I was just reading the post about Italian beaches, and quickly perused the Times article to which someone posted a link. So here's my question...if you wanted a nice sandy beach (like the Virgin Islands or Florida or Hawaii), with a quaint town for poking around, shopping, eating and evening strolling (like Antibes), that is also picturesque (like the Cinque Terre), with decent accommodations (4*+, prefer non-chain hotels), where would you go?

Examples of places I'm NOT referring to -- Virginia Beach, VA (great beach, but nothing quaint or picturesque about it), Cannes (love it, but want a smaller-town feel), Waikiki (also love it, but again, not quaint or picturesque), Kaanapali Beach (looking for something that grew up "organically" rather than something that was developed specifically as a beach resort), etc.

I hope I'm conveying the picture of what I'm looking for.....I'd love to hear your thoughts -- can be anywhere in the world, but we usually focus on Europe.

Thanks!

Naxos in Greece has beautiful beaches and small quaint towns to explore, stroll and eat in. We spent a week there in June in a family run hotel on St Georges Beach, rented an ATV to explore many of the island towns, enjoyed the many beautiful beaches, and spent evenings strolling and dining in Naxos town. May fit your criteria.

DisneyWorld...It has all the fantasies your imagination has burdened you with.....

Got a digital picture frame for Christmas. So far, only my honeymoon pictures are put in.

Off season? St. Tropez..."I will be back".

Longboatkey, I know you're joking, but Disneyworld and Las Vegas are perfect examples of the kind of manufactured "bliss" that I want to avoid! (Gondolas in Las Vegas? Thanks, but unless they're in Venice, I'm not interested )

SF...I guess my sarcastic point is/was, you have a fairly tall order, on your requirements. For me in winter it is the Fl Keys, and smaller islands in the Carib, by our boat. Summer not August, (too hot), Puglia is great. Even if you stay in Lecce, the Baroque City, very small city at that; you are only 20 minutes from the beach in one direction and about an hour in the other. Many locals check the wind direction first then decide which coast to go to for calm waters.

Paleochora, Crete.

http://www.west-crete.info/paleochora.htm

a few places in Brittany, but the weather is dodgy.

Biarritz?

http://www.biarritz.fr/en/Website/site/en_accueil.php

Possibly the Algarve in Portugal, Andalucia in Southern Spain, or Sicily.

St Tropez off season is a good idea; beautiful beaches, lovely town, shops, restaurants.

All depends on when you want to go. Any quaint town with a lovely beach and good hotel will be crowded in July/August.

Hi SF - How about Ischia? Or Sperlonga? Or Sardinia?

Steve