Maybe it’s the bracing salt-tinged air or the lulling tune of the waves, but there’s something restorative about being by the sea that no other holiday quite matches.

Ranging from far-flung palm-fringed shores to Europe’s hidden gems, these top beach destinations for 2020 will have you rushing to pack the swimsuits and suncream.

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The best beaches in the world Show all 25 1 /25 The best beaches in the world The best beaches in the world 1. Baia do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha, Brazil The best beaches in the world 2. Grace Bay, Providenciales, Caribbean The best beaches in the world 3. Rabbit Beach, Lampedusa, Italy The best beaches in the world 4. Playa Paraiso Beach, Cayo Largo, Caribbean The best beaches in the world 5. Playa de Ses Illetes, Formentera, Spain The best beaches in the world 6. Anse Lazio, Praslin Island, Seychelles The best beaches in the world 7. White Beach, Boracay, Philippines The best beaches in the world 8. Flamenco Beach, Culebra, Caribbean The best beaches in the world 9. Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island, Australia The best beaches in the world 10. Elafonissi Beach, Elafonissi, Greece The best beaches in the world 11. Camp's Bay Beach, Camps Bay, South Africa The best beaches in the world 12. Radhanagar Beach, Havelock Island, India The best beaches in the world 13. Woolacombe Beach, Devon, UK The best beaches in the world 14. Siesta Key Public Beach, Siesta Key, United States The best beaches in the world 15. West Bay Beach, West Bay, Honduras The best beaches in the world 16. Cayo de Agua, Los Roques National Park, Venezuela The best beaches in the world 17. Playa Manuel Antonio, Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica The best beaches in the world 18. Nai Harn Beach, Rawai, Thailand The best beaches in the world 19. Sharm El Luli, Marsa Alam, Egypt The best beaches in the world 20. Iztuzu Beach, Dalyan, Turkey The best beaches in the world 21. Playa Paraiso, Tulum, Mexico The best beaches in the world 22. Diani Beach, Kenya The best beaches in the world 23. Palm - Eagle Beach, Aruba, Caribbean The best beaches in the world 24. Ngapali Beach, Burma/Myanmar The best beaches in the world 25. Maunganui Beach, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand

Taketomi Island, Japan

Every bit as idyllic as the Maldives (iStock)

Japan is having its moment in the sporting limelight, with the autumn 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Olympic Games hot on its heels. While the crowds will descend on its stadiums and city sights, there’s a very different side of the country you shouldn’t miss – the beaches. The white sand, shallow waters and pristine coral reefs of Taketomi Island could easily be mistaken for the Maldives. It’s a sleepy time-capsule of a place, where bicycle or water buffalo cart are the preferred modes of transport, and days are spent snorkelling or diving in the East China Sea. And forget strips of resorts; there’s just one luxury hotel, HOSHINOYA Taketomi Island, where 48 private guest pavilions are connected by sandy pathways and herb gardens.

Flights from £393, China Eastern Airlines

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Grace Bay, Turks and Caicos

Ideal for watersports (iStock)

The people have spoken: Turks and Caicos has the best beach on Earth. According to TripAdvisor’s 2018 reader poll, people can’t get enough of Grace Bay’s 19-kilometre expanse of powdery sand, impressive oceanfront resorts, watersports and turquoise Caribbean waters. Thanks to a protective reef a mile offshore, the bay is normally as placid as a lake. Turks and Caicos is made up of 40 islands, only eight of which are inhabited, and you’ll find this particular beach on Providenciales, the biggest. It’s time to find out what all the fuss is about.

Kythira, Greece

The lesser-known Greek island is one of 2019’s top beach picks

Like your beach breaks with a side of culinary culture? The South Aegean – spanning 50 islands from Rhodes to Mykonos – was declared European Region of Gastronomy 2019, and when you tuck into the local olive oil, honey, organic veg and seafood it’s easy to see why. This year, why not skip the usual suspects and hop around some lesser-known islands? Verdant Kythira is all pretty villages lodged in lush forests, and secluded, crystalline coves you may well have all to yourself. The Anemes Hotel is perched on a rocky inlet that forms an idyllic natural swimming pool.

Flights from £190, Wizz Air, Olympic

Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands

Not a piece of single-use plastic in sight (iStock)

Hats off to the Galapagos for banning single-use plastics – safeguarding its shores for that world-famous array of wildlife, including giant tortoises, sea lions and marine iguanas. Options have been expanding for tourists wishing to explore sustainably without scrimping on creature comforts. You can bed down at Finch Bay, twice named the World’s Leading Green Hotel, and tour the exotic coastline by solar-powered skiff. This year marked the 160th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and there’s never been a better time to explore the islands where his groundbreaking research was done.

