Beaches and Islands

From Our Archives

St. Bart’s: A Timeline

This speck of volcanic rock has become the ne plus ultra of Caribbean glamour. T+L takes a look at the invention of a resort destination.

Discovering Pietrasanta

For a taste of hidden Tuscany, look no further than this perfect coastal village.

Mykonos After Dark

Greece’s former party isle embraces its grown-up side.

German Riviera

With its tranquil beaches, the tiny northern island of Sylt is the country’s best-kept summer secret.

Sailing to Sardinia

The Costa Smeralda is legendarily beautiful and exclusive, but sail along the coast or drive inland a stretch—away from the glitz and glamour and 300-foot mega-yachts—and you can find semi-deserted beaches and villages that time forgot.

10 Best City Beaches

How to have it all—sun, sand, and sophistication—from Miami to Cape Town.

Natural Splendor on Georgia's Cumberland Island

A short ferry ride from the crowded mainland, Georgia’s Cumberland Island is a land unto itself: 17 1/2 miles of pristine woodland, marsh, and beaches, dotted with the occasional historic building or ruin.

Off-Season Beach Bargains

If you can abide less-than-tropical temperatures, you can have these beaches—and some great deals—all to yourself.

Tasmania’s Gourmet Paradise

The cleanest air and water on the planet, miraculously varied landscapes, a highly sophisticated local food and wine culture: the Australian island of Tasmania is a thriving gourmet paradise.

Puerto Rico Beyond San Juan

Leaving the bustle of San Juan behind, find the island’s solitary pleasures in Rincón, Mayagüez, and along the Ruta Panorámica.

Smart City Guide: Miami

With its inimitable mix of early-20th-century glamour, high-octane nightlife, Latin culture, and contemporary art, there is no place quite like Miami. Here, our all-in-one guide to the city.

Eat Like a Local in Oahu

Eat like a local at these eight restaurants, shrimp carts, and roadside diners.

Spice Islands

Looking for an affordable getaway? Ko Hai and Ko Muk, two tiny islands in the Andaman Sea, offer secluded coves, private beaches, and a coastline filled with marine life.

Kauai Discovered

Five ways to take in the sea cliffs, pastures, and rain-forested valleys.

Instant Home

Live like a local on the diminutive Italian paradise island of Ponza.

Secret Islands of Greece

Looking for a place that’s teeming with authenticity (not multitudes)? Try these three undiscovered islands along the Peloponnese—each with its own distinct personality, all still blissfully under the radar.

Affordable Amalfi Coast

Long a luxe playground for the jet set, this southern Italian shore is still within reach, even in high season.

Dominca: Island Nature

Can ecotourism help preserve one of the world’s greenest—and most beautiful—countries?

In the Pink

On Bermuda, hotels are opening, old favorites are upgrading, and those rosy sands are beckoning. Grab a rum swizzle and let the good times roll.

Waking Beauty

On the palm-fringed shores of Phu Quoc, off Vietnam’s coast, a transformation is under way. With billions of dollars—and perhaps millions of visitors set to pour in—is this sleepy island ready to become the next great beach resort?

Villa Escobar

In Tulum, the vacation home of the world’s most notorious drug lord is now a luxury eco-inn—if only the walls could talk.

Waterworld: Atlantis

At the newly expanded Bahamas resort Atlantis, Karrie Jacobs dives in to explore the latest in a long line of water-themed landscape entertainments.

Croat D'Azure

Is the Dalmatian Coast the next Riviera? Dubrovnik and the islands off Southern Croatia are tempting travelers with natural beauty and a buzzing nightlife.

Best of Barbados

Once a hideaway for the elite, this Caribbean island now lures an eclectic mix of visitors, with stylish hotels and shops, a thriving restaurant scene, and deserted beaches.

The Maine Attraction

Sandy beaches, wild blueberries, rowboat rides, and lobster at least once a day! Look no further than the state’s southern coast for summer as it was meant to be.

From A to Zihuatanejo

On a drive down Mexico’s central Pacific coast, David A. Keeps encounters lizards in hats, the Pie Lady, a little luxury, and more than a few bumps in the road.

Next Great Beach Resorts

From Antíparos to Zanzibar, we’ve tracked down 12 new hot spots where you’ll find pristine sand, local culture, and picture-perfect sunsets. What are you waiting for?

Vero Is Our Hero

Want to do Orlando but don’t want to overdo it? Here’s a bit of real magic: You can combine a visit to a dreamy seaside town with a dip into Walt’s world.

Brazil's Untamed Heart: Bahia

Far from glitzy Rio and São Paulo, the city of Salvador, in northeastern Brazil, is the country’s vibrant Afrocentric soul, a place of samba and Yoruban chants, caipirinhas and candomblé.

Passage to Pondy

Pondicherry, a breezy oasis on India’s Coromandel Coast, has the laid-back feel of a college town—one with an ashram, French colonial architecture, and a particularly benevolent elephant.

Morocco's St.-Tropez

As Tangier sweeps away decades of neglect with major civic and cultural renewal, Richard Alleman finds the glamorous city on the Strait of Gibraltar reclaiming its former glory

Anguilla Heats Up

With endless beaches and some of the Caribbean’s best hotels and restaurants, this laid-back enclave remains the height of island luxury.

50 Affordable Beach Resorts: 2004

From Hawaii to Zanzibar, we’ve searched the globe for stylish getaways just steps from the sand. The best part: almost all are under $200 a night.

Brazil’s Hidden Beaches

From a sand-swept jewel in Ceará state to a one-lane village south of Salvador with five stunning coves, here are Brazil’s best-kept-secret strands, where turtles outnumber sunbathers and deserted islands emerge from the crystalline sea.

Get Wet

Grab your flip-flops and your popsicle money?and follow us to five of our all-time family favorite waterfront towns. Welcome to the heart of summer.