You've donned oversize sunglasses and slathered on sunscreen for a blissed-out day of sunbathing along the French Riviera -- you and about a million other pasty tourists. Finding your own little slice of sand in Europe can be as challenging as finding a local boutique open in August.
"You have to be prepared to make that extra effort: a drive down a dirt track, a hike down and around a hill, or a boat ride around a headland," Kirsty Hathaway, editor of Beach Tomato, says. "There's a direct correlation between just how amazing a beach is and the difficulty in getting there."
Read on for more off-the-beaten-path beach escapes. And don't worry -- you can still rock those shades.
--Colleen Clark
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