Resort Guides

, , Real, practical guides to 98 of the most popular resorts across 15 countries , , what each one actually offers families with young children, teens and young adults, couples, , , and older or less mobile visitors. ,

Top 10 European Destinations

, , One standout resort from each country covered below, picked for genuinely offering something no other , , resort on this list quite matches. ,

1. Maspalomas, Spain
   Dramatic dunes, a historic lighthouse and one of the Canaries’ most reliable year-round climates.
2. Albufeira, Portugal
   The Algarve’s biggest, most complete resort, with beaches, nightlife and family options all in one place.
3. Nice, France
   The Riviera’s most complete city break, pairing a proper working city with a straightforward beach holiday.
4. Sorrento, Italy
   The easiest single base for the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Pompeii, all reachable without a car.
5. Dubrovnik, Croatia
   The Adriatic’s most recognisable walled city, and one of the best-preserved in the Mediterranean.
6. Corfu Town, Greece
   A genuinely elegant, Venetian-flavoured Greek island capital, distinct from the islands’ party resorts.
7. Bodrum, Turkey
   A polished marina town with a Crusader-era castle and Turkey’s most upmarket coastal reputation.
8. Sunny Beach, Bulgaria
   Europe’s best-value big beach resort, with genuinely low prices for the standard of facilities on offer.
9. Ayia Napa, Cyprus
   Some of the Mediterranean’s best sandy beaches, paired with one of its liveliest young-adult nightlife scenes.
10. St Julian’s, Malta
    Malta’s nightlife capital, with a smart, harbourside alternative right next door for a calmer evening.

Spain

Gran Canaria

• Playa del Inglés Gran Canaria’s biggest resort, a huge choice of hotels, right on the dunes.
• Maspalomas The dunes, the lighthouse, and a calmer, more upmarket pace than its neighbour.
• Puerto Rico A sheltered, purpose-built family resort with a calm, breakwater-protected beach.
• Puerto de Mogán A quiet, canal-lined former fishing village, nicknamed “Little Venice”.

Tenerife

• Playa de las Américas Tenerife’s biggest, liveliest resort, something going on at every hour.
• Los Cristianos A calmer, more traditional resort next to Playa de las Américas, with real local character.
• Costa Adeje Tenerife’s upmarket “golden mile”, smart hotels and calmer beaches.
• Puerto de la Cruz Tenerife’s older, greener north-coast resort, real history, black-sand beaches.

Lanzarote

• Puerto del Carmen Lanzarote’s main resort strip, the island’s longest promenade and biggest choice of bars.
• Playa Blanca A calmer southern resort with a smart marina and ferries to Fuerteventura.
• Costa Teguise A purpose-built resort known for watersports, windsurfing and a quieter pace.

Fuerteventura

• Corralejo Dunes, ferries to Lanzarote, and one of the Canaries’ best surf/watersports scenes.
• Costa Calma A quiet southern resort next to Fuerteventura’s most famous beach, Playa de Sotavento.
• Caleta de Fuste A purpose-built family resort around a calm, marina-fronted bay.
• Morro Jable Fuerteventura’s southernmost resort, long beaches and a real working harbour.

Mallorca

• Magaluf Mallorca’s best-known nightlife resort, plus a genuinely good family beach away from the strip.
• Alcúdia One of Mallorca’s best family beaches, plus a genuine, walled old town.
• Palmanova Magaluf’s calmer neighbour, the same good beach, a much quieter evening.
• Santa Ponsa A family-friendly bay resort with good golf on its doorstep.
• Cala Millor A long east-coast beach resort, popular with families and older couples.

Ibiza

• San Antonio Home of the famous sunset strip, and a real family side away from it.
• Playa d’en Bossa Ibiza’s longest beach, and home to some of its most famous superclubs.
• Santa Eulalia Ibiza’s calm, family-friendly alternative to the island’s famous party resorts.

Menorca

• Cala Galdana A single, pine-backed crescent beach, one of Menorca’s most photogenic resorts.
• Ciutadella Menorca’s historic former capital, a proper old town with beaches nearby.

Costa Blanca

• Benidorm Spain’s biggest resort skyline, huge nightlife, huge families’ choice, all in one place.
• Calpe A quieter resort dominated by the dramatic Peñón de Ifach rock.
• Torrevieja A large southern Costa Blanca resort town with pink salt lagoons nearby.
• Jávea An upmarket, low-rise Costa Blanca town with cliffs, coves and a quieter pace.

Costa del Sol

• Marbella The Costa del Sol’s most glamorous resort, luxury marina, real old town, wide beaches too.
• Torremolinos A big, lively resort with a long beach, strong nightlife, and a genuinely diverse scene.
• Benalmádena A smart marina resort with a cable car, theme parks and real family appeal.
• Fuengirola A long, relaxed family beach resort with a zoo and water park on its doorstep.
• Nerja A quieter, prettier eastern Costa del Sol town, with famous caves and sea views.

Costa Dorada

• Salou Home to PortAventura World, one of Europe’s biggest theme parks, plus a proper beach resort.

Costa Brava

• Lloret de Mar The Costa Brava’s biggest nightlife resort, with genuine family appeal alongside it.
• Tossa de Mar A genuinely beautiful medieval walled old town on the Costa Brava, with a much quieter pace.

Portugal

Algarve

• Albufeira The Algarve’s biggest resort, a genuine mix of old town, big nightlife and family beaches.
• Vilamoura A smart, purpose-built marina resort known for golf and a polished evening scene.
• Praia da Rocha Dramatic ochre cliffs and one of the Algarve’s widest beaches, right by Portimão.
• Lagos A historic walled town with the Algarve’s most dramatic coves and grottoes nearby.
• Carvoeiro A small, low-rise fishing-village resort among the Algarve’s best cliff scenery.
• Quarteira A long, straightforward family beach resort next to Vilamoura, with genuine local character.

