It’s the kind of question many travellers have asked: where can you enjoy a peaceful beach holiday without sacrificing good weather? While plenty of rankings highlight remote or tranquil destinations, they often force a choice between sunshine and elbow room.
But according to this new analysis, you can have both – at least in Europe.
Wizz Air teamed up with beach database Sandee to measure crowd levels across the continent, comparing visitor numbers from 2023 with the size of each beach. They calculated how many people would theoretically fit on the sand, using a standard towel size of 80 x 160 cm (1.2 m²).
The findings show that you don’t have to compromise on beauty or breathing room. Palombaggia Beach in Corsica – regularly ranked among the world’s most beautiful – comes in at 11th, with each visitor enjoying the equivalent space of 13.5 towels. And several postcard-worthy destinations made the top rankings, including Balos Beach in Crete, San Stefanos in Corfu, and Myrtos Beach in Kefalonia. Even Sardinia’s beloved Porto Giunco offers surprising serenity.
But if your priority is maximum space, Albania tops the list. Durrës Beach offers room for the equivalent of 64.5 towels per person, followed by Borsh and Himarë. Camber Sands in England (61.1 towels) and Croatia’s Zlatni Rat (54.1 towels) also scored highly.
At the other end of the spectrum? Sa Caleta in Ibiza, where each beachgoer gets just half a towel’s worth of space.
