Travel
Best beaches in the world are all in Europe: Portugal, Italy and Spain named traveller favourites
Portugal’s Praia da Falésia takes the coveted top spot on Tripadvisor’s ‘Best Beaches’ list
In a world where sustainability and natural beauty increasingly dominate travellers’ choices, Portugal’s Praia da Falésia emerges as the crown jewel, topping Tripadvisor’s prestigious Best of the Best Beaches list for 2024.
This impressive stretch of white sand and colourful cliffs was noted as “best for scenic walks and sunbathing” and is up from number six in 2023.
Europe prevailed in the other top spots, with Italy‘s Spiaggia dei Conigli in Lampedusa at number two and Spain’s La Concha Beach in San Sebastian in number three.
All three were recommended for spring trips.
Tripadvisor award puts the Algarve on the map
Praia da Falésia, located in the heart of the Algarve region, captured the coveted number one spot, enchanting visitors with its picturesque blend of white sands and dramatic, orange-coloured cliffs kissed by the Atlantic Ocean.
What sets Praia da Falésia apart is its pristine shoreline and commitment to sustainability. The nature park adjoining the beach protects its spotless condition, offering a sanctuary for local flora and fauna.
Praia da Falésia: What to know to plan your beach day
One of the most extensive beaches in the Algarve is the list-topping Praia da Falésia, which stretches almost six kilometres.
It extends to Albufeira’s Olhos d’Água neighbourhood in the west and shares borders with the resort town of Vilamoura to the east. Though it’s essentially the same beach, the narrower western end is known by a different name, Praia do Barranco das Belharucas.
While Praia da Falésia is located in the more touristy part of the Algarve, the beach remains largely untouched, with little development directly on its sandy shores and fragile clay cliffs.
Further from the beach, there are several resorts, hotels and beach clubs, including Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort, The Residences at Victoria and Domes Lake Algarve Autograph Collection.
If you’re looking for budget-friendly options, holiday apartments, vacation rentals, and guesthouses are available in the nearby towns of Albufeira and Vilamoura, where you’ll also find plenty of bars and restaurants.
How to get to Praia da Falésia
There are several ways to reach the Praia da Falésia area. Faro Airport (FAO) is the nearest airport, with a driving distance of approximately 30-40 minutes to the beach.
From Faro Airport, visitors can rent a car or use buses or taxis to reach their accommodation.
You can also travel to popular tourist spot Albufeira by train. The train station is about 5.5 kilometres from the old town centre.
To reach Praia da Falésia beach by bus, there is an infrequent service operated by the Vamus company that departs from Albufeira’s bus station to Praia da Rocha Baixinha.
If you have rented a car in Portugal, you can drive to the beach, where you’ll find parking.
The best time to visit Praia da Falésia
For sun worshipers, the summer months, from June to September, have the best weather and ideal swimming and water sports conditions.
However, you can also enjoy pleasant weather and fewer crowds during the shoulder seasons of spring (April to May) and autumn (October to November).
You might also find that accommodation and flights are cheaper if you travel off-peak.
Spiaggia dei Conigli: How to find the hidden beach
Italy’s Spiaggia dei Conigli came second on Tripadvisor’s best beaches list and is renowned for sea turtle sightings and diving.
The serene Spiaggia dei Conigli (Rabbit Beach) in Lampedusa is accessible only by boat or on foot via a short trail off the main road.
Although a little challenging to locate, the effort is worth it for clear waters and soft sands. Take any of the hourly buses from Lampedusa town if you don’t have your own transportation.
Because of the dreamy white sand and azure blue waters, the beach and its natural reserve are frequently likened to those in the Caribbean.
Rabbit Beach is one of the rare beaches in Italy where you can observe Caretta Caretta turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs and if you’re lucky, young turtles hatching.
For accommodation, travellers can choose from various hotels, guesthouses, and holiday rentals near the beach. Popular luxury hotels in Lampedusa include La Rosa dei Venti, La Calandra Resort, and Hotel Cupola Bianca for travellers looking for an upscale stay.
How to get to Spiaggia dei Conigli
Getting to Spiaggia dei Conigli involves travelling to the island of Lampedusa, situated in the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and Tunisia.
In the summer, Lampedusa becomes more accessible via direct flights from mainland Italian cities like Rome and Naples, and there’s also a ferry service and frequent flights from Sicily.
La Concha Beach: One of Europe’s most photographed beaches
Coming in third on Tripadvisor’s top beaches list, La Concha Beach in San Sebastian is one of Europe’s most iconic and photographed urban beaches, renowned for its natural beauty and vibrant atmosphere.
