New study: these are Europe's cleanest swimming spots – and the dirtiest

Looking for the best places to swim in Europe this summer? A new study has revealed the countries with the cleanest swimming waters – and a few destinations that might leave you thinking twice before diving in.

Whether you’re a dawn dipper or freestyle floater, nothing takes the buoyancy out of a swim like questionable water quality. As millions of travellers make a beeline for Europe’s beaches, lakes and rivers this summer, fresh rankings reveal exactly where you’ll find the continent’s cleanest waters. And the results may surprise you.

Every year, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and European Commission release a report on the European countries with the cleanest water for bathing, to encourage safe summer swimming. This year’s report was based on data collected from more than 22,000 bathing sites across all 27 EU member states in 2025, along with non-EU countries Albania and Switzerland. 

Swimming water quality is classified as ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘sufficient’ or ‘poor’ based on detected levels of microbiological pollutants such as E. coli and intestinal enterococci, which signal health risks. 

General findings

Soaking in crystal-clear waters in Faliraki, Greece. (Credit: Unsplash/Tatiana Tochilova)

Fortunately, the report found that the vast majority (85 per cent, to be precise) of European beaches have ‘excellent’ water. 

Four countries – Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria and Austria – scored above 95 per cent when it came to their proportion of water bodies classed as ‘excellent’. Meanwhile, Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Estonia and Albania ranked among the lowest countries for bathing water quality. 

Water quality tends to be better in coastal regions rather than inland. A total of 89 per cent of coastal areas were classified as ‘excellent’, compared to 78 per cent of rivers and lakes – which are more susceptible to short-term pollution caused by rains and droughts. 

The European countries with the cleanest water, ranked

Cyprus has some of Europe’s best swimming waters. (Credit: Unsplash/Dating Scout)

The country with the highest overall water quality was Cyprus, with all 123 of its monitored swimming sites classed as ‘excellent’. Beyond its crystal-clear beaches and coves, one factor that may have contributed to the country’s win is the fact that there are few inland swimming spots (which tend to have poorer quality than coastal waters), and none were monitored in the study. A total of 1198 water samples were collected and analysed from the nation’s designated bathing areas.

Greece, Bulgaria, Austria and Luxembourg rounded out the top five, with Denmark, Germany, Italy and Malta respectively following as top performers. 

Below is the report’s full list of rankings, based on each country’s percentage of ‘excellent’ monitored swimming sites. 

1. Cyprus (100%) 
2. Greece (97.1%) 
3. Bulgaria (96.9%) 
4. Austria (96.5%) 
5. Luxembourg (94.1%) 
6. Denmark (92.4%) 
7. Germany (90.9%) 
8. Italy (89.8%) 
9. Malta (88.5%) 
10. Lithuania (86.7%) 
11. Spain (86.6%) 
12. Croatia (86.2%) 
13. Lativa (84.7%) 
14. Finland (84.5%) 
15. Switzerland (84.4%) 
16. Romania (84.0%) 
17. Portugal (82.0%) 
18. Czechia (79.7%) 
19. Ireland (78.4%) 
20. Sweden (77.7%) 
21. Slovenia (75.5%) 
22. France (74.4%) 
23. Netherlands (70.9%) 
24. Slovakia (70%) 
25. Belgium (67.9%) 
26. Hungary (64.0%) 
27. Poland (58.7%) 
28. Estonia (56.9%) 
29. Albania (16.8%) 

The countries with the poorest water quality

While popular for its beaches, Albania scored the lowest overall in Europe for its water quality. (Credit: Unsplash/Elion Jashari)

Just five European countries scored less than 70 per cent when it came to their proportion of excellent bathing waters: Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Estonia and Albania.  

At the bottom of the scale was Albania, which had the poorest overall water quality of all 29 countries, with just 16.8% of its bathing waters classified as ‘excellent’ and 23.5% classed as ‘poor’. The country has recently been touted as an emerging tourist destination known for its wonderful beaches, so this may come as a surprise to some travellers. For visitors still keen for a dip, the cleanest places to swim in Albania are along the country’s southern riviera (below Vlorë down to Sarandë). Meanwhile, the poorest water quality was found on the coast between Durrës and Golem, and near Pogradec in the Lake of Pogradec.