Spiekeroog, Germany: Sandbox on the North Sea
Noisy traffic is not an issue on the car-free East Frisian island of Spiekeroog. Instead, the sound of the waves, the screeching of the seagulls and the fresh North Sea wind form the background noise.
And because you're on an island, any trip will eventually end up by the sea: on a 15-kilometer beach of the finest white sand, as the North Sea island advertises - and so wide that you can be alone even in the summer. As dressing rooms then serve historic baths that go back to the twenties and spread the very special flair of the time.
For birdwatching island tourists head for the Ostplate. Especially beautiful are the beach walks, when the sun sinks directly into the sea - and the fall has an immediate advantage: You do not have to wait so long.
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From Caorle to Zlatni Rat: Seven beaches for the fallLeba, Poland: Sahara on the Baltic Sea
On Poland's Baltic coast, you feel the beach walking in the face of shifting sand dunes in the Sahara offset. Bleached by the sun and driven by the wind, the sometimes 50-meter-high dunes walk up to ten meters per year and gradually "swallow" forest and moor. After years, they release the trees again - as bald, bizarr shaped tree stumps.
The dunes are part of the Slowinski National Park, which is under the protection of Unesco as a World Biosphere Reserve. From the highest sand summit you can look out over the waves of the Baltic Sea, about five kilometers east, the silhouette of the fishing village Leba shimmers in the haze, a beautiful Baltic village and ideal location for sandpipers.
Caorle, Italy: sandy beach duo on the Adriatic
Undoubtedly, bordering on the Italian Adriatic is one of the most beautiful coasts for all beach walkers. For example, in front of the fishing village Caorle, also known as "Little Venice" because of its colorful little houses and alleys, is an 18-kilometer beach duo and endless sand for jogging or strolling: the slightly narrower Spiaggia di Ponente and up to 300 meters wide Spiaggia di Levante.
There, where families with children in the high season enough building material for record-breaking sand castles or romp on the artificial floating sea islands, in late summer there is plenty of room for quiet walking along the water.
Zlatni Rat, Croatia: The Golden Horn
Fabian v. Poser / SRT
Zlatni Rat on Brac: Hiking beach top
The third largest Croatian island of Brac has Zlatni Rat, one of the most famous beaches in Europe. Like a spear, the landmark towers 500 meters into the sea. In the middle is a shady pine forest. The tip of the pebble beach points to the west, sometimes to the east, depending on how the ocean currents and winds change them.
In midsummer he is very popular with families and sun worshipers. Beach runners convince themselves best in the off-season of why the beach in German is called "Golden Horn".
Elafonisi, Crete: island hikes with Caribbean flair
The beach of Elafonisi - this is actually the name of the offshore island - on the southwestern tip of Crete is a dune dream of white and pink sand. You can walk for hundreds of meters in the blue waters of the lagoon and on windless days even to the island of Elafonisi.
The pink colored sand of tiny fragments of shell fragments is powdery-sugary. In summer, the coast is very busy, in the off-season relaxed chilling announced. And thanks to still pleasant temperatures, the beach walk to the lighthouse and the chapel Agia Irini at the western end makes even more fun.
Patara, Turkey: Beach fun at St. Nicholas
Patara on the Turkish southwest coast is not only one of the most beautiful and longest beaches in Turkey, but also one of the few stretches of coast that are undeveloped and natural. After all, it is eight kilometers long and up to half a kilometer wide. Behind the Lycian coast rise the foothills of the Taurus Mountains.
The extensive dune area is a nature reserve. After dark, the beach belongs to the great sea turtles, who have been laying their eggs in the sand of the dunes since time immemorial. Nearby is the ancient Patara - around 280 AD, St. Nicholas was born there.
Playa de la Concha, Spain: Beach run with city connection
Can a beach bordering on a 180,000-inhabitant city actually be beautiful? The Playa de la Concha in the Spanish city of San Sebastián, in the Basque Country, can do it. This is also the upstream island of Santa Clara and the two house mountains left and right at. The semicircular shape ensures gentle waves.
Also the measures of 1.35 kilometers long and 40 meters wide are quite remarkable for a city beach and ideal for a walk on the beach or along the adjacent Paseo de Concha, the promenade and jogging mile. But those who are looking for loneliness are definitely out of place here.
If you want to continue hiking near the sea, here are tips for trips to Germany's islands:
