Top 10 coastal city break travel destinations

Some of the world’s most popular city break destinations also boast world-class beaches on their shores, meaning that you can combine all the sights of the city with a relaxing bit of downtime in the sunshine.

Travel industry experts ranked top beach cities from around the world on things like the availability of things to do, places to eat, and the local weather, in order to help holidaymakers struggling to choose a coastal city break destination for this summer.

Here are 10 best coastal city break destinations across the world:

1. Dubai , United Arab Emirates – Beaches – 13, Things to do -144, Restaurants – 411, Safety Score/100 – 83.66
2. Valencia, Spain – Beaches – 10, Things to do -132, Restaurants – 512, Safety Score/100 – 74.64
3. Dubrovnik, Croatia – Beaches – 14, Things to do – 2,674, Restaurants – 1,487, Safety Score/100 – 84.63
4. Alicante, Spain – Beaches – 13, Things to do -130, Restaurants – 500, Safety Score/100 – 72.34
5. Palma de Mallorca, Spain – Beaches – 12, Things to do -176, Restaurants – 555, Safety Score/100 – 67.72
6. Hong Kong – Beaches – 41, Things to do -32, Restaurants – 184, Safety Score/100 – 78.13
7. Honolulu, USA – Beaches – 24, Things to do -101, Restaurants – 124, Safety Score/100 – 53.95
8. Barcelona, Spain – Beaches – 10, Things to do -279, Restaurants – 595, Safety Score/100 – 51.64
9. Funchal, Portugal – Beaches – 2, Things to do -495, Restaurants – 680, Safety Score/100 – 84.29
10. Limassol, Cyprus – Beaches – 9, Things to do -177, Restaurants – 380, Safety Score/100 – 67.37

In first place is Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with a coastal city break score of 8.13. Dubai is the ultimate destination for a combination of both city and beach and it is also home to some of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. The city topped the charts for the average annual temperature at 27.6ºC and for the average annual rainfall at only 160mm.

Dubrovnik, Croatiaranks in joint second place with Valencia, Spainwith a coastal city break score of 6.25. The city located on the Adriatic Sea is deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site and ranks top for the number of things to see and do (2,674 activities per 100,000 people) and for the availability of restaurants too (1,487 per 100,000 people).

Valencia, Spain’s third-largest city also came in second place, with a coastal city break score of 6.25. Valencia is best known for being a city of arts and science, scoring highly across the board specifically when it came to the safety of its streets (74.64 out of 100) and average annual rainfall (456 mm).

Further study insights:

• Hong Kong ranks in first place for the coastal city with the most beaches, with 41 beaches around the city.

• The most Instagrammable coastal city is Istanbul, Turkey with a yearly average of 122.9 million Instagram posts.

• In regard to safety, San Sebastián, Spain is the safest coastal city in our rankings with a safety score of 85.22 out of 100.