The Mediterranean is the world’s leading tourist region, with 260 million tourists a year, according to L’Echo touristique. Stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar in the west to the entrances to the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal in the east, this inland sea alone accounts for almost a quarter of the world’s hotel capacity and 30% of revenue. and global tourist flows.

The Mediterranean basin is one of the first and oldest tourist areas in the world. Already in the 19th century, on the North shore, the wealthy bourgeois crowded the Promenade des Anglais on the Côte d’Azur in France. The South shore has become a mass destination since the Second World War with, in particular, the boom in tourism in Tunisia and Egypt.

Nowadays, Mediterranean tourists are overwhelmingly European (80%) and seek above all to enjoy the beach in summer. It must be said that the Mediterranean Sea is famous for its stretches of sand, whether it is the shores of Rhodes (Greece), the Calanques of Marseille (France) or the warm waters of Majorca (Spain).

However, this tourist region has much more to offer than idleness: walks, architecture, museums, sports and fun activities… If you want to go there on vacation, discover in the slideshow below 7 unusual sites and activities to visit the Mediterranean rim.