The North Friesian islands, Germany

The North Friesian islands have everything and nothing in common with the Maldives. Both are archipelagos that sit precariously low in the water, lapped and lashed by a sometimes hostile ocean. Both have clear, blue sea  and first-class hotels. Both have the cachet that comes with exclusivity. Both can be idyllic. The difference is that the North Friesians are in Europe, a few kilometres off Germany's Jutland coast, on the same latitude as Edinburgh, and are largely given over to agriculture - arable and pasture. In terms of spurious comparisons with other holiday destinations, the largest and most famous Friesian island, Sylt, most closely resembles the Hamptons: if that is where well-heeled New Yorkers head in summer, then Sylt is the German plutocracy's holiday haunt of choice. Physically, their landscapes are similar, too: both are long, narrow islands with a flat, green landscape, the big sky punctured only by the odd lighthouse; both have a whaling heritage and both have miles of sandy beach.