Tiny Islands Where You’d Least Expect Them

The most tiny and most gorgeous islands where you least expect them to be.

1. Bled Island, Slovenia

If Bled Island looks like something out of a storybook, it’s because it basically is. Nicknamed “Fairytale Island,” this little isle is home to a beautiful Baroque church where people still get married.

2. Isola Tiberina, Rome

Isola Tiberina is the world’s smallest inhabited island that happens to be hidden in the middle of Rome. Visit to check out the centuries-old hospital still in use or screen some movies at the island’s famous film festival.

3. Monkey Island, Bray-on-Thames, U.K. 

This little escape with a funny name doesn’t actually have any real monkeys — just depictions of them in an old lodge, which is now the Monkey Island Hotel.

4. Ile Saint-Louis, Paris

Take a break smack-dab in the middle of the Seine by strolling around this little isle that’s complete with beautiful lodgings, quaint cafes and great shopping.

5. Poveglia Island, Italy

Poveglia Island is regarded as the most haunted place in the world, and it’s nestled in between Venice and Lido. It once housed quarantined bubonic plague sufferers and now requires a lengthy application process to visit.

6. Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, U.K.

After playing host to big-name musical acts in the ’60s, Eel Pie Island is now pretty much a hippie commune. It’s one of many islands in the River Thames, but the only that’s actually inhabited.

7. Swan Island, Paris

Though we’d expect this isle to be situated in the middle of Swan Lake, Swan Island(also known as Île aux Cygnes) is actually found in Paris. The man-made island boasts an incredible view of the Eiffel Tower as well as a mini replica of the Statue of Liberty.

8. Magna Carta Island, Berkshire, U.K.

Made famous by a document signed in 1215, this wee island is jam-packed with historical happenings. Visit Magna Carta, and if you like it, you can keep the island for a cool $6.5 million.