A new study by Plitvice Lakes Tours has revealed Europe's best countries for swimming. They 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. The best water quality was marked as "excellent" meaning these areas are perfect for swimmers.
Croatia has the highest number of excellent beaches and bathing waters in Europe, with 99% of Croatian beaches marked as such. It's inland bathing spots also improved in quality by 73% in 2023 compared to 2022, the second highest increase in all of Europe.
Denmark is a close second to Croatia with 94% of it's coastal bathing spots in excellent condition. Finland comes in third place, excelling in inland bathing with 94% being excellent. However, the coastal options are more limited compared to other nations, with just 1.4 beaches per 100,000 residents.
Estonia ranked sixth best for the highest rate of pristine inland swims on the continent after Finland, Lithuania, Austria, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Greece and Cyprus also made the top 10 for bathing cleanliness, ranking at eight and nine.
The survey also discovered that Belgium has the worst bathing waters in all of Europe, with 0.35 beaches per 100,000 residents, but only 0.23 ranking at excellent. Romania came in at second worst, with only 69.4% coastal areas classed as excellent, a decline of 24.4% cleanliness within a year. The UK also ranked third for worst bathing waters in Europe.
A spokesperson for Plitvice Lakes Tours said, “The mild October weather across Southern Europe prompts demand for last-minute swims, but few know of less-trodden paths. 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.”
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