Flights from £880, Avianca

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Freycinet Peninsula, Tasmania

Unspoiled magnet for bird watchers (iStock)

The secret is steadily getting out about Tasmania, aka “Australia’s island”: its captivating landscape of pink granite peaks towering above oh-so-photogenic white sand beaches, not to mention a red-hot dining and culture scene. The east coast’s Freycinet Peninsula is particularly rugged; it’s an unspoiled magnet for birdwatchers and hikers. Here you’ll find Wine Glass Bay, a deep curve of pearl-white sand resembling a Cheshire cat’s smile. Set down your towel here and you won’t be able to stop grinning either. All that fresh sea air ensures a sound night’s sleep at one of the area’s eco-friendly camps, such as Freycinet Retreat.

Flights from £714, Malaysia Airlines, Virgin Australia

Jarada Island, Bahrain

Do you need a beach when you’ve got a sandbank? (Ritz-Carlton Bahrain)

Bahrain isn’t on the tourist radar for many Brits (except Formula One fans), but that seems set to change as national carrier Gulf Air started up twice-daily flights from Heathrow (in the state-of-the-art Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to boot). An archipelago of 33 islands in the Persian Gulf, Bahrain has no shortage of dreamy beaches and balmy weather to match. The ultimate castaway experience is found on Jarada Island – a deserted strip only accessible for two hours a day before the tide washes over its sugar-white sand. The Ritz-Carlton Bahrain takes guests there for a deluxe beach picnic of authentic Bahraini dishes and drinks.

Flights from £314, Pegasus

The Albanian Riviera

Ksamil is known as ‘the Ionian pearl’ (iStock)

Sandwiched between Greece and Montenegro, Albania’s brilliant beaches were hidden behind the Iron Curtain up until the early Nineties. Now, wily travellers are cottoning onto the fact it offers cheaper prices and fewer crowds than its better-known neighbours, even though it’s lapped by the same azure sea. One of the most impressive bays is Ksamil, dubbed “the Ionian pearl” because of its beauty, and reachable only by boat or swimming. Historic Saranda is the unofficial capital of the Riviera, or there’s the chilled-out village of Dhermi. For accommodation, it’s more a case of simple guest houses or hostels than five-star resorts (maybe not for long though).

Flights from £45, Wizz Air

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Roseland Heritage Coast, Cornwall

Carne Beach contains a variety of treats for visitors (The Nare Hotel)

You don’t have to board a plane to find stunning beaches. Cornwall’s Roseland Heritage Coast is home to some particularly pretty bays, such as secluded Carne Beach, which reveals a mile of golden sand at low tide, plus rock pools for the little ones to explore and soft waves for sailing and windsurfing outings. Overlooking Carne is The Nare, a country house hotel where you can charter the resident 38ft motor launch or 22ft yacht to discover more of the storied Cornish coastline. The refurbished Night Riviera sleeper train service from London to Truro ensures you arrive in an equally stylish manner.

Train from £49, GWR

Campania, Italy

Leave the Amalfi Coast for the Cilento coast (L’Approdo Thalassa) (L'Approdo Thalassa)

Crowds flocking to the Amalfi Coast reach fever pitch in summer, but (whisper it) there’s an equally lovely stretch of coast to the south that remains strangely overlooked by foreign visitors. The Cilento coast is still part of Campania and has a Unesco World Heritage Site national park, but mostly you’ll only be rubbing shoulders with Italian holidaymakers along its jagged 100km of coastline. L’Approdo Thalassa and Spa Resort sits on a small sandy cove in the heart of fishing village San Marco di Castellabate. Beach-body diets go out the window at A Casa di Delia, a newly opened restaurant from octogenarian Italian cookery queen Delia Morinelli.

Flights from £48, Ryanair

Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique

Spy dugongs and manta rays on a dive in the Indian Ocean (iStock)

Aerial photos of this southeast African coast look like marble – mesmerising patterns of the bluest Indian Ocean swirling into pale sandbars. Just as impressive is what lies below the water: a thriving marine park with turtles, manta rays and even the dugong, a relative of the manatee. With so many coral reefs under threat around the world, Bazaruto’s pristine dive sites are yet another reason to make the journey (typically flying via South Africa from the UK). The best way to explore the archipelago’s six exotic islands is aboard a traditional wooden dhow boat, seeing local fishermen cast their nets and maybe catching the fin of a whale shark cresting the waves.