Of the thousands of islands in Stockholm’s archipelago Dropdown content, peaceful little Grinda, less than two hours from the capital, is one of the easiest to reach. A car-free nature reserve, Grinda radiates a carefree, unpretentious allure. Spend a day lazing on sandy beaches, jumping off cliffs or floating in a kayak and you’ll be ready to return to city life again.
Nice Little Houses and Luxury Cottages on Stockholm's archipelago © ROUSSELLE Xavier/Shutterstock
With pristine white-sand beaches, untouched by development and backed by dense forest, the diminutive island of Porquerolles has more than a touch of desert-island remoteness about it. But hop on a boat in
Porquerolles island, mediterranean sea, France © andre quinou/Shutterstock
A short hop by ferry or plane from Devon or Cornwall, Tresco is Britain’s largest privately owned island (though luckily, it’s open to all). With no cars, it exudes a nostalgic, buckets-and-spades kind of charm. This is a place for the gentle holiday pursuits of fishing, sailing, hiking and strolling along deserted beaches, and perhaps a visit to Tresco’s biggest sight, the Abbey Garden: an early-flowering blaze of colour that flourishes in the island’s subtropical climate.
Cromwell Castle Tresco and Bryher from King Charles Castle, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, UK © Neil Duggan/Shutterstock
Until the fifteenth century, when the first Portuguese pitched up, São Miguel was a castaway island, adrift in the volcanic Azores. A few centuries on, the island grew rich from exporting oranges, and furnished its pretty capital, Ponte Delgada, with Baroque churches. These days, this little-known island is hard to beat as a sun-soaked island retreat. Potter round town, flop on unspoilt beaches, go whale-watching or head to the highlands to soak in bubbling volcanic springs.
Crater Sao Miguel, Portugal © OneOfTheseDays83/Shutterstock
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With little to distract you but the rhythmic crashing of waves and the shifting tides, pint-sized
Beautiful sandy Kiloran Bay Beach on the Hebridean Island of Colonsay, Scotland © Fortimageon/Shutterstock
Peace and quiet are the main draws of
Texel Island, Netherlands © Sara Winter/Shutterstock
Tiny Sark, a rocky isle off the coat of Normandy, is a throwback to a simpler time: cars are banned (locals get around by bike, tractor or horse and cart), the ages-old feudal system of government has only recently been abolished, and the island only has one policeman. The absence of street-lighting and cars means that light pollution is virtually nil: the night’s sky is blanketed with stars, with meteors streaking overhead and the Milky Way stretching from horizon to horizon.
Sark, Channel Islands © Allard One/Shutterstock
Probably the world’s most remote music festival, Trænafestival takes over Sanna and Husøya, just two in this 1000-island archipelago, every July. Though miles from anywhere, it’s worth the schlep to sit nestled among spectacular jagged rocks to watch bands play with the sparkling Arctic Ocean as a backdrop. Best of all is the midnight sun: sunset and sunrise are separated by little more than an hour, and the three-day party is bathed in a golden summer glow.
Sanna island in Træna, Nordland, Norway © Thore Hopperstad
It takes nerve to plan a holiday in Stromboli, a volcanic island whose sputtering cone is very much active. The daily mini-eruptions barely raise an eyebrow among the locals, but visitors can’t fail to be transfixed by the volcano’s primal rumblings, especially at night, when blazing “fire fountains” sear into the darkness. Volcano aside, it’s idyllic: a landscape that’s alternately lush and green, and wild and lava-scarred, with incredible black-sand beaches lapped by deep-blue sea.
Beautiful sunrise withe the Stromboli volcano seen from the Salina island in the Aeolian islands, Sicily, Italy © Cristian Puscasu/Shutterstock
Ballinacregga, typical settlement on Inishmore (Arans Islands), Galway, Ireland © matthi/Shutterstock
Accessible only by boat or helicopter from neighbouring Vágar, remote Mykines is the westernmost of the
Mykines lighthouse, Faroe Island © Smelov/Shutterstock
The come-hither name – “Beautiful Island in Sea” – promises much, and Belle-Île-en-Mer, fifteen kilometres off the coast of
Sauzon, Belle-Île-en-Mer, Brittany, France © andre quinou/Shutterstock
Just a half-hour ferry ride from the packed beaches and mega-hotels of Lanzarote, tranquil Graciosa in the
© anyaivanova/Shutterstock
A place from another time,
Angla windmills, island of Saaremaa, Estonia © UrmasHaljaste/Shutterstock
A bewitched Odysseus is said to have lingered for seven years on the island of
Island Mljet, Prozurska luka, Croatia © Simun Ascic/Shutterstock
Italians are generous when it comes to sharing their homeland, so you can hardly blame them for keeping the odd hidden gem to themselves. A craggy volcanic isle adrift in the Tyrrhenian sea, Ponza is a summertime favourite for escaping the city heat. Hire a boat to explore hidden coves, stopping for a dip and a picnic, before heading into Ponza Town at sunset to sip a Campari soda and watch the yachts slide into harbour.
Ponza island in Italy
© Jack Aiello/Shutterstock
Although easily accessible from Istanbul,
Bozcaada in Turkey © periskop/Shutterstock
Powder-fine sand, turquoise waters and golden sunshine: squint and the Cíes Islands of
Cíes Islands, Spain
©
Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH/Shutterstock
The East Frisians nickname the island of Juist “Töwerland” (meaning “magic land” in the local dialect) – and with good reason: mile after mile of empty, windswept beach lend the island an otherworldly appeal. Juist is given over to healthy pursuits – soaking in thalassotherapy spas, hiking on the mudflats, or braving a chilly dip in the UNESCO-protected Wadden Sea – and plans are afoot to have it declared the world’s first carbon-neutral tourism destination by 2030.
Juist, Germany © SanWesFot/Shutterstock
With its ravishing horseshoe-shaped harbour and pine-clad interior,
Hydra Island, Greece © Anastasios71/Shutterstock