Italian beach
 

Hi-We will be in Italy in the beginning of July-we're flying into Rome, then going to a wedding near Florence, and we'll also be seeing Siena, Pompeii and Vesuvius. We'd like to also spend a few days at the beach-does anyone have any suggestions? It should be something we can reach in a reasonable time by train or car. We have only 10 days of travel in Italy so we don't want to spend a long time in transit. I really wanted to visit Lampedusa but it looks like that would be complicated and time-consuming. Our prime consideration is good swimming. We would enjoy staying at a modest beachside inn or in an apartment (if we could get one at high seasons for only a few days) Our return flight leaves from Florence. Thanks for any input you can provide!!!!!!!

Are you spending any time in Rome or just going directly to Florence for the wedding? Does the 10 days include the time spent for the wedding? Are you renting a car? How are you planning to visit Pompeii/Vesuvius? As a day trip? If not, the beaches of the Amalfi Coast are nearby. Lampedusa is too far from your other destinations to consider for such short a trip.

Consider Monterosso al Mare, the northernmost of the Cinque Terre. If you cannot find a place to stay there, Viareggio has a larger range of hotels and apartments, but the beach is correspondingly more crowded.

Strangely, the beaches near your destinations are not too great. The best beaches south of Rome are in Gaeta and Terracina. You would then have to go south of Naples to find good beaches. The Amalfi area has beaches, but they are pretty poor. Further south from Amalfi, and nearing Calabria, on the Celentano coast, the beaches then become spectacular. That is near the Palinuro area. Fantastic beaches with sparkling clear and clean water.

Yes, the best beaches are south of Rome about 2 hours---Sperlonga and Gaeta.

from firenze consider the west coast aboove pisa at the seaside resort town of viareggio. great private nicely keep up beaches

Yup: Sperlonga and Gaeta.

Gaeta had beautiful beaches. Someday, we will go back (my grandfather was born there)and spend more time there.

Its on the other side of Italy, only about 6-hours by train from Rome but Rimini is a great beach/resort city. Great beaches and all lined by clubs and hotels. I'm not a huge fan of Italy and was having a pretty stressful trip last summer and this town turned it around. You'll love Pompey! Naples is a mess though.
http://www.noambit.typepad.com

A trip without to much commuting...
- arrival in Rome,
- 2 or 3 night stay in Rome to visit,
- go to Florence by train, rent a car at the train station, go to Viareggio (seaside)(1h15)
- base at Viareggio for the remaining time, see Siena and other hill towns, go to the beach, eat and drink...
- last day: car to Florence airport, drop the car and return flight.

I would suggest you the beachs of Campania and/or the beachs of Tuscany.
So, in Campania: Capri, Ischia, Marina del Cantone (the last part of Penisola Sorrentina), Marina di Pisciotta (in Cilento).
In Tuscany, Isola d'Elba.
For each one I have smart address for accomodation, so feel free to e-mail me if you want it.
Ciao.

Vincenzo

Another vote for Sperlonga. We stayed here a few years ago and had a room overlooking the lovely sandy beach. The hotel rate included use of sunbeds on their private beach and a car parking space. The old town on the headland is a lovely place to wander round and find somewhere to eat in the evenings.

http://www.aurorahotel.it/

Vincenzo, surely Capri doesn't have any beaches to speak of ? I've been 3 times and not seen anything I'd call a beach, although I have swum from the small stony area by the Faraglioni (not recommended, swell too strong).

I'd also vote for somewhere like Viareggio or Forte dei Marmi if you are flying out of Florence.

cmc05ad : some of us love Naples. OTOH I was put off Rimini by the fact that its main attractions seem to be clubs.

Thanks for all the great suggestions-I did get a quote from Hotel Aurora-it looks wonderful.
Would it be possible to work in a trip to Sardinia, do you think? Those beaches look amazing.
We'll probably take a train to Florence and then rent a car there after the wedding, BTW.

Even small, but unique and very charming, Capri has its particular beach, of course nothing to compare with Viareggio and Rimini.
In my opinion, a very good suggestion is LIDO DEL FARO, at Punta Carena.
Look at ist website: www.lidofaro.com .

Vincenzo

Skoop2

the Sardinian beaches are amazing (nearly all of them) the best way to get there would be by ferry but that would take up nealry two days - one there plus one back. The problem with Sardinia is that it is huge and difficult to cover in s short time.

I would suggest either :

Marina Di Alberese, Central Tuscany and around 2 hours from Siena via the Strada di Brutto - for some (including me the best beach in Europe) - not in terms of sunseeking but for its natural beauty. There for incredible canopies of pine trees that form cloud like formation - the trees fall into the sea and leave dead trunks to become drift wood. You may have seen international postcards of the area.

Elba - we went in September and it is totally under-rated and over-looked by many. It is stunning and is just over an hour by ferry. The beaches close to the ferry ports are relaxing and stunning. It is far more laid back than the rest of Tuscany.

To Marianna-
You must be located in the Boston area. I have a condo in Gaeta, and am very familiar with the people there. It seems that most of the people that emigrated from Gaeta ended up in Mass. or other New England states. Dunno why.

Great beaches:
San Vincenzo - in Tuscany is gorgeous and there is a really charming town as well.

link:

http://www.comune.san-vincenzo.li.it...me_inglese.asp


Ancona has beautiful beaches as well - they are on the East side of Italy but you can get there via Florence through the Marches. Conero is gorgeous and here are a few links:

http://en.conero.it/spiagge.php3

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/ancona.html


I like Cinque Terre but the beaches are rocky - gorgeous, but rocky. If it is sand you want, I'd choose something else.

You need to nail down exactly how much you can do in your 10 days, and not keep adding in things like Sardinia. Take a hard look at a map of Italy and consider that it takes AT LEAST half a day to move from one place to another.

If you are going home from Florence, also look at the beach area south of Carrara. We stayed at a lovely little hotel two blocks from a flat sandy beach here: http://www.villafiorisella.it/tuscany/default.asp

It's not as well known to people outside of Italy, I think, but it's really pretty.

Charnee

Vincenzo, I've been to a place like that by the Blue Grotto, but it's not actually what most of us would call a beach (i.e. sand). But thanks for the link, it looks nice and maybe I'll go there next time.

OK, I agree Sardinia is too much for this trip. Elba looks like a good compromise, but the otehr suggestions give me plenty to think of as well! Thanks-as usual.

Sperlonga is beautiful. Charming white washed village and lovely beach.
You simply must investigate the possibility of going there!

I liked the beach at Cecina. Good swimming and the mountains in the background are very pretty. As a few others have mentioned, Viareggio is a good choice too, but I think the beach is nicer at Cecina. Either are fairly close to Florence.

Here's the one in Elba - enjoy the trip!

http://www.1clickelba.it/Portoferraio-Biodola.html

Yes, you are right, Waldo. I think you asked me this a while back, too. My grandfather settled in the North End of Boston at first and then when he got married (it is an interesting story which was told to me by my grandfather when I was very samll), he lived in Cambridge and then Somerville. Both places have many Gaetans living there and they are all very close knit with an annual celebration of their heritage.

That's one of the impediments of old age. SLOWLY LOSING YOUR MIND. I don't remember our past exchange. I'm only 26 (I wish), and I'm losing it!

Gaeta is a fabulous place.

bookmarking
thanks