Best lesser-known European destinations for sun without the crowds

Don’t follow the masses booking the same budget flights to the same busy spots. Choose one of these under-the-radar destinations, where summer sun comes with a side of serenity.

Alentejo, Portugal

While everyone else rushes to the rammed beaches of the Algarve, head instead to Alentejo, the neighbouring Portuguese region to the north. It’s still bathed in reliable rays, but rather than fight for a sun lounger along packed tourist strips, you’ll enjoy boutique design hotels, tackle epic walking trails and wander its Unesco World Heritage Site city, Evora. Its picturesque coastline is lined with soft beaches, soaring cliffs and cute fishing villages, with the option for exhilarating surfing and dolphin-spotting. Throw in hilltop towns with local artisans and ancient ruins – for example, the Roman villa of São Cucufate – and you certainly won’t be missing the resorts of Albufeira.

Paxos, Greece

It’s the ultimate summer holiday fantasy: a Greek island that’s not full to the brim with British tourists. You will need to work a bit harder to find a secret Grecian corner in high season, but not that much harder – Paxos is only an hour onward hydrofoil journey from Corfu, which is connected to the UK by dozens of daily direct flights, taking just over three hours. Your reward for that extra bit of effort? Sleepy beaches and cosy tavernas serving freshly landed fish and feta-topped salads. Hilly walks along chalky cliffs and past olive groves, and dives in sparkling coves. In other words, island heaven.

East Coast, Corsica

France’s chic Mediterranean isle is full of buzzy beach bars, cool hotels and billionaire’s yachts bobbing in the surf. But if you want to avoid the glitz – and with it, the masses of French holidaymakers that visit during school holidays – then steer clear of much of the south coast, as well as Bastia and capital Ajaccio. Instead, make for the underrated, wild east, where long stretches of sand are punctuated by sleepy hamlets. Golden stretches like Tallone, backed by shrub, come with few facilities, but plenty of laid-back atmosphere.

Bozburun Peninsula, Turkey

Built-up Marmaris might only be an hour away, but you’ll feel lightyears from the package resort vibe on the sleepy Bozburun Peninsula. Peaks carpeted in verdant forest rush down to turquoise bays, and narrow squiggly roads cling to the cliffside; this geography, by virtue of its drama, does the…