‘Prepare for the sunset of a lifetime’: readers’ favourite beaches in southern Europe

One of our tipsters found Xigia Sulfur beach on the Greek island of Zakynthos particularly alluring, despite the smell of sulphur. Photograph: Arpad Kis/Alamy

Sulphuric placid, Zakynthos

On an out-of-season trip to Zakynthos, a Greek island famed for intoxicated British teenagers that also happens to be beautiful, we stumbled upon Xigia Sulfur beach on the east coast. We were first greeted by the smell of rotten eggs, because of its sulphurous springs. Despite the smell, it’s brilliant: the glistening turquoise waters are framed by the towering cliffs, and the sulphur bubbles out of the seabed. A dip on this beach is said to be good for the skin and generally therapeutic. There are other little coves nearby, linked by paths.
Lucas