Located along the picturesque Bay of La Concha, the beach has white sands, turquoise waters, watersports, and a long boardwalk, making it a popular destination for locals and tourists.
La Concha is incredibly well-equipped and has beach amenities, including toilets, showers, lockers and classic blue and white sunshades.
Several hotels are within walking distance of the beach, including Hotel de Londres y de Inglaterra, Zenit Convento San Martin and Hotel Arbaso.
How to get to La Concha Beach
Getting to La Concha Beach is easy, thanks to San Sebastian‘s well-connected transportation network. The city is hugely accessible by air, train, and road, and many hotels are also within walking distance of the beach.
San Sebastian Airport (EAS) is the nearest airport, offering domestic and international flights and San Sebastián railway station, also known as Donostia-San Sebastián, is the main railway station.
Best time to visit La Concha Beach
The summer months, from June to August, are popular times to visit and offer hot and sunny weather ideal for swimming, sunbathing, and water sports. During this time, the city comes alive with festivals, cultural events, and outdoor activities, creating a festive atmosphere.
The summer season attracts larger crowds, so if you want a chilled out beach experience, you should visit during the shoulder seasons of spring and autumn when the weather is still pleasant, and the city and beach are less busy.
How were Tripadvisor’s Best Beaches chosen?
Based on an analysis of all the reviews left on Tripadvisor for beaches globally over one year, the award reveals the beaches that were the highest rated by travellers who visited.
From rave reviews of dreamy views to unrivalled cleanliness to watersport-friendly seas, award-winners provided the best overall beach experiences.
Tripadvisor’s top three beaches are all in Europe
Other beaches in the top ten include Palm-Eagle Beach in Aruba, Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos and Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia.
Sarah Firshein, Head of Editorial at Tripadvisor, says, “Our top 25 winners alone encompass 18 countries across five continents.
The top three beaches are all in Europe, ousting the perennially popular Caribbean from those spots a sign that some travellers are eager to swap typical resort vacations for the coastlines of Portugal, Italy, and beyond.”
In the US, winners span eight states this year, from the northern coasts of Maine to the Pacific shores of Oregon, signifying that people all over the country have access to great beaches within driving distance.
However, Hawaii and Florida unsurprisingly shine with the most award-winning beaches – and Hawaii leads with ten winners.
Which other beaches made the list?
In addition to honouring the world’s top beaches, Tripadvisor introduced a new ranking of Sustainable Beaches, recognising destinations that exemplify a commitment to environmental conservation.
From the golden sand shores of Sandbanks Beach in the United Kingdom to the azure waters of Radhanagar Beach in India, these sustainable havens inspire travellers to tread lightly on the earth while soaking up the sun.
Travel
ICC launches outside investigation into its top prosecutor
The International Criminal Court will launch an external probe into sexual misconduct accusations against its top prosecutor Karim Khan.
The external probe will keep alive a case that the court’s internal watchdog had closed within five days.
Karim Khan has categorically denied the accusations that he tried to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship, and the claims come amid reports of an ongoing Israeli intelligence campaign to discredit the court’s prosecution of Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The external investigation was approved this week at a meeting of the court’s oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door deliberations.
It was unclear exactly who would conduct the probe, the people said, noting that possibilities included law enforcement officials from Europe and a law firm. The United Nations’ internal watchdog has also been discussed for such a probe but that could be fraught with conflict-of-interest concerns because Karim’s wife, a prominent human rights lawyer, had previously worked at the agency in Kenya investigating sexual harassment.
Neither Päivi Kaukoranta, a Finnish diplomat currently heading the ICC’s oversight body, nor Khan’s attorney immediately responded to requests for comment.
An AP investigation found that two court employees in whom the alleged victim confided came forward with the accusation in May, a few weeks before Khan sought arrest warrants against Netanyahu, his defence minister and three Hamas leaders on war crimes charges. A three-judge panel is now weighing that request.
AP reported that Khan travelled frequently with the woman after transferring her to his office from another department at the ICC’s headquarters in The Hague.
During one foreign trip, Khan allegedly asked the woman to rest with him on a hotel bed and then “sexually touched her,” according to whistle-blower documents shared with the court’s watchdog and seen by the AP. Later, he came to her room at 3 a.m. and knocked on the door for 10 minutes.
Other allegedly non-consensual behaviour cited in the documents included locking the door of his office and sticking his hand in her pocket. He also allegedly asked her on several occasions to go on a vacation together.
