Best beach destinations

Ruins in the morning, a swim by noon, taverna until dark.

Food, beaches, and three or four cities that each justify the trip.

The complete package for warm-climate travel.

Vast, varied, relaxed. Reef, Sydney, and proper wilderness in one.

Warm, affordable, endlessly deep — beach, wellness, and culture in one place.

Dubrovnik, the Adriatic coast, ancient cities. Compact and beautiful.

A handful of islands where the landscapes and the ocean genuinely earn the flight.

A continent of a country. Pick two or three things and commit.

One island, one resort, almost nothing to do. That is the point.

Atlantic beaches, excellent food and wine, slow pace.

Seven hundred islands of impossibly clear water, from cruise-port Nassau to the empty Out Islands.

Cheap flights, warm sea, and a lot more country than the resort brochure admits.

Reef diving, island-hopping, and a country that takes hospitality seriously.

Overwater bungalows and lagoons in their most expensive form.

Seventeen thousand islands of volcanoes, reefs, and temples — the most varied country in Southeast Asia.

The most characterful island in the Caribbean — and the one that asks a little more of you.

Mexico City is world-class. Add the coast, ruins, and food culture.

Over 7,000 islands and the best beaches in Asia.

The Caribbean with a US plug socket — old-city romance, rainforest, and a bioluminescent bay.

Beaches, ancient ruins, tea country, and wildlife in one compact island.

A continent pretending to be a country — cities, deserts, and the best national parks anywhere.

Three islands, one national park, and no passport needed if you hold a US one.

The classic wind-down after a Tanzanian safari — beaches, spice, and a Swahili trading city.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi: superlatives, desert, and a stopover worth a few days of its own.

The dry, breezy Caribbean island that sits below the hurricane belt — sunshine you can actually bank on.

Two coasts on one small island — calm Caribbean west, wild Atlantic east — with the best rum in the world.

A reef-and-jungle two-parter where everyone speaks English.

The sailing capital of the Caribbean — sixty islands, short hops, and a bar you swim to.

Seven Mile Beach, world-class diving, and the smoothest logistics in the Caribbean — at a price.

A country-sized Greek island — Europe’s oldest civilisation, pink-sand lagoons, and a mountainous wild south.

Dependable Mediterranean warmth, ancient mosaics, and cool mountain wine villages on one easy island.

Far more than package beaches — turquoise coves, a UNESCO mountain range, and one of the Med’s best cities.

A resort island that actually has an interior worth leaving the beach for.

The Mediterranean’s best beaches, wrapped around a wild, ancient interior most visitors never see.

Granite-boulder beaches that look engineered, on islands built for slowing down.

The most dramatic-looking island in the Caribbean — two green volcanic spires rising straight out of the sea.

One small island, two countries — Dutch nightlife on one side, French cooking on the other.

One of the great beaches on earth, and not a lot else — which is exactly the appeal.

Surfing, rainforest, volcanoes, and wildlife in extraordinary density.

The most underrated food trip in Southeast Asia.

Istanbul alone is worth the trip. Add Cappadocia, the coast, and ancient ruins.

The best food in Southeast Asia, remarkable scenery, a long coastline.

Italy’s most glamorous stretch of coast — pastel villages stacked above the sea, lemons, and long lunches.

A beach for every day of the year, and a sailing heritage to match — the Caribbean at its most classic.

Pink-sand coves and a very British subtropical island — a two-hour hop off the US coast, not the Caribbean.

Year-round warm weather, volcanic landscapes, easy from Europe.

The lagoon of your dreams, at a fraction of Bora Bora money.

A mountain range in the sea — France’s wildest island, where the Alps meet Caribbean-clear water.

The Spice Island — nutmeg, a genuinely lovely harbour capital, and no crowds.

Two islands in one — a rainforest volcano on the left wing, beaches on the right.

The original safari, plus an Indian Ocean coast to land on afterward.

Bali’s quieter neighbour — the same warm sea and volcano drama, with a fraction of the crowds.

France in the tropics — rum distilleries, a volcano, and food that takes itself seriously.

Europe’s sunny western edge — Lisbon’s hills, Porto’s port, Algarve cliffs, and the best value in the west.

Italy at its most layered and intense — Greek temples, Baroque towns, street food, and a live volcano.

Cape Town, safari, and wine country in one self-drive trip.

A French village with superyachts parked outside — the Caribbean’s most expensive small island.

Serengeti, a volcanic crater full of animals, Kilimanjaro, and Zanzibar — in one country.

A canal, a real skyline, Caribbean islands, and cloud forest — all inside one small country.

Thirty-three beaches, no high-rises, and not much else — deliberately.

Central America’s comeback story — world-class surf, volcanoes, and prices nobody has caught up to yet.

Frescoed monasteries, Roman old towns, and empty mountains at prices Europe forgot.

The most characterful of the Dutch ABC islands — a candy-coloured capital, below the hurricane belt, over great diving.

A big-distance island epic where nine-tenths of the wildlife lives nowhere else.

The Caribbean’s biggest party and its best birding — on two islands that share nothing but a flag.

Rome-grade ruins, real Sahara, and blue-and-white coast — a cheap hop from Europe.

The calm, safe, well-off corner of South America — beef, wine, and empty Atlantic beaches.

The best shore diving on earth, outside the hurricane belt, with flamingos in the salt pans.

West Africa’s friendliest first trip — deep history, big culture, and beaches, in fluent English.

Costa Rica’s wilder, cheaper neighbour — volcanoes, colonial cities, and empty surf, for a fraction of the price.

A UNESCO fortress, a sugar-train railway, and a two-mile channel to a much quieter island.