How about a trip to Malta

The island of Malta, which is in fact the islands of Malta, Comino and Gozo are small specs in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Despite it’s very small size (smaller than many Caribbean islands), Malta packs a real punch on the “must-visit”-ometer. It has a really rich, long history dating back millennia, leading to a landscape and architecture that is mixed, varied and potted, with a huge number of ruins, forts, towers and other large and robust buildings primarily used for protection. The small and narrow streets of most cities often lie behind clearly fortified city walls and well protected harbours, giving clear signs of Malta’s strategically and geographically significant location, not only between Africa and Europe, but between east and west Europe and the middle east and Atlantic.
One of the sunniest and driest places in Europe, Malta does sadly lack many sandy beaches, being a very rocky country, but there are some areas to make sandcastles by the sea, but do expect them to be crowded in warm weather.
Gozo and Comino are tiny and far less densely populated, but with a rugged charm and appeal. Sites are few and far between and these are only really day-trip locations away from the mainstay and larger island of Malta.