Best Country in July Near UK?
 

Hello there,

My fiance and I will be in England until July 9th, then want to visit one more country before we head back to the US on July 17th. We looked at Greece but it seemed a bit out of the way for only having 9 days including travel days. I want to go somewhere romantic, white beaches, warm and not too touristy... any suggestions? THANKS in advance!

Lindsay

I'm afraid you won't get all of those together near the UK. You'd have to count on flying at least 2-3 hours, plus check-in times and ground transfers, or about as long by train to the south of France: if Greece is too far away, then you might think, say, Spanish or Italian or North African beach resorts are too. And then, the most conveniently-accessed places are likely to be touristy, by definition.

Greece isn't that far if it floats your boat. It's a very common holiday destination for people in the UK - many of whom have less than 9 days for their trip.

As Patrick says, you are going to have to give up the idea of 'near UK' for what you want. A half day travel isn't so bad though and most of Europe (including Greece) can be done in that. Unless you are planning on walking there, lol?

Or for something a bit different - and you might find it romantic - you can do a trip to Greece by train/boat. It takes 2 days via Italy or Vienna, but of course the journey itself is part of the experience and not just time stuck in airports/planes. The man in Seat 61 has some ideas on this: http://www.seat61.com/Greece.htm

If I understand this right, the requirements are: 1) somewhere romantic, 2) white beaches, 3) warm, 4) near the UK, 5) not too touristy, 6) in July.

Make this a third advice for giving up meeting all requirements. I would place the "near the UK" and "not too touristy" as last priorities, pretty much because they are pretty unrealistic requirements. Fortunately, 9 days is a good chumk of time for a relaxing beach type vaca, so, make it within two hours (?) flight from London(?). If that is the case, head out to Costa Brava (Barcelona/Sitges) Spain, Costa de la Luz (flight to Seville/Jerez, Cadiz) stay at Playa de La Barrosa, Algarve Region in Portugal (Faro, Albufeira, Tavira), or Near Porto (Afife Beach) in Portugal. From the beaches I've been to, Afife is probably the beach in Europe that would be closest to meet your requirements. Again, a "not too touristy" beach for a July in Europe is an oxymoron.

Whatever you do, DO NOT go nowhere near Costa del Sol in Spain. It is an overdeveloped, cramped, horrendous place for a beach vacation.

Well, they are actually part of the UK, but what about the Scillies?
They will certainly be warm and some islands have white beaches.
I have never been in July, but the islands are free of tourist tat.
One lovely thing is that the local birds are extremely tame and the kinds of birds that fly for their lives on the mainland, will happily eat out of your hand.

Hi, "couple"

my inital response was northern France - Brittany/Vendee area [the bit below Brittany south to la rochelle, roughly].

whenever we've been, the weather has been noticably better than england's, the beaches are lovely, it's not too touristy but with a good infrastructure...and easy to get to.

the only possible downside is that you'd need a car to make the most of it. Were it me, I'd get a flight to somewhere in the west of France, [there are lots of cheap flights to unlikely places like st. Brieuc, Brest, even Bordeaux] pick up a car, tour the area, then fly back from Paris.

living in Cornwall, I feel embarrassed that I didn't think of the Scilies, but i suspect that by now most of the accommodation for that time of year will be booked up - it's high season, and therefore pretty busy. [for scilly!]. two places to try if you are interested are the Star CAstle Hotel on St. Mary's [the main island] and the Island hotel on Tresco.

regards, ann

it's high season, and therefore pretty busy. [for Scilly!].

The last time we were there, a few years ago we were told that the police force on St. Mary's was doubled in high season.
They drafted in another constable from the mainland :-)

thanks so very much for all the advice ... I guess I am asking a lot but I figure aim high right and you'll fall somewhere in between ... I thought it would take 2 days to get to Greece since we have to fly from London to Athens then catch a flight to Crete or Santorini.

Does anyone know if that can be done in one day?

