Europe
Twenty-six zones across five coasts that don’t share a single shoreline: the Atlantic run from Brittany down through Spain and Portugal to the Algarve, the British Isles and Ireland, the North Sea’s Dutch and German coast, the Nordic countries from Iceland to Sweden, and the Mediterranean from the Riviera to Cyprus. Each coast gets its own map below — pick a zone to open its full guide.
Atlantic France & Iberia
Brittany down through the Bay of Biscay, Spain’s north coast, and the full length of Portugal to the Algarve.
BRITTANY
VENDÉE &
CHARENTE-MARITIME FRENCH BASQUE &
LANDES SPAIN — BASQUE COUNTRY CANTABRIA &
ASTURIAS GALICIA NORTH PORTUGAL PORTUGAL — SILVER COAST PORTUGAL — ALGARVE
British Isles & Ireland
Great Britain and Ireland in full — from Cornwall and Wales up to the north of Scotland, and Ireland’s Atlantic-facing coast from the northwest down to Kerry.
UK — SOUTHWEST ENGLAND
UK — WALES
UK — SCOTLAND
IRELAND — NORTHWEST
IRELAND — CLARE &THE WEST IRELAND — KERRY &
THE SOUTH COAST
North Sea
The Dutch and German coast, with the full Frisian island chain, the Elbe and Weser estuaries, and the Jutland peninsula beyond.
Mediterranean
The French Riviera, Italy’s mainland coast with Sicily and Sardinia, Greece and the Aegean, and Cyprus — the northern Mediterranean rim in one true-scale frame.
What’s on These Coasts
- Brittany — France’s Atlantic-facing peninsula, with La Torche among its best-known breaks.
- Vendée & Charente-Maritime — the Bay of Biscay coast around Les Sables-d’Olonne.
- French Basque Country & Landes — Hossegor and the Landes coast, one of Europe’s best-known beach-break stretches.
- Spain — Basque Country — Mundaka and the Basque coast east toward France.
- Cantabria & Asturias — Spain’s Green Coast, centered around Rodiles.
- Galicia — Spain’s northwest corner, exposed to the full force of the North Atlantic.
- North Portugal — the coast around Porto.
- Portugal — Silver Coast — Peniche and the stretch that put Portuguese surf on the map.
- Portugal — Algarve — Portugal’s south coast, down to Sagres.
- UK — Southwest England — Cornwall’s coast around Newquay.
- UK — Wales — the Welsh coast around Porthcawl.
- UK — Scotland — the cold-water north coast around Thurso.
- Ireland — Northwest — Bundoran and Ireland’s exposed northwest corner.
- Ireland — Clare & the West — Lahinch and the west coast beneath the Cliffs of Moher.
- Ireland — Kerry & the South Coast — Dingle and Ireland’s southwestern peninsulas.
- Netherlands — Scheveningen and the Dutch North Sea coast.
- Germany — Sylt and the North Frisian coast.
- Iceland — the volcanic southwest around Reykjanes.
- Norway — Unstad and the Lofoten islands, deep inside the Arctic Circle.
- Sweden — Varberg and Sweden’s west coast.
- Denmark — Klitmøller, known locally as Cold Hawaii.
- French Riviera — the Mediterranean coast around Nice.
- Italy — Mainland & Sicily — from the Ligurian coast down to Sicily.
- Italy — Sardinia — Sardinia’s north coast around Isola Rossa.
- Greece — Crete and the Greek coast.
- Cyprus — Limassol and Cyprus’s south coast.