Portugal

The premier holiday area of mainland Portugal is the stunning Algarve. Here, Praia da Rocha's promenade stretches behind its golden mile of sandy shore. There are seven cliff-sheltered shores around Albufeira, two sandy bays at Vilamoura and a beautiful beach at Alvor. Plus, Monte Gordo's 12 mile sands are backed by pine forests.

But that's not all that you can expect from Portugal: it's principal island - Madeira - has some of the world's steepest cliffs as its boundaries, so it doesn't do sandy beaches! But Funchal's large and lively Lido more than makes up for the island's beach-less state, while west coast windsurfing, extreme surfing and big game fishing put the focus on the water rather than the shore.