4. Psili Ammos, Patmos, Greece
PHOTO:MARTA NARDINI/GETTY IMAGES
You'll need to follow the hoofprints to Psili Ammos — the donkey that delivers supplies to the beachside cafe each morning can lead you on the half-hour trek across the rumpled dunes. This is the southwestern tip of Patmos, the holy island in the Dodecanese where St. John is said to have holed up in a cave to write the Book of Revelation. These days, it's equally quiet, though unlike the saint, you won't be expected to do any work on this semicircle of cookie-colored sand with steep cliffs rearing up behind. The far end is a nudist beach, but worry not — you'll get no strange looks for being clothed on the rest of it. Take a dip in the shallow waters, sunbathe under the tamarisk trees, and don't forget to buy a beer from the cafe — that donkey didn't come here for nothing.
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5. Argèles-sur-Mer, Languedoc, France
PHOTO:EVE LIVESEY/GETTY IMAGES
Wedged between the Mediterranean and Pyrenees mountains on the border with Spain, Argèles-sur-Mer is a gorgeous gumbo of French and Catalan architecture, complete with an imposing, square-blocked castle dating back to the seventh century, a couple of miles south. But it's the beach that you're here for — almost four whole miles of soft sand that you'll want to get ankle-deep in. There are sun loungers for hire, but this is the kind of place to buy your own chair at the supermarket and haul it across the sand.