Europe Beach holidays

For a wonderfully retro beach holiday in Europe, load up the car and set off on a road trip from the UK. Normandy and Brittany are a winning combo, with historic cities and beautiful beaches galore, or there's always a chic beach break to the iconic South of France to consider. Offshore, the French island of Corsica also has beaches to rival any in the Mediterranean. Alternatively, you can take your pick from any number of famous beaches around mainland Spain (including - in San Sebastian and Valencia - two of the finest city beaches in the world) or the beautiful Balearic Islands.

Further west, there are the surf beaches of the Atlantic coast of Portugal - a great place to learn to ride the waves with excellent conditions and some of the best instructors in the business. Meanwhile mainland Italy has some 1,100 miles of coastline, with pretty Puglia, the heal of Italy's boot, home to endless sandy stretches and sleepy hilltop villages. Sardinia and Sicily are also ringed with sandy coves, and we can point out the ones that remain relatively secret.

If it's an exotic beach getaway you're after, we can arrange a heavenly holiday to Greece where you can explore sugar cube towns and spend your days island-hopping and enjoying the cool coastal breeze aboard a luxury yacht. Then dive into what must be the most glorious water in the Med. Turkey, too, is a firm favourite, with a scattering of excellent hotels on the beautiful Lycean coast and the chance to enjoy a serene sailing trip aboard a traditional gulet boat, mooring for lunch off beachfront tavernas serving delicious fresh seafood.