France
Porquerolles
Car-free island trails through umbrella pines to beaches with Caribbean water and no crowd.
The ferry drops you at a small harbour and the engine noise stops. Porquerolles in France replaces it with pine-scented silence, cicadas, and the crunch of white sand underfoot on trails that lead through umbrella pines to coves where the water runs Caribbean clear. No cars. No traffic sounds. Just the island breathing.
Porquerolles is the largest of the three Îles d'Hyères, stretching seven kilometres by three and covered predominantly in Aleppo pine, eucalyptus, and maquis scrubland. The French state acquired most of the island in 1971 to prevent development, placing it within the Parc National de Port-Cros. The north coast holds the white-sand beaches — Plage Notre-Dame was voted the best beach in Europe in 2015 — while the south coast drops in rocky cliffs into deep blue water. Domaine de l'Île, the island's sole winery, produces rosé from vines planted in sandy soil within sight of the sea. The village has a handful of restaurants, a single square with a pétanque court, and no nightlife beyond the sunset.
Couple
Bike to Plage Notre-Dame through the pine forest, swim in the clear water, share lunch at the harbour. The island strips a day down to the essentials and makes them enough.
Family
The beaches are shallow, the trails are flat, and the absence of cars means children roam freely. Bike hire at the port turns the whole island into a playground with swimming at every stop.
Friends
Each trail ends at a different cove — split up in the morning, compare discoveries over rosé at the harbour in the evening. The island rewards exploration without requiring a plan.
- No cars, no high-rises — just pine-shaded trails connecting white-sand beaches with Caribbean-clear water.
- The island's single village has a handful of restaurants and a pétanque court — that's the nightlife.
- Domaine de l'Île produces rosé from vines planted in sandy soil fifty metres from the beach.
- Bike hire at the port gives you the whole island in a day — every trail ends at a different cove.
Grilled loup de mer on the harbour terrace with the island's own rosé from Domaine de l'Île.
Fougasse — a Provençal flatbread studded with olives and anchovies, torn and shared.
Esperance
Australia
Kangaroos doze on powder-white sand lapped by water so turquoise it looks artificially lit.
Telegraph Cove
Canada
A boardwalk village of twelve buildings perched on stilts over a cove where orcas hunt daily.
Fathom Five National Marine Park
Canada
Glass-bottomed boats glide over shipwrecks visible through Georgian Bay water clear as the Caribbean.
Crescent Island
Kenya
No fences, no vehicles — walk among giraffes and hippos on a volcanic lake island.
Marais Poitevin
France
Flat-bottomed boats gliding through a green labyrinth of canals roofed by willow and poplar.
Sarlat-la-Canéda
France
Honey-coloured stone and truffle-scented air in a medieval town preserved entirely by accident.
Carcassonne
France
Double-walled ramparts and 52 towers silhouetted at dusk like a medieval fever dream.
Noyers-sur-Serein
France
Timber-framed houses and carved lintels in a village the tourist buses cannot physically reach.