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The scenery is breathtaking! The gorgeous beaches, crystal blue water, charming villages, landscapes, castles, tradition. Everything! If you are looking to vacation with a significant other, I definitely suggestion the Maremma!
Gavdos is a tiny island in the Lybian Sea, just an hour and half of ferry from Crete South coastal village of Hora Sfakion (or Sfakia). Apart from August, when the island could be quite crowded, you can enjoy here the feeling to be away from the world (not necessarily too far away, it's up to you).
From the port you can get a lift to Korfos, where an easy path leads to Tripiti in an hour walk.
In Korfos there are a pair of good tavernas, where nice and clean rooms can be rented, but my wife and me, we spent a week on the Tripiti pebbly beach with our tent, only coming back to Korfos when we need to refill our water tank or to enjoy the local food, sitting in a taverna porch. It was September, the days were very hot, but the nights were incredible: fresh with a sky full of stars, the silence complete, only the sound of the waves.
But you don't need to be so naive; staying in Korfos (where there is a nice little beach) and going sometimes to Tripiti is a good experience.
Yet, when the last daily tourist (if there were someone) has gone, the beach and the cape are your, till next day. It's a unique experience. And consider that you don't need a lot of camping gear, a sleeping bag, some water and tinned food are enough. Don't be afraid to be alone, there isn't any danger at all, apart that ones that you can provoke: don't light fires!
With a fifteen minutes walk along the beach and then on a path over the rocks, you can get the big concrete chair just over the cape: climb over it and enjoy the sight!
From Hania (where you can arrive by plane) there is a bus service to Sfakia, where the ferry sets off to Gavdos.
Looking at www.sfakia-crete.com/sfakia-crete/ferries.html you will find the ferry timetable for Gavdos as long as bus timetable for Hania-Sfakia service. Hania is the nearest international airport.
Sarakiniko is the Gavdos main hamlet, with a good choice of domata (rooms) to rent, tavernas and a wide sand beach. There is a supermarket, too.
An ancient village inn right by the fishermen's pier at Port Bannatyne. Five guest rooms; continental hospitality; freshly landed seafood including langoustine.
This place is of exceptional quality and thankfully very relaxed about it all... no tablecloths or pack-drill, just French quality meals, real ales, and Russian wines, beers and vodkas.
A mile long sandy beach and 200 seals close by. Be very nice to these good Russians they are providing a service unknown to Scotland! Along the seashore is a little marina and a pitch for playing Petanque.
Behind the village is a 13 hole golf-course with fabulous views over the water to islands, mountains and forests.
The Russian Tavern,
Seashore, Port Bannatyne, Isle of Bute, Argyll
01700 505073
www.butehotel.com
delicious.com/RogerMortimer
portbannatynemarina.co.uk
www.portbannatynepetanque.org.uk
www.portbannatynegolf.co.uk
Ferry for Bute leaves from Wemyss Bay on the A78 between Greenock and Largs. Direct train from Glasgow Central, and from Glasgow Int Airport and Prestwick Airport (RyanAir) RyanAir psssengers go half-price on the train.
Super beach near final stop for Koukinares bus. Cross road from bus stop and follow dirt road up and over using banana beach signs to guide you.
Beautiful water and sand with a couple of decent bar/cafe's. There is a nudie section up the far end if you want to get naked with all the other middle aged swingers. Expect to pay £8 parasol/lounger combi.
By the sea - last stop on island bus service 26(i think)
Further to the "Best Beach Campsites" article this week, check out the Pavillon Royal site at Bidart, south of Biarritz. It is right on a stunning sandy beach, with it's own private gate to give access. Pitches on the cliffs looking out over the beach to the sea or back in the pine forest, perfect for hanging your hammock. This coast is a mecca for surfers and body boarders, but equally the countryside is rich with local character, foods and Basque customs and traditions. Biarritz is a mix of bling designer shops and surfers. I'd highly recommend going in June as it's a lot quieter.
Site pitches are generous, excellent facilities and friendly staff. And the sunsets... wow.
www.pavillon-royal.com/pavillon-royal/bienvenue_gb.htm
Site is south of Biarritz on road out to Bidart. Biarritz station is 10 mins away in a taxi.
Long gone are the days of my childhood, spent hunting for huge, edible pink crab with my great-uncle on the rocks of West Pentire. However, Vugga Cove on Crantock beach still holds many delights for rockpoolers, young and old.
This archipelago of pools is a tapestry of oxygenating wispy lime green and the burnt umbers and siennas of bladderwrack. Skylarks sing overhead as you hunt with bucket and net for fish and crab. The tiniest of creatures await to be inspected; sea lice, baby translucent fish, shrimps. Two-inch long stickleback and little shore crabs lurk in crevices.
Later, hot and sticky from the chase, you can swim in the warmed waters of Peggy's pool before the tide sweeps in to cover it.
