December 9, 2025, 4:50 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
The “World Travel Awards” annually honor numerous travel destinations, including Europe’s best beach destination. Find out which one it is and why it might not be the ideal travel spot for everyone, here at TRAVELBOOK.
For years, the Portuguese Algarve was repeatedly crowned as the number one beach destination in Europe at the “World Travel Awards,” until it was dethroned last year by the Portuguese island of Porto Santo. Between 2012 and 2023, there were only two exceptions to the otherwise consistent southern Portuguese dominance: the Greek island of Corfu in 2014 and the Greek region of Peloponnese in 2018. This year, the southwest of Peloponnese is at the top again: According to the “World Travel Awards,” the best beach destination for 2025 is Costa Navarino. Not familiar with it? TRAVELBOOK introduces the Greek beach location.
Greece’s Costa Navarino is Europe’s Best Beach Destination 2025
Alongside other nominees, the winner’s page of the “World Travel Awards” also lists a website called costanavarino.com. This site reveals what Costa Navarino is all about. Unlike its predecessors among Europe’s best beach destinations, it is not a collection of beautiful beaches surrounded by individual villages, restaurants, resorts, and the like. Costa Navarino is more of a comprehensive project—a cosmos of sustainable luxury for those willing to pay a bit more for peace and beauty on Greece’s southwest coast.
The sustainable luxury hotel complex Costa Navarino was initiated by Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos, born in Messinia and known as Captain Vassilis. He achieved wealth with his company Costamare Shipping and wanted to give back to his homeland. At least that’s what a report from “finews.com” states. According to this, the company TEMES, which is 75 percent owned by the Constantakopoulos founding family and 25 percent by the Saudi Olayan Group, developed the luxury complex on a 100-hectare coastal section in Greece’s southwest. Costa Navarino has already received Europe’s award for responsible tourism twice at the “World Travel Awards,” in 2014 and 2017.
Also interesting: Greece is the Most Hospitable Country in the World
Award-Winning Luxury Resorts and Golf Facilities
Today, there are four luxury resorts there. One of them, the W Costa Navarino, received this year’s “World Travel Awards” as both Europe’s leading lifestyle resort 2025 and Greece’s leading resort 2025. And, as one might expect in such a luxurious vacation setting—besides top-notch resorts specializing in sustainability, Costa Navarino is particularly known for one thing: golf.
The trade magazine “Golf Post” recently even called Costa Navarino “Europe’s leading golf destination.” The magazine feels validated by numerous golf-related awards, such as the world’s best golf venue 2024, awarded at the “World Golf Awards.” Additionally, Costa Navarino Bay topped the list of the 100 best resorts in continental Europe by “Golf World” in the same year.
However, there is relatively little information about the beaches of Costa Navarino. But when you see images, such as those of Voidokilia (cover image), Foneas, or Simos Beach, the nomination becomes somewhat understandable. Whether these and the surrounding region are indeed better than the various other dream beach locations in Europe is debatable.
If you want to see for yourself—these are the other nominees: Cannes (France), Corfu (Greece), Mallorca (Spain), Marbella (Spain), Porto Santo (Madeira, Portugal), Sardinia (Italy), and the frequent winner Algarve (Portugal).