All those types of beaches are in Sicily so it would help to know which type your husband likes.

Go where you want to go and give him the FF miles to Biarritz. Compare notes if he comes back.

About halfway between Agrigento and Sciacca is a small beach town called Eraclea Minoa. It has some of its own Greek ruins (small potatoes compared to Agrigento and Selinunte), but it also has a long wide sandy beach which is virtually deserted except for some Sicilian vacationers. It's close to SS115, so it's very convenient to Agrigento, Selinunte, Marsala and Trapani. Off the beach is a pine forest which provides some shelter from the Sicilian sun. Keep in mind that this is truly off the beaten path and except for two bars located on the beach, there is nothing around for miles.

I think Puglia has some of mainland italy's best beaches, and recently they have great little hotels to go with them...and good food. Just avoid August for any beach holiday when every single Italian seeks out a beach. My wife wrote an article on the new Puglia destinations for Conde Nast Traveler a year ago:
http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/...rticleId=10310

My favorite spot was Masseria Torre Coccaro.

It's not Italy, but it's close! I'd suggest Corsica. The most beautiful, white-sand, turquoise beach I've ever seen exists at Palombaggia (sp?) - I'll get back there one day! Cute towns, great food, lots of Italian tourists, Bonifacio is just a ferry-boat ride away from Sardinia (which is nice but I think with more large resorts). Just a suggestion.

You can have a spectacular beach vacation in Italy on the island of Elba, a mere 3 hour car drive + 1 hour ferry from Rome, or one hour south of Pisa, plus the ferry.
I have spent four vacations there with my family, staying for three weeks each time. We went in July. it is high season, but certainly not overcrowded.
We stayed in Marina di Campo which has a lovely sandy beach.

Hi all, while we are on the beach topic. My teenagers and I are planning to look for a beach(gasp...in August!)(I know..every Italian etc).We had thought about the Adriatic coast but decided it would be too crowded and are now considering Sardinia. (But maybe Corsica ?) Does any airline fly inexpensively from Milano or must we train and boat?

What did you end up deciding? I'd like to know because we have the EXACT same issue in our house. I want to enjoy the beauty of Italy, explore, learn more about the culture, the history... but my dear husband just wants to SWIM. Yes, I know he can do it here at a lake or pool in Colorado. We're also traveling with our 6 & 8 year old children to add insult to injury (haha)

Our itinerary for 3 weeks is as follows- (each for 3 days)

Rome- major sightseeing!

Chianti- driving around Tuscany & visiting hill towns, eating & drinking. We're staying in a agriturismo with a pool

Lerici- BEACH holiday; near CT so we can hike but mostly swimming for the family

Venice for 2 nights then night train to Naples

Sorrento- to do some more sightseeing in Amalfi, Pompeii, Capri, etc. We also have a pool here and will skip Naples

How does that sound? I hope it's not too unrealistic because we're leaving in 2 weeks...

Missy

Well my DH (dumb husband) wants a topless beach in Italy, so I guess I'll do what he wants!

In as much as any beach in Italy is topless, they are all topless...which is to say, Europeans simply don't make as much of nudity as North Americans do-so while women are discrete (you will rarely see them playing beach volleyball topless), you will see younger and older women alike, sunbathing topless. Tell your husband to keep his eyes in his head...Italian women are totally grossed out by obvious oglers and their partners are likely to take offense.