Crantock beach, near Newquay, Cornwall
You sit on the side of the harbour and dangle a net/hook into the water and wait. After a while you pull the line back up and hope there's a crab or two hanging onto the end. You can buy a crabbing line from nearly all the toy/corner shops around Padstow for about £1. We found that by tying and net or an old vest onto the hook and filling that with 'welks' you caught more crabs as they attached themselves to the net. You can buy welks from the local fishmongers for a pound a pot. Or simply ask to have the leftovers of the fish parts which they will give you for a small contribution of 50p or so. Another tip is to take a fishing net, as we found the crabs fall off. So once you pull the line out of the water, put the net under crab and it will fall off into it - then you can put it into your bucket filled with water and watch them move about. Once finished crabbing however, then done thing is to take your bucket to the waters edge and tip it over and watch your crabs run back into the water. It's so much fun, and if visiting Padstow harbour, this is one the the things you MUST try.
Harbour Office
West Quay, Padstow, PL28 8AQ
01841 532239
When the tide goes out at West Runton beach near Sheringham it reveals a community of amazing creatures clinging to rocks, swimming in the salty shallows and sunning themselves on the once full pools. If you've forgotten your buckets, nets and spades, then the on-site cafe will sell you anything you need as well as a lovely cup of tea you can take down to the beach!
Follow the "beach" signs from West Runton village to the carpark.
This is the best place we have found for crabbing. It's a secret what to use to attract the crabs (don't tell anyone, but we always used liver).
Sometimes you would get the crab to the top of the pier before it let go. Now it is my grandchildren's time for this treat they have a cheat; a net that lays underneath, so when the crabs let go they fall in the net.
In Carnival Week in August there is a Crab catching competition.
Cromer is a lovely little seaside town which has not been spoilt yet, lovely for children's summer holidays.
Cromer has a train station. You catch the train from Norwich.
Take crabbing to the highest possible level by competing in the British Open Crabbing Championship held every year in the seaside village of Walberswick. Described as a competition for “children of all ages” – the only condition being that you weren’t born before 1890 - there can be few greater pleasures than joining the hundreds of competitors with line, weight and bait (bacon is said to be best, but the professionals will keep their choice to themselves) and then teasing the crab out of the water and into the bucket. If you can’t make it to Walberswick on Sunday 9th August this summer then any other day will do. Our daughters, now in their late teens, have the fondest memories of hanging off a bridge, filling a bucket with crabs and then releasing them, often a hundred at a time. An essential family experience.
Walberswick is in Suffolk, across the river from Southwold (take the rowed ferry) Details of the crabbibg championships at www.walberswick.ws/crabbing/
Sandwich your beach visit with a delicious ice cream.
Okay, I'm biased because I live here, but Whitley Bay has one of the best beaches in the world - loads of sand, luscious seaweed, intriguing rock pools and an amazing view north towards the wonderfully photogenic St Mary's Lighthouse.
When you have had enough of exploring the delights left behind by the tide, head up Watts Slope onto Marine Avenue (beside the Spanish City dome which is currently being refurbished) for 'real' fish and chips from one of the many cafes and follow it with a traditionally made Italian ice cream from Delaval Ices at the Cafe Mediterraneo.
Tyne and Wear Metro - Whitley Bay
Newgale is a beautiful, long, sandy beach and a favourite haunt of surfers. There's handy car parking and a small village with a surf school, cafe (Sands Cafe) and camping behind the beach.
Walk south along the beach to find the rockpools with crabs, anemone's.
Newgale SA62 6AS
I recommend Newton Ferrers, situated about 10 miles southeast of Plymouth for the best rockpooling in the UK.
Actually I haven't been there for years now, but my rose-tinted memories of endless summer holidays are so vivid, I hope the reality still lives up to it.
There are two beaches near the fishing port of Newton Ferrers, one is called Stoke Beach, and it had a caravan and camping site above the beach. It was a long walk down from the field/carpark and then we found a stretch of golden beach with dozens of coves, caves, rocks and pools to explore. The other beach was/is called Warren and it is found nearby, across a meadow filled with butterflies and ladybird colonies dotted all over the wildflowers and long grass. I remember a tricky scramble down over rocks and then a leap across the sand to get to the beach. It was like a secret beach as very few people made it past the obstacle course.
My tip for rockpooling is to turn over the large flat stones with the pinky markings on and you're sure to find tiny starfish clinging on. Just look and leave them there, of course! For crabs, a good root around under the knobbly seaweed will offer a cluster of the little demons. Pick them up by their two sides between your thumb and forefinger. Watch them wave their claws at you with attitude, then place them back in the salt water and watch them scuttle off. I love the little, inch-long cat fish and dog fish - if I'm correct - that inhabit the pools. I love everything about these beaches. I would still go rockpooling today, given half a chance, even though I'm 47 and my creaking knees hamper any clambering.
