From the Adriatic to the Mediterranean to the Hebridean Sea, Europe is bordered by waters that have shaped some of its most beautiful coastal villages, with multicoloured waterfronts and bays once immortalised by Matisse and Dalí. Five seaside villages, five ways to resist the call of the open sea.
A harbour is meant for leaving. It promises elsewhere, horizons, crossings. And yet some places have the opposite effect: you arrive, set down your bags, and suddenly the urge to depart fades away.
These five European villages share something irreducible – a light, a palette of colours, a history, a quiet sense of permanence. Often, all at once.
- Marina di Corricella, Procida, Italy
- Cadaqués, Spain
- Collioure, France
- Piran, Slovenia
- Tobermory, Scotland
Marina di Corricella, Procida, Italy
In the Bay of Naples, Procida is the least visited of the islands, yet by far the most endearing. Across its 3.7 square kilometres, the pastel houses of Marina di Corricella cascade down to the harbour in a carefully orchestrated disorder of yellows, oranges and pinks. Elsa Morante set her novel Arturo’s Island (1957) here, perfectly capturing its authentic, popular spirit.
In 2022, Procida became Italy’s Capital of Culture—the first small town to receive the title—without losing any of its fiercely insular character.
Cadaqués, Spain
The easternmost town on mainland Spain is reached by a winding mountain road with 120 bends. That isolation is precisely what preserved it. Whitewashed since the 16th century as a sanitary measure during plague outbreaks, Cadaqués drew Salvador Dalí from the 1930s onwards. He established his house-studio in nearby Portlligat, expanding it over forty years; it is now open to visitors.
Dalí himself used his influence to protect the village from overdevelopment, helping to preserve its unique charm.
Collioure, France
On 16 May 1905, Henri Matisse arrived in this Catalan port in the Pyrénées-Orientales and invited André Derain to join him. In less than three months, the two painters produced hundreds of works in bold, saturated colours. When exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in Paris, critic Louis Vauxcelles famously described them as the work of “wild beasts.”
Fauvism was born here in Collioure, in front of its 13th-century royal castle fortified by Vauban, and its Catalan boats still gently bobbing in the harbour.
Tobermory, Scotland
The capital of the Isle of Mull, Tobermory is reached by ferry from Oban, after crossing Highlands that barely hint at what awaits. The harbour is instantly striking: a row of brightly coloured houses forms an architectural rainbow reflected in calm waters.
Above it, the Western Isles Hotel, an iconic Victorian building from 1882 in red and brown stone, overlooks the comings and goings of fishing boats. Tobermory is only the gateway to Mull, one of the wildest islands of the Inner Hebrides, home to white-tailed eagles and minke whales.
Piran, Slovenia
Set on a narrow peninsula along the Adriatic coast, Piran unfolds like a postcard from another era. Venetian architecture lines its tight streets, while Tartini Square opens onto the sea in a luminous blend of history and coastal elegance.
With its terracotta rooftops and shimmering waters, Piran feels suspended in time—a place where every corner reveals a new perspective on the Adriatic.
Looking to discover lesser-known seaside destinations? Here are our articles on the subject:
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