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Leave your espadrilles at home on the volcanic island of Pico, you’ll need your walking boots instead for hikes across basalt-walled vineyards and up the dominating Mount Pico. Way out in the North Atlantic, the Portuguese Azores feel even further from the Algarve than they actually are.
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Where to stay: To stay, skip Hotel Solitudo and go for the Struga Lighthouse, 30 minutes by taxi from Ubli port with spectacular views of the sea īest European Island for: Whale-watching and swimming with dolphins in the wild **Getting to Lastovo:**Car ferries run twice daily from Split to Lastovo and take just over four hours, or foot passengers can take the faster daily catamaran that takes three. There are a few good restaurants here too dine on the local speciality, fresh lobster spaghetti. Swim at Mihajla beach and then begin the ascent towards Lastovo Village, where the warren of flower-filled alleys takes you past old stone houses and up further still to your reward – a glass of the island’s own Maraština wine at a bar at the top of the hill. Inhale the warm scent of Aleppo pines and spot the red fruit of the strawberry tree as you explore the tangle of walking trails that criss-cross from inland villages out to the coast. Getting back to nature is what it’s all about here 70 per cent of the island’s surface is covered in forest. More than four hours by ferry from Split and boasting just one hotel, Lastovo is a far cry from Croatia’s non-stop party islands. The largest of the islands is Lastovo itself, which has a protected nature park. Somewhere between the northern tip of Puglia and the southern end of the Dalmatian Coast sits the Lastovo archipelago, where 47 rugged islands and islets are scattered like gemstones in the crystalline Adriatic. Best European Island for: Croatia's remotest island