5 London beach escapes for the first weekend of September

Tavira is the Algarve without the strip: a Roman bridge over the Gilão, a castle garden looking over terracotta rooftops, and church towers stacked up the slope. The catch, and also the charm, is that the beach is not in town. You take the ferry across the Ria Formosa lagoon to Ilha de Tavira, a sandbar island with dunes on one side and flat, warm water on the other. The flight lands at Faro before nine in the morning, so the first day is a real one rather than a write-off.

Do the beach properly, then save the promenade for after dark when the fountains and palm-lined seafront wake up. If you get restless, Tarragona's Roman ruins are an easy side trip rather than the main event. The routing helps: you land at Reus rather than Barcelona, so you stay on the coast instead of spending the first morning crossing Catalonia.

Time your fortress visit for sunset and you may accidentally end up at a concert, a film screening or a jazz night. St Michael's has an open-air stage looking over the Adriatic, a considerably better backdrop than most venues manage. There are four fortresses in total, and an eco city tour does the lot for around £62. Krka's waterfalls are an hour inland; for a flatter, easier day, Vodice by bike runs about £83. One thing to plan for: you land at Zadar rather than Šibenik, and the shuttle down is roughly £59.

Give the wine museums a break and head across the river to Darwin, an old military barracks turned into a mash-up of giant street art, skate ramps, food, bars and creative spaces. Go late afternoon, then walk back over the Pont de Pierre as the city lights come on. Save the Base sous-marine for the next day — a submarine pen built too thick to demolish, so Bordeaux flooded part of it and started projecting art on the walls instead, which is now the Bassins des Lumières. Out front of the Place de la Bourse, the Miroir d'Eau alternates between a perfect mirror and a cloud of mist. The beach is real, but it is out at Arcachon, about an hour by train.

Take the obligatory leaning photo, then go and find something completely different: Keith Haring's Tuttomondo, thirty figures covering the side of a church near the station and one of the last big works he finished. It is bright, strange, and a good excuse to see more of Pisa than one wonky building. If you do want the tower, the combined climb with the cathedral and baptistery is about £106. There is also a walking tour that markets itself as a guide to the most hated city in Tuscany, which tells you plenty about how Pisa feels regarding its own reputation. The sea is at Marina di Pisa, twenty minutes out, because the coast silted up and left the old maritime republic stranded inland.

Don't spend the whole trip driving towards Costa Smeralda. Take a boat out to Tavolara instead, a gigantic slab of rock rising out of ridiculously blue water. Swim, snorkel, eat something by the sea and pretend this was the plan all along. Sailing around Tavolara and Molara runs about £153, a boat tour of the gulf about £42, and a pasta and tiramisu class in somebody's actual kitchen £101. La Promenade is why this one costs what it does: a four-star stay with a pool, a few minutes from the middle of town. If you would rather bank the difference, Domus Olbia Inn was sitting 21% below its usual rate when we checked, at £87 a night with breakfast included.