazzo Presta has 10 fabulous, eclectic rooms, in old Gallipoli overlooking the sea. Doubles from £139 B&B (00 39 08332 61775; palazzopresta.it).
CEFALU Sicily, Italy
Is there a land richer in wonders than Sicily? Ancient ruins, baroque splendour, food so mind-blowingly delicious it can change the way you eat forever, plus fabulous beaches. Base yourself in medieval Cefalu, a train ride from Palermo, and you can reach several beaches senza auto. Below the steep, cobbled, car-free backstreets lies the town beach, parasols obscuring the sand in summer; or walk west to discover wilder, quieter stretches.
How Fly to Palermo; train to Cefalu (1h, thetrainline.com).
Stay Three-star Hotel Kalura has sea views from every room. Doubles from £86 B&B (00 39 09214 22501; hotelkalura.com). Family-run resort La Calette offers appealing bedrooms with terraces, a beach club with live DJ sets, a spa and a path leading to a secret swimming cove. Doubles from £144 B&B (00 39 09214 24144; lecalette.it).
CORFU Greece
North-east Corfu – the posh bit of the island, where the Durrells lived and Charles and Camilla holiday at the Rothschilds’ estate near Agios Stefanos – remains endearingly unchanged. Returning visitors spend days sailing in its quiet, forest-shrouded bays, taking long lunches in tavernas and swimming off sandy beaches. Avlaki beach is one of the best, where tavernas dish up fabulous fish, and villas dot the green hills.
How Fly to Corfu; transfer to Agios Stefanos (1hr).
Stay Avlaki beach, between Ag Stefanos and Kassiopi, is a beauty. It’s all about the (very exclusive) villa scene here, but Simpson Travel has an affordable little hotel, Bella Mare, with gardens opening onto the beach. Hire a boat to explore the coast Durrell-style. A week in July costs from £1,425pp B&B, including flights and transfers (020 3918 4326; simpsontravel.com).
COPENHAGEN AND MALMO Scandinavia
The Danes have car-free living down to a T. You can cycle everywhere in Copenhagen, where urban beach bars are swinging all summer, and south of the city Amager Beach Park has miles of sandy beach (cycle, or take a metro to Oresund).
For more Scandi adventures, take the train across the Oresund Bridge to Malmo and nearby Skanor, the “Swedish Riviera”.
How Fly to Copenhagen.
Stay Eco-hotel Manon Les Suites is amazing with its jungly, Bali-vibe pool and rooftop sauna. Doubles from £170 B&B (00 45 4570 0015; guldsmedenhotels.com/manon-les-suites).
QUINTA DO LAGO Algarve, Portugal
“Near the airport” doesn’t exactly scream “off the beaten track”, but the Ria Formosa Nature Park, alongside Faro airstrip, has preserved the area from too much development. There are wetlands, salt flats, walking trails, birdlife and an isthmus of unspoilt sand, Praia da Quinta do Lago. A ferry connects to Faro, and fishing town Olhao is a train stop away, where you can take a boat to the swirling sand island of Ilha da Armona – more Indian Ocean than Atlantic.
How Fly to Faro.
Stay Quinta do Lago is a glossy fivestar resort (golf club, tennis, manicured grounds); within the beachfront, the Magnolia Hotel is a more relaxed place to stay, and great for families. You can borrow bikes to get around. Doubles from £137 B&B (00 351 2890 05301; themagnoliahotelqdl.com).
OBONJAN Croatia
Private island Obonjan is a Mediterranean castaway fantasy. A speck of pine-forested island – no roads, no cars, no quotidian mundanities to mar this perfect little world, curated for beautiful people who love yoga and avocados, craft ale and techno. There is peace and quiet, but also music and sociable spaces, an amphitheatre for performances, a pool primed for parties, yoga and fitness classes, restaurants, bars, and quiet little coves.
How Fly to Split/Zadar; bus to Sibenik; boat transfer to Obonjan.
Stay In bell tents, safari tents and rough-hewn, two-bedroom wooden lodges decorated with macramé hangings and deckchairs. Bell tents from £283 for three nights (00 385 9985 29646; obonjan.hr).