The European Environment Agency has released a ranking of countries with the cleanest bathing water. Cyprus took the gold with 100% of its beaches being given the green light. We were pretty surprised to see Bulgaria in second place. Almost all of its Black Sea beaches have perfect water quality – 97.9% to be exact! This makes it the regional leader and a favourite for family vacations. Greece is in third place, just behind Bulgaria but still ahead of the pack. At the same time, Tripadvisor users highlighted some of the best beaches, like Elafonisi Beach in Crete and Praia da Falésia in Portugal.
While some tourists hunt for cheap flights, others pay attention to what awaits them upon arrival—like the cleanliness of the sea and beaches. Every year, environmental organisations test water quality and beach safety, and put together rankings where the leaders are sometimes far from obvious. And it’s not just the Mediterranean resorts that have clean beaches.Take Ukraine, for example. It’s got some of the cleanest seawater in Europe, and it’s right next to the Black Sea, so it’s a great place for families with kids. This was reported by Euronews.
So, where in Europe are the cleanest beaches then?
The European Environment Agency’s report put Cyprus at the top of the list for European countries with the cleanest beaches and seawater. The water at all the beaches here is completely safe for swimming.
But second place in the ranking might be a bit of a surprise, as it was taken by a country bordered by the Black Sea, not the Mediterranean. We’re talking about Bulgaria, which is a popular destination for Ukrainian tourists. And the great news is that 97.9% of the country’s beaches have perfect water quality.
Greece takes third place in the ranking, just behind Bulgaria but still ahead of the pack.
Just to let you know, the Tripadvisor ranking, which is based on user reviews, shows different results. Here, the top ten beaches in the world include some from Europe:
There are some amazing beaches out there, like Elafonisi and Balos Lagoon on the Greek island of Crete, Praia da Falésia in Portugal, and La Pelosa on the Italian island of Sardinia.