I am thinking of taking a mini vacation with my wife to the Mediterranean. We were think of going to Ibiza or Nice or something similar.
Anyway, I read in a travel guide that some of these beaches are either topless or fully nude. Which could be pretty gross, in some instances or OK depending on the situation.
What’s the straight dope on Mediterranean beaches?
Do they really sun bathe topless?
Does an official nude beach mean totally nude or just topless?
How do you tell if a beach is clothing optional or not?
Aren’t these people afraid of burning something?
What are good travel agencies in the UK for planning trips to the Med?
Yes, they bath topless on many beaches. It varies.
Official nude beach means totally nude.
You can tell if it’s optional or not by having a look around and following everyone else’s example. No-one’s going to force you in either direction, but I expect you’ll get stared at if you’re the only one.
Nice is mostly pebbly. You need to bring a heavy mat (hotels supply them and there are rental stands all along the Promenade des Anglais) unless you like small rocks poking you in the back. I couldn’t go in the water without wearing some kind of footware, that’s how pebbly it was, though there were brave souls running barefoot into the water. It hurt just to look at them.
There were numerous bare-breasted young women all across the beach. I was there with my girlfriend, which restrained me into mere casual ogling. It was very Nice.
These companies should all be able to provide you with advice about how to avoid topless beaches if that’s what you want to do (although they’re going to be hard to avoid in Ibiza).
Not all beaches on the French Riviera are pebble beaches. Antibes and Juan les Pins are perhaps the best-known resorts with sand, but again the travel agents will be able to suggest others.
Ibiza? Only if you’re into the rave scene and 18 years old.
What time of year? Right now, the water in the western Med is kinda chilly. I guess around 60F, so If you want warmer water, I’d go for Greece or Turkey.
As for the topless/nude thing. Yes, there are nude beaches. Most of them are a little out of the way. It’s not like a part of the beach in a major resort is nudist. I wouldn’t worry about that.
20 years ago, all women were topless. Not any more. It seems to me that most of the topless women are over 50 and from Germany. It’s just nothing that bothers anyone. When in Rome, ASF. Your SO would not be thought of as strange if she keeps her top on.
So is Ibiza not a nice place to visit? I’ve heard about the party scene, but I also heard that there are places on the island that are quieter.
My wife and I are in our thirty’s and I don’t think we’d fit into the whole club scene deal. I’m a US expatriate working in the UK and I just would like to go someplace sunny and pretty in September.
Nice is nice, but expensive. I too have heard that away from the towns, Ibiza is very nice. You could maybe consider one of the other Balearic islands, or how about Crete or Cyprus? The rule with all these destinations is stay away from the resorts.
Yes, there are quieter spots on Ibiza. However, there are very few beaches. Waterfront is mostly rocks, so the beaches that do exist tend to be crowded.
September is a great time to go, and I’m going then myself (to south of Spain). Vacation season is over, kids are back in school, everything is nice and warm after the summer, but not too warm, as August has a tendency to be.
Nice is a pretty big and busy town. If you want a nice quiet getaway to smoch the wife I’d stay out of Nice. Try one of the Greek Islands. Mostly, I’d say that France, Italy and Spain are a bit on the expensive side. Not knowing your budget, it’s hard to tell what you’d think is expensive. South of Portugal is great in September. It’s a quick hop from London, it’s fairly inexpensive, the beaches are great as is the seafood. It’s almost possible to find those sleepy little fishing villages that are unspoilt by tourism. Almost. At least as compared to other places.
Whatever you do, stay away from the following:
Spain: Costa Blanca, especially Benidorm. As a bad example of mass toruism, this takes the price.
Canary Islands. This is a place for winter toorism. Most of the Islands are destroyed by tourism too,
Greece:
Rhodes and Cyprus. Also destroyed by tourism.
Figure that things are generally more expensive on Islands. Things need to be shipped there and the only industry is tourism. Mallorva receives about 15 million tourists a year and there simply is not enough fresh water. This comes from the mainland in a tanker ship and water prices are accordingly. So hotels charge more for a room, than they would for the same room on the mainland.