Looking for help finding a beach in Italy to spend 3-4 days. Doing Paris,Switzerland and Venice at the beginning of the trip and want to end up someplace calm and beautiful where we can lay on the beach and recover. Would also like to not break the bank doing it. We're coming from Venice but we have 2 18 year old girls and they're vetoing Croatia in favor of Italy. Any suggestions for where to go and where to stay there would be greatly appreciated.

Veto the 18 year olds and check out Croatia.

Since you are coming from Venice, why not stay on the eastern coast of Italy and the Adriatic? The beaches there are wide expanses of sand (not rocks and pebbles like Italy's n/western coast) and are quite lovely. Also, I am not sure when you want to go - are you talking about now or next year? Within a couple weeks, beach towns in the Marche region (Senegallia, Ancona come to mind) start closing down for Fall/Winter. Otherwise, the beaches along that coastline stretch are just beautiful, calm, and flat.

We're not going until next June. A girlfriend and I are taking our daughters for graduation. I've been to Croatia. Beautiful but hard to communicate and more complicated than I want at the end of a long trip. Any ideas on which cities and hotels on the Adriatic coast? We'll be flying home from Rome so is it easy to get back there from the Adriatic Coast? Thanks for your reply.

The nicest beaches on the Adriatic are just south of Ancona, at the base of Monte Conero. You can stay at Hotel Monte Conero, on top of the mountain, at what used to be a 1,000 year old monastery. The beaches are a 10 minute drive from the hotel. It's very peaceful up there with nice hiking trails and fantastic views. You might consider a suite. Or you can stay in Sirolo, Numana, or Porto Novo. on the beach. Numana is pretty lively. Most of the Adriatic beaches are rocky, as are the ones around Monte Conero. However, the ones there are the most scenic. I believe that Rimini also has a lively nightlife and would be alot closer to Venice, but I haven't been there. If you want something easy you could also consider one of the old hotels at Lido, outside Venice.

I agree with newyorker about Rimini having night life, and also about cities like Sirolo, Portonovo, and Numana. Le Marche has a wonderful stretch of coast along Monte Conero, and it's the most scenic area you will find without heading further south to Puglia (also a good option, though, but it's at the heel of the boot). Monte Conero is definitely worth exploring, has lots of white pebble beaches and some great hidden spots reachable by hiking and boat.

If you go further south, I have heard the Isole Tremiti are quite beautiful, in Puglia.

Getting back to Rome is not hard--there are trains directly from Ancona.

I'm not sure why I'm beating a dead horse, but I'm really confused by your comments on Croatia. As I first started to read your post I was ready to suggest Croatia before you mentioned your daughters had vetoed it. But now I'm even more confused. What communication problem. WE found EVERYBODY in Croatia spoke good English. Italian beaches are likely to provide far more communication problems unless you are fluent in Italian. (now don't misunderstand me, I don't think communication would really be a problem there either, but certainly could be more so than Croatia).
You say you've been to Croatia. And you had communication problems there? Where? Certainly not the tourist beaches! And last I knew there were cheap flights from Dubrovnik to Rome.

My recollection of the "sandiness" of the Adriatic beaches is closer to Huitres' than to newyorker's or Jackie's. I stayed at Hotel Monte Conero for 2 nights (excellent restaurant!) and only went to the beach in Sirolo on one afternoon, when it had just finished raining very hard. I just wanted to walk on the beach for a short time, so it was fine for me, but there was no one else on the beach because of the weather. My shoes were sinking in the sand as I walked down to the beach, and they became very heavy with all the clinging sand. I don't remember the beach as well as the walk down there, but I thought the beach was sandy as well.

Dick Patterson:

I think it just depends on where you go on Monte Conero. The area is sort of a mix of sandy and pebbly beaches. I've seen plenty of both. Lots of variety there .

As you head further north though, (Senigallia) I think the beaches become mostly sand.

Rimini. You won't be disappointed.

Dick, our memories of the place differs. I was there this past summer. The restaurant at Hotel Monte Conero was not great. It must have gone downhill since you were there. The restaurants on the beach at Portonovo were much better, as were some very good restaurants in Numana. The beach at Sirolo is pebbly, though the stones are smaller there than at Portonovo.

Newyorker, since you were so recently there, who was the hotel itself?
I am thinking of booking some rooms for myself, and two 14 yr old girls .
I am pretty sure it was from Dick P that I first read about this hotel.
Thank you!!!

Two eighteen-year-olds will enjoy the nightlife in Rimini. Discos open about 11:00PM and go till about 5:00AM. Italian boys love foreign young ladies. They get to practice their English, take the girls for rides on their motorbikes.

Which is why I'd vote for Croatia.

OK, LinoandRita, now we know why the girls vetoed Croatia!!!

Nanb, the Hotel Monte Conero is situated near the top of Monte Conero. There are four or five buildings in the hotel. Most compromise the old monastery. I travelled with my wife and three young children and a nanny. We originally had two adjoining rooms booked, but when we got there we switched to a suite. The room had two bedrooms and a common room. But the best part was that in front was a sweeping lawn and fantastic views. We had a table and chairs in front and it was great to let the kids play out there. There is a nice pool on the property. Breakfast is good. Dinner was very disappointing. We went back a second time for dinner and it was worse than the first. The hotel was a bit pricier than I imagined. But despite the average restaurant, I would recommend the hotel based upon the beauty of the setting, the views, the peace and quiet. Btw, there are exceptional seafood restaurants in Portonovo on the beach. We ate at Il Ghetto which was fantastic. Also Numana has very good restaurants. There are two across the street from eachother right at the old reconstructed Roman arch which are very good. Hope that helps.

Why not try Grado?
about 2 hours from Venice. You can take daytrips to Trieste/Gorzia. In the summertime there is a direct ferry to Croatia(Rovinj/Istria)

NewYorker , thank you very much !!!
this is indeed reassuring. and as we will have a car we can go out for dinner. and if it is mezzo plan with breakfast and pne meal included, we can do lunch there occasionally.

I first found this hotel in my "wishbook" -
Hotels and Country Inns of Charm and Character by Rivages .
And while it may not be as inexpensive as many of the other places in Marche , itr cerainly does look as if it has pleanty of charm and character!
and it is cheaper than Hotel Emelia which is nearby.

I may look into the suite as we would use two rooms anyway. I can only have so much togetherness when traveling with teens .Luckily therre will only be 2 this trip, instead of the originally planned 4 !!
again, thanks again!!

I recommend going a bit farther south to the Giulianova. The beaches are beautiful, the nightlife is good, and you will be only 2.5 hours from Rome. Parking should not be that much of a problem in June.

Casale-Rental Villa in Teramo
http://www.angelfire.com/film/casale