 By Melanie Mize Nude Beach. The very mention of these two words often arouses feelings of titillation, embarrassment, outrage or even a combination of the three. For the thousands of people involved in the naturist movement worldwide, however, the idea of a nude beach seems, well, natural. After all, we all come into this world wearing only our birthday suits.
Nude and topless beaches first became popular along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of France in the 1950s. Since then, several beaches from Crete to the Caribbean have become "clothing optional."
Below is a list of some of the best stretche...
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 Croatia More than 1,100 islands lie off the coast of Croatia, and for many visitors the crown jewel of this Adriatic archipelago is Korcula. The island, along with the rest of the isles in the Dalmatian chain, managed to escape the violence of the sad and lengthy conflict that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, and today travelers are once again returning to rediscover Korcula’s charms.
Likely as not, they begin in Korcula town, where a network of narrow, cobbled streets dating to the 8th-century line this walled medieval fortress. Not surprisingly, here at the edge of the Medi...
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 Greece Crete could certainly fit into a leisurely, ferry-hopping beach holiday through the Greek islands, but that's giving short shrift to a place that is so rich with history, archaeological treasures, and an intrinsically Mediterranean landscape. Greece's largest island, it has seen burgeoning tourism (and the companion development of major resort areas, particularly on the north coast), but remains a land of remote villages where Zorba the Greek would feel right at home.
In summer it's very hot and the number of visitors can be overwhelming in July and August, but a sense of timele...
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 Spain If there is an island synonymous with the word "party," it’s Ibiza. For Europeans, this free spirit of the Balearic Islands off Spain is legendary not only for its beaches (more than 70 tucked around the island, some in small, hidden coves) but for its clubs and all-night raves. You might be thinking disco, but that term doesn’t begin to do justice to the anything-goes venues that can accommodate 5,000 guests, complete with swimming pools – and where hedonistically charged entertainments can be part theater and part circus, complete with dancers enveloped in bubbly foam showered from cannons. ...
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