France

French Riviera

• Nice The French Riviera’s elegant capital, with a famous pebble beach promenade and genuine year-round appeal.
• Cannes A glamorous film-festival town with sandy beaches and a genuinely smart harbour.
• Antibes & Juan-les-Pins A historic walled old town paired with one of the Riviera’s liveliest beach strips next door.
• Saint-Tropez The Riviera’s most famous name, still built around a genuine working fishing harbour.
• Menton A quieter, garden-filled resort right on the Italian border, with a genuinely mild microclimate.

Atlantic Coast

• Biarritz France’s grand old Atlantic surf resort, with genuine 19th-century seaside elegance.

Italy

Amalfi Coast

• Sorrento A clifftop town overlooking the Bay of Naples, and the easiest base for exploring the Amalfi Coast.
• Positano The Amalfi Coast’s most photographed village, tumbling down a cliff to a small beach.
• Amalfi The coast’s namesake town, with a genuine medieval cathedral and a flatter, more walkable centre.
• Capri A glamorous island day trip or stay, famous for the Blue Grotto and dramatic cliff scenery.

Sicily

• Taormina A clifftop town with a genuine Ancient Greek theatre and views straight to Mount Etna.
• Cefalù A genuine medieval fishing town with a Norman cathedral and a proper sandy beach.

Veneto

• Venice The floating city, genuinely unlike anywhere else on this list, built entirely on canals.

Lake Garda

• Sirmione A pretty lakeside town on its own peninsula, with a moated medieval castle at the entrance.

Adriatic Riviera

• Rimini Italy’s classic Adriatic package resort, with a huge sandy beach and a genuinely old town behind it.

Croatia

Dalmatian Coast

• Dubrovnik The genuinely walled Old Town made famous well beyond Croatia by its screen appearances.
• Split A real working city built directly into and around a Roman emperor’s palace.
• Hvar Town A glamorous island town with a hilltop fortress and a genuinely famous nightlife scene.
• Zadar A real Roman and Venetian old town, with a genuinely unique sea organ playing along the waterfront.

Istria

• Rovinj A genuinely picturesque former fishing town, often compared to an Italian coastal village.
• Poreč A relaxed, family-first Istrian resort with a genuine UNESCO-listed basilica at its centre.

Greece

Crete

• Chania A beautifully preserved Venetian harbour town, with excellent beaches nearby.
• Hersonissos One of Crete’s biggest resorts, with a lively strip and a genuine family side too.
• Malia Crete’s best-known young-adult nightlife resort, with a real old town and beach beyond the strip.

Rhodes

• Rhodes Town A UNESCO-listed medieval old town, right next to modern beach resort strips.
• Faliraki Rhodes’ main nightlife resort, with a long beach and a big water park too.

Corfu

• Corfu Town A genuinely elegant, UNESCO-listed old town with a distinctly Venetian and French feel.
• Kavos Corfu’s main young-adult nightlife resort, at the island’s southern tip.

Zakynthos

• Laganas Zakynthos’ biggest resort strip, with a long beach and a well-known nightlife scene.
• Zakynthos Town The island’s real capital, a working town with genuine local life, not a purpose-built resort.

Kos

• Kos Town A relaxed, historic island capital with an ancient castle right by the harbour.

Turkey

Marmaris Coast

• Marmaris A big, lively Turquoise Coast resort with a large marina and a famous bar strip.
• Icmeler A calmer, more scenic bay just along the coast from Marmaris.

Bodrum Peninsula

• Bodrum A stylish marina town with a Crusader castle and a more upmarket reputation.

Turquoise Coast

• Side Genuine ancient Roman ruins built right into a working beach resort.
• Alanya A dramatic clifftop castle, twin beaches, and one of Turkey’s biggest resort towns.

Aegean Coast

• Kuşadası A lively Aegean port town, and the gateway to the ancient city of Ephesus.

Bulgaria

Southern Black Sea Coast

• Sunny Beach Bulgaria’s biggest package resort, with a huge sandy beach and genuinely low prices.
• Nessebar A genuine UNESCO-listed old town on its own small peninsula, right next to Sunny Beach.

Northern Black Sea Coast

• Golden Sands A large, forest-backed resort with a genuinely long sandy beach, just outside Varna.
• Varna Bulgaria’s real maritime capital, with genuine Roman ruins and a proper working city beyond the beach.

Cyprus

Cyprus

• Ayia Napa Cyprus’s best-known nightlife resort, with genuinely excellent beaches too.
• Protaras Ayia Napa’s calmer neighbour, the same excellent beaches, a family-first atmosphere.

Malta

Malta

• Sliema A smart seafront town with a long promenade and views straight across to Valletta.
• St Julian’s Malta’s main nightlife hub (Paceville), right next to a smarter harbourside area.
• Buġibba & Qawra Malta’s main package-holiday resort area, with a long seafront and family-friendly pace.

United Arab Emirates

• Dubai Skyscrapers, desert dunes and five-star beaches, all in one city.

Morocco

• Marrakech A walled medina, souks and riads, with the Atlas mountains close by.

United States

East Coast

• New York City Broadway, Central Park and the classic big-city break.

Florida

• Orlando The world’s biggest theme park resort area, built around families.
• Miami Art Deco South Beach by day, Latin nightlife by night.

West Coast & Nevada

• Las Vegas The Strip’s resort casinos, shows and round-the-clock nightlife.
• Los Angeles Beach towns, studios and canyons across one sprawling city.

Mexico

• Cancun All-inclusive resorts on a white-sand strip, with Maya ruins nearby.

Maldives

• Maldives Private-island resorts with overwater villas above the reef.