Plenty of charter flights from UK to various Greek Islands and some of the low costs airlines also fly UK to Greek Islands

BTW even if you were going via Athens it wouldn't take 2 days to get to a Greek Island unless you chose the wrong flights

So try googling "charter flight uk greece" or look on www.whichbudget.com

Sardinia - best beaches without question - this side of the Carribean - cheap shortish flights from London and not too touristy.

Thanks markrosy ... i looked at Sardinia recently and thought it looked amazing :) Thanks to alan as well ... great tips!

hi again, lindsay,

thanks to google, I just discovered that easyjet fly to olbia [on sardinia] from LGW. [also from Bristol but I suspect that's not a help to you, though it is to me!].

the flight should be about 2 hours, and sardinia is 1 hour ahead of the UK. so you take off at 12noon, say, land at 3pm.

with easyjet, you usually need to check in at least 45 minutes before departure and the train from Vcitoria to LGW takes about 30 minutes. so if you flight is at noon, [again!] you need to be leaving Victoria at about 10am, at the latest. [do check these details carefully though and remember to make time to get through passport and security].

that means leaving the hotel [assuming a central london location] at about 9am. so altogether, a 6 hour journey. not 2 days. the only difference if yougo to greece is that the flight is more like 3 hours.

the world [or at least europe] is your oyster.

I saw a Rick stein programme about sardinia. it looked fabulous. i especially remember the restaurant [sorry, I can't recall either the name of the place or the restaurant]where they serve only one dish. I can't remember the dish either, but it must have been good as the place was full levery night.

have a great time wherever you go,

regards, ann

If you still fancy Crete (and I love it there so I'd say YES go there) you can fly directly from the UK.

Or, as someone else said, if you do end up with a change at Athens if you can't get a direct flight, it'll still not take 2 days! You'd connect on the same day. Or you could fly to Athens and take the ferry to Crete if you want a boat trip too...takes 6 hours.

Lindsay

I challenge anyone to find me a cooler hotel than this in the world - it is simply stunning and close the to the beautiful northern islands of Sardinia.

http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-...s/la-coluccia/

WOW! I just want to sincerely thanks everyone ... ann, markrosy, nona1, I have never posted on Fodors before and everyone is sooooo helpful! I am new to traveling and I was feeling a bit lost trying to plan the "perfect trip" for my husband to be :) I have narrowd it down to Sardinia, Crete or Santorini, since now I know I can get to any of the 3 in 1 day. You are all very "karmalized" - I write a blog if anyone is interested ... all about good karma and my new journey with Derrek (fiance) - i can give u the link :)

oh markrosy ... loved the hotel ... you said it is close the islands of sardinia ... is it not on sardinia??
Or ... are there many islands? I'll check a map :)

The hotel is on the northern point of the main island of Sardinia - about 25 miles north of the Costa Smeralda (which is generally regarded as one of THE billionaires hang outs of Europe. It is actually a false, souless place.

The area around the hotel I gave you a link to is bliss - it has a frontier type town down the road and has views of the chain of small islands calles the Maddalenas.

We have seen most of Europe and have yet to find a more stunning corner.

ann

there are some barmy restaurants in Sardinia - we eat at one famous joint near Cagliari where they simply wander round with fish dishes and you basically eat what takes your fancy.

Must stop talking about Sardinia before too many cotton on and it becomes another European destination for the masses.

When it does (and it will) we will have to escape to Corsica. After that - there's not many unspoilt corners left.

Corsica would have been my first rec...for the moment, it seems to be among the least yet still warm and sunny touristed beach spots in Europe. I believe BA now has flights to Corsica.
http://www.flightmapping.com/Europe/France/Corsica/

I don't believe Ryanair serves Corsica (and if it doesn't, I hope it stays that way).

Ryanair and Easyjet certainly began to sound the death knell for Sardina. Its easier to get to the moon than it is to Corsica from the NW of England.

Long may it remain that way.