stonefinder1

Me and the wife are staying in Gaeta for a week and were wondering how much the beach cabanas(umbrella and Chair rental) cost? also do they serve drinks, Have restrooms etc ?????

stonefinder1

also is this beach semi topless

Marianna

Hello stonefinder1, sorry but I can't offer any information about the beach cabanas or the beach itself, but I can tell you that I found the birthplace of my paternal grandfather to be very lovely and interesting. We hope to return to spend some time in Gaeta soon. We had hoped to do this last year with our son when we were visiting Rome, but we just couldn't get it in. Too much to do and not enough time!

Have a wonderful visit and please post a report upon your return. Thanks.

stonefinder1

Well I must reply to my own Forum, We visited Serapo beach last week and it cost 20 Euro per day for an Umbrella, 2 loungers, chair and a lock box, some areas serve food and drinks. you basically get what you pay for

ekscrunchy

Can you tell us a little about the beach...and the town of Gaeta? Would you recommend? Did you go there from Rome?

Waldo

I have an apartment in Gaeta, in the Serapo section. It is on Via Livorno, across the street from the beach. Some years ago, I visited my daughter, whose husband was with the Navy, stationed there, and my wife and I fell in love with the town. Gaeta is a really pretty town, with mountains on one side, and the Mediterranean on the other side. The beach there is lovely, although much of it is "private", because vendors have set up their umbrellas and lounges on a large area of the beach, thereby crowding out non-paying customers. They cannot force you from the beach, but it is difficult to set up an umbrella, etc. because the spots are occupied by these guys. There are areas where these hucktsers are not set up, so anyone can go there. There are many clubs on the beach, and they have bars and other foods avaiable. They all are well run, and are pretty nicely laid out. The center of town is buzzing with activity in the AM and after 6:00 pm, till about 10:00 PM. The nicest area is Via Del'Independenza. It is a pedestrian only street, about a mile long, with all sorts of shopping and restaurants, etc. It is a gorgeous place to visit. It's a narrow street, therefore, the Americans from the Navy, labelled it "Piccolo Alley." That name stuck, and even the natives call it Piccolo Alley. They have a couple of great pizza places in Piccolo Alley (though not as good as Naples). They surrounding area is also lovely. The next town south (although it really is NORTH of Gaeta, due to a sharp jiggle of the land), is Formia. It is also a great town, with lots of shopping and a great fish market, where the fishing boats unload their catch every day. There is also a large lovely park in Formia, where we always go just to unwind and relax and just watch the sea, with a gelato from a good place adjoining the park. North of Gaeta is a real GEM of a place. SPERLONGA. You will love it!!!
To get to Gaeta from Rome if you're driving, is real easy. Just take the Pontina, which is SS7 (State Road 7) right into Gaeta. It is a great drive after you pass Terracina, along the sea, and full of great sites. The train from Rome stops at Formia, and you must take a bus ride of about twenty minutes to get to Gaeta.

stonefinder1

We stayed at The Hotel Flamingo on the slow end of town, about a 10 minute walk to the shopping district, very quiet no tourist and only a five minute walk to beach. Hotel Flamingo is only 70 Euro which includes lots of closet space, shower, balcony, hair dryer, large room, Breakfast, Pool, Gym. The pool area turns into a dining area at night with the chef cooking a different main meal every night plus a normal menu with pizza and standard Italian items at a very reasonable price, This hotel is much better than hotel Serapo which is 100 plus Euro per night plus Hotel Serapo gets bad reviews. We were treated like gold there. http://www.hotelflamingogaeta.it/gal...to_gallery.php

Waldo

To Stonefinder-What did you think of Piccolo Alley?

ekscrunchy

Waldo thanks for the great rundown. Sperlonga has been on my list of places to visit for a while so this is all very helpful. I will now add Gaeta and Formia to my plans... What are these towns like off-season, for example, in March or April? I imagine retaurants are open, correct?

stonefinder1

I liked it but the wife LOVED it

Waldo

Marianna- You must be from New England. In all the time I've been in Gaeta, I discovered that most of the people that emmigrated from Gaeta all went to New England-mostly Boston. I wonder why.
Eskrunchy- Gaeta, Formia and Sperlonga are pretty busy during the fall season. The restaurants are mostly open, however, since daylight savings time is over (they have it also in Italy), it gets dark pretty early, so it will seem that the day is much shorter, especially since that area is farther north of the Mid Atlantic here in the US. Makes no matter, Piccolo Alley in Gaeta is buzzing all the time, except for siesta, when it lokks like a ghost town.
Stonefinder- I kind of figured your wife would love Piccolo Alley. It's a shopper's and window shopper's paradise. Did you go to "IL Nostromo," the most fantastic restaurant in Italy?

Marianna

Yes, Waldo, I am - Boston area! My grandfather lived in the North End of Boston for a while and, after bringing my grandmother here from Avellino and marrying, they moved to Cambridge as did many others from Gaeta. My grandfather loved the sea (an L Street Brownie until his death at age 89!)so I can understand why he settled in the Boston area.

The story of how he found my grandmother is very sweet. He actually took a liking to a young and lovely lady who made cigars in a window of a cigar shop in the North End. He would go buy his cigars there. He finally got the courage to speak to her and found out she was married...but she told him that she had a twin sister in Avellino. So, he made arrangements to bring her sister here to America and the twin sister of the cigar maker ended up as my grandmother!

I will have to go back some day to enjoy Gaeta - I loved what I saw during my brief visit.

StCirq

That is such a great story!

FWIW, we LOVED Gaeta, and Sperlonga, too.

StCirq

Oh, and regarding "semi-topless," yes, I covered one breast.