Beaches for
Trails that reward you with stunning beaches and jaw-dropping views.
About coastal hiking
Trails that reward you with stunning beaches and jaw-dropping views.
26 beaches found
Assos Beach is the pebble waterfront of Assos village in northwest Kefalonia: a small main cove with loungers in front of the tavernas and a quieter one by the castle road. A steep, winding road leads down, parking is tight in July and August, and a free Venetian castle walk starts above it.
A limestone cove on Sardinia's Gulf of Orosei under the Aguglia spire, reached only on foot from the Golgo plateau with a €7 booked ticket and a cap of 250 people on the beach at a time.
A rare pink-sand lagoon at the southwest tip of Crete, where shallow turquoise waters and crushed-shell shores create one of the Mediterranean's most unforgettable beaches.
Flamenco Beach on Culebra, Puerto Rico, is a sheltered horseshoe of white sand close to a mile long, ranked 41st in the world for 2026. Reaching it means a 90-minute ferry from Ceiba or a 20-minute flight from San Juan, and the ferry seat is the hard part.
A 300m cove south of Patong with no road down, reached by longtail or a steep forest trail. Closed to visitors and swimmers since 11 August 2026 after a drowning, with no reopening date announced by November 2026.
Fteri Beach on Kefalonia's northwest coast was named the world's second-best beach for 2026: a white-pebble cove under dramatic cliffs with crystal-clear water, reached only by water taxi from Zola or a steep hour-long hike, and with no facilities at all.
Playa de Guayedra is a wild black-sand and boulder beach below the Tamadaba cliffs on Gran Canaria's northwest coast, in the valley a native king chose for his exile in 1481. Reached by a dirt track with four parking spaces or on foot from Agaete, with no facilities and serious Atlantic surf.
The Kona coast beach inside Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, with a sea turtle haul-out zone, two ancient Hawaiian fishponds engineered 600 years ago, petroglyphs, and a short walk from the harbor that filters out the rental-car convoy.
The remote east-Crete pebble beach reachable only by a 3.5-kilometre hike through Chochlakies Gorge or by private boat. Calm east-facing water, shade from sparse trees, no facilities, no road, and the kind of total isolation that hardly any beach on Crete still delivers.
The Kauai beach where Kuhio Highway (Route 560) runs out, the Na Pali coast begins, and the reef-protected lagoon turns calm in summer. Non-residents need a gohaena.com reservation, the park reopened in October 2026 after Hurricane Lowell, and the snorkelling window is narrower than it looks.
Keem Beach (Keem Bay) is a sheltered Blue Flag cove at the far western end of Achill Island, reached by one cliff road that gardaí have closed on hot days. How to get there, when it's lifeguarded, and the walks above it.
Home to Bali's most iconic cliff formation, the T-Rex of Nusa Penida, Kelingking Beach rewards those brave enough to descend with pristine white sand and turquoise water far below the crowds.
Le Morne Beach wraps around the peninsula at the south-west tip of Mauritius, below the Le Morne Brabant mountain. Resorts front most of the sand, but a free public stretch between the Dinarobin and LUX* Le Morne hotels has a car park, toilets and a beach restaurant.
The Vancouver Island hike-in beach 2 kilometres down the Juan de Fuca Trail from China Beach, with a waterfall that drops directly onto the sand, a sea cave accessible at low tide, a rope swing, and the most photographed pocket-cove on the Pacific west coast of Canada.
Nugal beach is the hidden pebble cove you reach on foot from Makarska, a half-hour coastal forest walk to clear water, cliffs, and the riviera's best-known naturist beach.
Playa Balandra is a shallow, sheltered bay about 25km north of La Paz in Baja California Sur, known for its white sand and the El Hongo rock. Entry is by a 125-peso wristband in one of two daily shifts capped at 450 people, and online wristbands cover only the afternoon shift.
A wild, windswept 12-kilometer stretch of golden sand on Fuerteventura's remote Jandia peninsula, Playa de Cofete feels like the edge of the world and rewards anyone willing to brave the rough dirt road to get there.
Playa de los Muertos, near Carboneras in Almería, is the wild pebble beach with a reputation for Spain's clearest water and a name earned by the currents that once carried shipwrecked sailors ashore. Reached by a steep footpath, with no facilities, no lifeguards, and a sea that demands respect.
Porto Timoni is Corfu's famous double beach, two clear-water bays back to back on a slim headland below Afionas, ranked 46th best in the world for 2026. Reached only by a 20-minute hike or a boat, with no facilities and a crowd that arrives by mid-morning.
One of the Algarve's most dramatic cliff beaches, framed by golden limestone arches and sea stacks, with crystal-clear water and over 100 steps down to the sand.
Praia das Catedrais near Ribadeo in Galicia hides Spain's greatest rock architecture, arches up to 30 metres high, under a beach that exists only at low tide. Entry is free but capped at 4,812 a day with a mandatory summer booking, and the tide table matters more than the permit.
The Corfu hidden cove tucked into the limestone cliffs near Liapades, reached by a 15-minute forest hike that filters out the casual day-trippers. White pebble shore, crystal water, dramatic cliffs, no facilities, and the seasonal kantina boat that visits in high summer.
The Kauai south-shore beach with the 40-foot cliff Harrison Ford jumped off in Six Days Seven Nights. The cliff is the photo, not the activity. The real reason to come is the Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail that starts behind the sand.
The 1.5-kilometre east-coast Rhodes beach below the Tsambika monastery, with shallow water that extends 30 metres from shore (the best family swim on the island), full amenities, and a 300-step pilgrimage climb to the mountaintop monastery for sweeping Aegean views.
A 7km stretch of pure white silica sand on Whitsunday Island, where swirling turquoise tides meet the Great Barrier Reef in one of the world's most photographed coastal landscapes.
You can't drive to Wineglass Bay. The lookout is a steep 1.3km climb in Freycinet National Park and the sand is about 1,000 stairs below it. How to see it, what it costs, and whether to walk down.