Devon, Plymouth, Newton Ferrers, Stoke Road
At the southern end of the three mile stretch of sandy beach in Studland is a secret rock pool cove, cut off by cliffs on both sides. Wait until the tide slides out before skirting round the cliff face and you’ll find yourself in a hidden world of crabs, fish, barnacles, snails and weird looking worms.
My favourite way to get a closer look at these pool dwellers is with an old detergent tablet net with a bit of chicken or meat inside tied to the end of a stick. Wait a bit for whatever creature is enticed and carefully lift it out of the water, its weight will close the net behind it so it can't climb out- just take care when letting the blighters go!
Studland Bay, Swanage, Dorset
At the southern end of the three mile stretch of sandy beach is a secret rock pool cove, cut off by cliffs on both sides. Wait until the tide slides out before skirting round the cliff face and you’ll find yourself in a hidden world of crabs, fish, barnacles, snails and weird looking worms.
My favourite way to get a closer look at these pool dwellers is with an old detergent tablet net with a bit of chicken or meat inside tied to the end of a stick. Wait a bit for whatever creature is enticed and carefully lift it out the water, its weight will close the net behind it so it can't climb out- just take care when letting the blighters go!
Studland Bay, Swanage, Dorset
A beach bar down at Donaukanal. Nice atmosphere, DJs and delicious Israeli food. The food and drinks are very reasonably priced and it's the perfect place for a nice afternoon drink.
Donaukanal, opposite of the famous Flex.
Take U2 to Schottenring, you can't miss it.
A couple of years ago a friend and I spent a week camping and surfing our way down the south west coast of France. Starting at La Rochelle we picked up a car and made it as far south as Hossegor, the mecca of European surf, before catching a return flight from Bordeaux. Keen surfing enthusiasts with an eye for all things cultural, the legendary breaks of this region held an obvious appeal and the prospect of catching a barrel or two in the fast heavy beach break was something to look forward to, if a little nervously. It is safe to say that most breaks along this section of coast are not for the beginner, or the faint hearted. That said, the bare skin on show was at times much more frightening than the surf!
The highlight of the trip was a memorable stay in Lacanau-Ocean, this little town is the next stop for the Pro's after Hossegor and the billing was in our experiance totally justified. Camping among the surrounding pine trees or among the stalls of the endless market (a longer story!) are equally enjoyable and the relaxed, friendly bars and restaurants make for a great night out. But the real attraction here is the surf and the awesome power of the Atlantic. We were greeted on arrival by set upon set of perfection, unfortunately for us three hours driving had taken a toll and on our first assault the white water was just too much to handle. Day two will forever be remembered as the surfing experience of my life, a friendly rip and slight offshore gave the much needed assistance paddling out and after what seemed an age we were finally sat in the line up. At this point the nerves started to jangle, this was big, overhead, fast, steep and breaking into the shallows, neither of us had experienced anything like it before. Rested from the paddle and catching a breath we both plucked up the courage and pushed into our first wave. If you have ever wondered why surfing as a sport seems to apply more surpalitives to its commentary than any other, try imagining the rush of gliding at break neck speed down the vertical face of several tons of crystal clear water, hitting the bottom, straining every sinew to cut back and bolt along the face. Add to this the sickening feeling of being smashed into the sand and spun around for what seems like an eternity before being deposited back on the surface coughing and spluttering and there is only one word to describe it: awesome! My wipe-outs were perhaps more memorable than any of the rides but this seemed to endear us to the locals, and the involuntary whoops of excitement sealed our acceptance. The whole experience can only be described as immense.
flybe from southampton to La Rochelle, return from Bordeaux.
www.robbieflow.com/france/guide/aquitaine/lacanau/surfing.htm
Has to be the best surfing spot in Europe. When everywhere in Britain is dead flat Pointe de la Torche has delivered the most consistent surf day after day in mid summer. Great beach, no huge development, lots of sun and lifeguards.
The western Algarve is probably the top surfing destination in Europe, with warm water, a not-too-touristy vibe, and of course consistent pumping waves. The Algarve Surfcamp is based in Carrapateira, a small village about 30 minutes drive up the the west coast from Sagres. The camp offers lessons and accommodation pretty much right on a spectacular beach. It's perfect for beginners and intermediates, while more advanced surfers are ideally located to explore the endless quality breaks on this stretch of coast.
www.nomadsurfers.com/en/europe/portugal/algarve/surfcamp/27.html
Rhossili Beach is beautiful, it gets a good wave as it picks up similar swells to North Devon. Though it lacks the power of many beaches in Cornwall or Devon it is by far easier to get to and has a very relaxed vibe.
But what I really like in Llangeneth is the Kings Head pub. It has good beer, great food - the dragons breath curry is fantastic after a day on the water - and order the crumble early as they make it in enormous quantities and it still sells out nightly. But the best thing about it is the whisky collection behind the bar. Single malts three deep the length of the bar on two shelves. They certainly help for the wobble back to the campsite, even if they don't help you get up for the dawn surf the next day.
Send your feedback or queries to been.there@guardian.co.uk
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