Cliffs, coves and long strands of sand — the shorelines worth planning a trip around.
Published December 22, 2025
Tap any photo to open it full-screen and order a print.
A southern beach hub and launch point for Krabi's dramatic limestone coast.
Ao Nang is the main beach resort town of Krabi province on the Andaman coast, a relaxed strip of hotels, restaurants and a beachfront promenade. Its real value is as a base and transit point for the surrounding seascape, with longtail boats departing the beach for nearby peninsulas, islands and beaches reachable only by water.
Explore Ao Nang →
Spain's windswept southern tip, where two seas meet and Africa is visible across the strait.
Tarifa is the southernmost point of mainland Europe, set on the Strait of Gibraltar where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea. On clear days the Moroccan coast and the Rif mountains are plainly visible across the narrow strait. Constant strong winds have made it one of the world's premier kitesurfing and windsurfing destinations, and its beaches are long, pale and wild.
Explore Tarifa →
Dubrovnik is a walled city on the southern Dalmatian coast, its limestone Old Town wrapped by ramparts that run almost two kilometers around the medieval core. The marble main street, the Stradun, polished smooth by centuries of foot traffic, anchors a grid of stepped lanes climbing toward the city walls and the sea beyond.
The historic center is enclosed by some of the best-preserved fortifications in Europe, rebuilt in stone after a major earthquake in 1667. A continuous walkway along the top of the walls passes the Minčeta and Bokar towers and offers elevated views over terracotta rooftops and the open Adriatic. Within the walls, Baroque churches, the Rector's Palace and Onofrio's Fountain sit along the Stradun, which fills with light in the early morning before tour groups arrive.
Explore Dubrovnik →
Essaouira is a fortified port on Morocco's Atlantic coast, known for its whitewashed and blue-shuttered medina, its working fishing harbor, and the steady trade winds that have made it a center for windsurfing. The sea light here is softer and cooler than the interior cities.
The medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was laid out in the 18th century by a French engineer on a regular grid unusual for Morocco, and its sea-facing ramparts, the Skala de la Ville, are lined with old bronze cannons facing the Atlantic. The town was historically known as Mogador and was an important trading port; its blue boats, gulls and weathered fishing harbor are among the most photographed subjects on the coast.
Explore Essaouira →
A coastal resort city with a long beach, offshore islands and ancient Cham towers.
Nha Trang is a major coastal resort city on the south-central coast, known for a long crescent of beach backed by a high-rise promenade and a sheltered bay dotted with islands. It is one of Vietnam's most established seaside destinations, popular for swimming, diving and island-hopping boat trips out into the clear waters of the bay.
Explore Nha Trang →
Split is built directly inside and around the Diocletian's Palace, a Roman imperial retirement complex from the early 4th century. Rather than a ruin set apart, the palace is a living quarter where apartments, cafes and shops occupy the ancient walls, cellars and colonnaded courtyards.
At the heart of the old town lies the Peristyle, a columned Roman square overlooked by a sphinx brought from Egypt and the cathedral that was once the emperor's mausoleum. Narrow marble lanes thread between Roman, medieval and Venetian buildings, opening onto the Riva, a wide palm-lined seafront promenade that faces the harbor and the islands beyond.
Explore Split →