After the two co-workers reported the alleged behaviour, the court’s internal watchdog interviewed the woman but she opted against filing a complaint due to her distrust of the watchdog, according to the AP investigation. Khan was never questioned and the watchdog’s inquiry was closed within five days.
While the court’s watchdog could not determine wrongdoing, it nonetheless urged Khan in a memo to minimise contact with the woman to protect the rights of all involved and safeguard the court’s integrity.
Under Khan, the ICC has become more assertive in combating crimes against humanity, war crimes and related atrocities. Along the way, it has added to a growing list of enemies.
Last September, following the opening of a probe into Russian atrocities in Ukraine, the court suffered a debilitating cyberattack that left staff unable to work for weeks. It also hired an intern who was later criminally charged in the U.S. with being a Russian spy.
Israel has also been waging its own influence campaign ever since the ICC recognised Palestine as a member and in 2015 opened a preliminary investigation into Israel’s actions.
London’s The Guardian newspaper and several Israeli news outlets reported this summer that Israel’s intelligence agencies for the past decade have allegedly targeted senior ICC staff, including putting Khan’s predecessor under surveillance and showing up at her house with envelopes stuffed with cash to discredit her.
An external probe would go further than what Khan proposed when, following the AP report, he called on the ICC’s internal watchdog to investigate the matter and said he would fully cooperate.
Travel
Inundated Pompeii plans a limit of 20,000 tourists a day
The Pompeii archaeological park plans to also introduce personalised tickets in a bid to protect the world heritage site, officials have said.
The move comes after what authorities called a record summer that saw over four million people visiting the world-famous remains of the ancient Roman city, buried under ash and rock following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The park’s director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said visitors to the main archaeological site now exceed an average of 15,000 to 20,000 every day, and the new daily cap will prevent the numbers from surging further.
“We are working on a series of projects to lift the human pressure on the site, which could pose risks both for visitors and the heritage (that is) so unique and fragile,” Zuchtriegel said.
Starting 15 November, tickets to access the park will be personalised to include the full names of visitors. A maximum of 20,000 tickets will be released each day, with different time slots during the peak summer season.
The park’s management is also trying to attract more tourists to visit other ancient sites connected to Pompeii through a free shuttle bus under the “Greater Pompeii” project, including Stabia, Torre Annunziata and Boscoreale sites.
“The measures to manage flows and safety and the personalisation of the visits are part of this strategy,” Zuchtriegel said.
“We are aiming for slow, sustainable, pleasant and non-mass tourism and above all widespread throughout the territory around the UNESCO site, which is full of cultural jewels to discover,” he added.
Travel
Spain aims to ban golden visas from January – but one country is reintroducing its scheme
The EU is turning its back on golden visas – but one country is reintroducing its scheme.
Getting the right to live and work in another country can be a long and difficult process. But that’s not always the case for those with money to spend.
Golden visas offer the opportunity for wealthy people to essentially ‘buy’ the right to residency – sometimes without even having to live in the country.
And their popularity in the European Union is growing as people look to move away from countries facing instability and political decisions such as Brexit that may limit their safety and rights.
With the unsettled political and social environment in the US in recent years, applications for golden visas from Americans were also projected to increase.
But golden visas are now gradually being phased out across Europe.
Spain has finally secured a legal route to ending golden visas via property investment, with reports suggesting the ban could come into force by January 2025. The ban, which is still being debated, could also affect other investment pathways.
Portugal removed real estate investment as a basis for golden visa applications back in October 2023 in the hope of reducing property speculation.
The Netherlands followed suit, ending its golden visa scheme in January 2024.
But Hungary has bucked the trend by reintroducing its golden visa scheme, with applications open as of this month.
So what exactly are these golden visa schemes and why has the EU raised questions about their safety in recent years?
What is a golden visa?
Residence by investment schemes, otherwise known as ‘golden visas’, offer people the chance to get a residency permit for a country by purchasing a house there or making a large investment or donation.
Any applicants must be over the age of 18, have a clean criminal record and have sufficient funds to make the required investment.
There are also golden passports, known officially as citizenship by investment programs, that allow foreigners to gain citizenship using the same means.
For countries in the EU, this also means gaining access to many of the benefits of being a resident of the bloc – including free movement between countries.
Why is the EU against golden visas and passports?
In 2022, the European Commission called on EU governments to stop selling citizenship to investors.
Though this is different to golden visas, which offer permanent residency rather than citizenship, the call came as part of a move to crack down on this combined multi-billion euro industry. In the wake of the Ukraine war, there were concerns that these schemes could be a security risk.
