Europe’s least crowded beach revealed offering ‘beautiful’ peace and quiet

In search of some late summer sun without the tourist crowds? Europe’s least crowded beach has been named – and it’s relatively off the beaten track.

Beach of Durrës in Albania has taken the crown, with a new study naming it as offering the largest amount of towel space per beachgoer. There’s nothing worse than feeling cramped and overwhelmed on holiday, after all.

The research, compiled by Wizz Air, analysed over 50 European countries and their top beaches to determine the most and least crowded.

The calculation involved measuring the beach, dividing its area by the size of a beach towel, and then dividing that by the average number of daily visitors to give an estimate of how much space each beach has to offer per person.

Beach of Durrës, which is around 10.5 kilometres long, racked up a score of 64.5, beating out notable locations in France, Portugal and Spain to take the number one spot.

There was representation from the UK, too, as Camber Sands in East Sussex received a score of 61.1 – beating out the likes of Portugal’s Praia da Falésia and Spain’s Playa d’en Bossa, which ranked in seventh and tenth place respectively.

At the other end of the spectrum, Playa Sa Caleta in Ibiza, Spain, was named the most overcrowded – with a score of just 0.5.

The Beach of Durrës might’ve been hailed as ‘beautiful’ by one particularly generous Reddit thread, but as one of the oldest cities in Albania, there’s plenty of history to get stuck into here, too.

The Durrës Amphitheatre is a legacy of the Roman Era, and once seated 20,000 people. Construction began during the 2^nd century AD, and it remains the largest ever built in the Balkan Peninsula, so it’s very much worth a visit.

There’s also the Durrës Archaeological Museum, which, as the largest archaeological museum in the country, tells the story of Albania’s history through prehistoric objects.

And if Europe’s least overcrowded beach isn’t enough to satiate your thirst, there’s more sun, sea and sand to be found at Copacabana Beach or Ohana Beach.

Elsewhere, Durrës is known for its wine culture, with vineyards available to visit in the form of the Abaia and Duka Wineries. We mean, wine not?

The easiest way to get to Durrës is to fly to Tirana, Albania’s capital, which is around 38 minutes away by car.

There are flights on offer from London Luton Airport via Wizz Air, which take just over 3 hours, while Ryanair’s link from Stansted comes in at 2 hours and 55 minutes.

If you’re flying from Manchester, there sadly isn’t a direct flight – you’ll need to stop off in the likes of Geneva, Naples or Frankfurt.

If you’re looking for a last-minute holiday to wave goodbye to summer, the good news is that temperatures remain balmy in Albania this time of year – reaching averages of 21C in September and 16C in October.

Naturally though, Albania experiences the warmest temperatures during June, July and August, when the mercury averages between 22C and 24C.

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