Croatia, Greece and Malta have the best beaches in Europe; while those in Albania, Romania and Belgium are declining in quality, according to new research.

The new study from European travel experts at Plitvice Lakes Tours also ranks Croatia, Denmark and Finland has having the cleanest coastal and inland bathing waters in Europe.

Belgium, Romania and the UK have the dirtiest swimming waters, according to the research.

Plitvice Lakes Tours analysed the latest bathing water quality data from the European Environment Agency via Eurostat and the UK Environment Agency, looking into the number of coastal and inland bathing waters across Europe, their quality ratings and how this improved in 2023 compared to 2022.

“Excellent” water quality means swimmers can enjoy enhanced health protection, aquatic life benefits more than usual, and, importantly, the authorities appropriately addressed any polluting factors like animal manure and human waste.

Top 10 Cleanest Bathing Waters in Europe

Croatia has the highest number of excellent beaches and inland bathing waters in Europe. Its beaches drive its cleanliness score to the top spot, since almost all of them (99.1%) are rated as excellent. With 23 excellent beaches for every 100,000 residents, Croatia leads in offering a variety of pristine beaches. Its inland bathing spots also improved in quality by 73% in 2023 compared to 2022. This is the second-highest improvement rate on the continent, after Albania.

Denmark follows Croatia closely as the second best for clean bathing spots. While much colder this time of the year compared to the south of the continent, 94% of its coastal bathing spots are in outstanding condition. Denmark boasts 15.5 beaches per 100,000 residents and most of them (14.6) are excellent.

Finland offers the third-best swimming options in Europe. It excels in inland bathing, in particular. Finland shows a higher number of inland bathing spots per 100,000 inhabitants (4.04), of which 94.7% are excellent. However, the coastal options are more limited compared to other nations, with just 1.4 beaches per 100,000 residents, of which around a third are sub-optimal.

Two of Britain’s favourite summer destinations, Greece and Cyprus, ranked eighth and ninth for bathing cleanliness. Both Greece and Cyprus have high beach densities (16.6 and 13.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively), with the majority of these also being rated as excellent.

Estonia surprises with more excellent inland bathing spots than most European countries. It ranks sixth best for the highest rate of pristine inland swims on the continent (2.12 for every 100,000 residents), after Finland (3.83), Lithuania (3.29), Austria (2.77), Netherlands (2.60), and Luxembourg (2.28).

On the other hand, Belgium has the absolute worst bathing waters in Europe. It has 0.35 beaches per 100,000 residents, but only 0.23 ranked excellent. These used to be 23% better a year earlier.

Romania is the second-worst European country for swimming spots. It has 0.26 coastal spots per 100,000 residents, of which only 69.4% are classed as excellent. They have declined in cleanliness by 24.4% within a year.

The United Kingdom has the third dirtiest beaches, lakes and other types of bathing waters in Europe. Though it does not lack coastal diversity as much as other non-island countries, only two-thirds of British beaches are deemed excellent. Their quality declined by 7.26% last year compared to 2022.

“The mild October weather across Southern Europe prompts demand for last-minute swims, but few know of less-trodden paths,” said a spokesperson for Plitvice Lakes Tours. “The Baltics and Scandinavians might not have the warmest temperatures right now, but their cleanliness standards are superior to almost all European countries, apart from Croatia. If warm weather is still a priority, be sure to put them on your bucket list next summer.”

Across Europe, there are 42 beaches for every million residents, of which 90% are rated as excellent. However, there is an average 3.25% decline in quality registered last year compared to 2022. As for inland bathing spots, there are almost 15 of them for every million European, of which 79% are excellent. There is an overall 6.83% improvement in their quality in 2023 compared to the year before.