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Beach Travel

Beach travel guides covering the world’s best coastlines — from Caribbean white sand to Greek volcanic black sand — with hotel picks, swim safety notes, and seasonal advice from the ViaTravelers team.

  • Nice city airport, French riviera

    Cote D’Azur

    Skip Saint-Tropez in August. The real Côte d’Azur is Antibes at dawn, socca from a Nice market stall, and Matisse in a quiet room.

  • Saint Barthelemy Ocean Scenery

    Saint Barthelemy

    St. Barths is eight square miles of French Caribbean done right — better beaches than St. Tropez, better food than most of Paris.

  • Plant Flying at Sint Maarten Island

    Sint Maarten

    Sint Maarten packs two countries, two cultures, and a dozen world-class beaches into 37 square miles. The French side alone is worth the flight.

  • Interior of a Budapest Israeli restaurant with botanical theme, wooden bar, patterned tiles, and abundant plants.

    Israel

    Jerusalem’s Old City packs 3,000 years into one square mile. The Dead Sea, Masada, and Tel Aviv’s beaches fill the rest of the itinerary.

  • Aerial view of a huge coffee plantation in Brazil

    Brazil

    Brazil is not one trip — it’s five. The Amazon, the Northeast coast, Rio, the Pantanal, and Iguazu each deserve a week on their own.

  • Ancient Egyptian Sphinx sculpture in the Louvre Museum, Paris

    Egypt

    The pyramids are older than you think — and closer to Cairo’s suburbs than anyone warns you.

  • Isla Mujeres in Cancun, Mexico, from above

    Mexico

    Oaxaca’s markets, Teotihuacan at dawn, and a $2 street taco better than any resort meal — Mexico keeps delivering at every price point.

  • Beautiful fishing village of Naoussa, Paros island, Greece

    Greece

    The Acropolis after 2,500 years still stops you cold. But Milos and Folegandros are where Greece starts to feel like yours.

  • The oldest olive tree in the Old Bar and also Europe, more than 2000 years old, Montenegro

    Montenegro

    You can ski Durmitor in the morning and swim the Adriatic by afternoon. Few countries this small pull that off.

  • Islands in Ang Thong National Marine Park, Tha in Koh Samui, Thailand

    Thailand

    Bangkok’s street food alone justifies the flight. Add Chiang Mai, Pai, and the Andaman coast and you have a country that rewards slow travel.

  • Historic statue at Fiskebrygga fish market, Kristiansand, Norway

    Kristiansand

    Kristiansand’s Posebyen quarter looks like a Nordic film set — white wooden houses, narrow lanes, zero tourists.

  • Cafe Tio Leo in San Diego - Enjoy Authentic Mexican Cuisine

    Dominical

    Dominical is Costa Rica’s laid-back Pacific surf town — consistent waves, howler monkeys in the trees, and Nauyaca waterfalls a short drive inland. No resorts, just jungle.

  • A club scene in Greece on a vibrant night

    Assos Village

    Assos is a tiny Kefalonia village with a Venetian fortress on the peninsula, a handful of tavernas by the water, and a pace of life that resists everything modern.

  • Aerial view of Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

    Honolulu

    Honolulu puts Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor, and Diamond Head within city limits — Hawaii’s capital is urban in a way that still feels tropical and never feels mainland.

  • Explore the iconic Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, showcasing Dutch Golden Age art and 17th-century architecture.

    The Hague

    The Hague is the Dutch seat of government with Mauritshuis’ Girl with a Pearl Earring, a Scheveningen beach, and an international law identity that gives it gravitas without pretense.

  • Colorful Buildings in Cartagena, Colombia 

    Cartagena

    Cartagena preserves colonial architecture behind 16th-century stone walls along Colombia’s Caribbean coast — the old town’s color, music, and fruit vendors make every street a scene.

  • rocks and blue sky at Camp Pintade in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius

    Mauritius

    Mauritius has an underwater waterfall illusion, seven-colored earth at Chamarel, and a Creole-Indian-French culture that shows up best on every dinner plate.

  • virgin-islands destination image

    Virgin Islands

    The Virgin Islands split between US and British territory with trunk bay snorkeling, Tortola’s sailing, and a Caribbean pace where flip-flops count as formal wear.

  • Beautiful white beach in Saint Lucia, Caribbean Islands

    St. Lucia

    St. Lucia has the Pitons rising from the sea, volcanic mud baths you can actually swim in, and a Caribbean setting that makes other islands feel flat by comparison.

  • Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Harbour Town

    Hilton Head Island

    Hilton Head is a South Carolina barrier island with 12 miles of beach, 24 golf courses, and a bike-path network that makes cars feel optional from check-in to checkout.

  • moorea destination image

    Moorea

    Moorea is a 30-minute ferry from Tahiti with volcanic peaks, a lagoon that glows blue-green, and a quieter pace that makes Bora Bora feel like a resort and Moorea feel like an island.

  • Zanzibar shore with boats in Africa

    Zanzibar

    Zanzibar’s Stone Town is a UNESCO maze of carved doors and spice-scented alleys — the beaches on the east coast are the postcard, but the history is the reason to go.