Brussels also called for countries to double-check whether people sanctioned due to the war were holding a golden passport or visa that they had issued.
In the past, the EU has also said that schemes of this kind are a risk to security, transparency and the values that underpin the European Union project.
In October 2022, the European Commission urged Albania to “refrain from developing an investors’ citizenship scheme (golden passports)”. Such a scheme would “pose risks as regards security, money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing, corruption and infiltration by organised crime, and would be incompatible with EU norms,” it warned in a report. The country has since suspended its plans to introduce a golden visa.
Threats also come from outside the bloc. Also in October 2022, the European Commission proposed a suspension of Vanuatu‘s visa waiver agreement due to golden passport risks. This is because the scheme enables nationals of third countries to gain Vanuatu citizenship, which then earns them visa-free access to Schengen zone countries.
Which other countries have scrapped their golden visa schemes?
In February 2022, the UK government scrapped its golden visa scheme that allowed wealthy foreign nationals to settle in the country in exchange for bringing part of their wealth with them. The decision to end the scheme came as part of a move to clamp down on dirty money from Russia.
In February 2023, Ireland also axed its golden visa scheme – the Immigrant Investor Programme – which offered Irish residence in return for a €500,000 donation or three-year annual €1 million investment in the country.
Ireland had already suspended the scheme for Russian citizens in March 2022 as part of sanctions imposed on the country for the invasion of Ukraine. The following month, the European Parliament warned that the programme was vulnerable to tax abuse. The final decision to end the scheme was the outcome of various international reports and internal reviews.
Which EU countries still offer golden visas and what are the requirements?
There are only a few places that still offer golden passports in the EU. One of these countries is Malta. Here, the minimum investment amount starts at €690,000 and offers citizenship for between 12 and 36 months.
Many others, however, still offer golden visa schemes. Here are a few examples of exactly how much it costs to get residence by investment in these countries.
Does Spain still offer a golden visa?
Spain launched its residence by investment scheme in 2013. It allowed wealthy people from outside the EU to obtain residency permits on investing more than €500,000 in real estate or certain types of business.
However, in April, the country’s government said it plans to scrap the real estate route – which accounts for 94 per cent of applications – to reduce pressure on the housing market.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the reform was part of his minority coalition government’s push to make housing “a right, not a speculative business”.
The road to banning the visa has been a long and rocky one, having failed to secure parliamentary support from major opposition parties.
According to local media reports, a ban could be on the horizon in January 2025 but applications made before then are likely to be honoured.
The government says over 15,000 such visas have been issued since the measure was brought into law in 2013 by a previous right-wing Popular Party government as a means to attract foreign investors.
Since Spain announced plans to end its golden visa, Chinese investors have rushed to buy property in the country, a report by Spanish state broadcaster RTVE revealed.
The visa can also be gained by starting certain types of business in Spain, holding company shares or bank deposits with a minimum value of €1 million in Spanish financial institutions, or making a government bonds investment of at least €2 million. The ban could extend to these types of investments, also.
Hungary golden visa scheme
Bucking the trend, Hungary announced plans to reintroduce its golden visa scheme in July 2024, after having ended it back in 2017.
The so-called Guest Investor Program (GIP) offers three routes to residency, including through real estate investment funds (minimum €250,000), purchasing a residential property (minimum €500,000) or donating at least €1 million to a higher educational institution in the country.
The visa is extended to the spouse and dependent children of the applicant and grants visa-free travel in the EU.
Initial applications opened at the end of October, with further real estate investment funds expected to be released by the end of the year.
Italy’s golden visa scheme
Italy is another popular destination for those looking to get residence by investment. Introduced in 2017, its golden visa grants non-EU nationals a residence permit for two years in exchange for an investment in Italy.
The minimum investment here is €250,000 which must be done through an Italian limited company. Those holding these visas can also include their family in the application and benefit from a special tax regime.
Once those using the scheme have lived in Italy for 10 years, they can be eligible for citizenship.
Greece’s golden visa scheme
Greece offers golden visas, with one of the quickest processes for gaining residency. Qualifying foreigners can get a permit within 60 days of applying.
It used to have one of the lowest thresholds for investment at just €250,000 spent on property in the country. But the country raised this to €800,000 in September in areas facing severe housing shortages, such as Athens, Mykonos and Santorini.
Elsewhere, it only rose to €400,000 to encourage investment in a wider range of places.
Golden visa holders aren’t required to stay in Greece to keep their visas.
By the end of 2021, the country had seen 9,500 applications for these residence by investment schemes, one of the highest numbers in Europe.
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