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Best Italian Beach Towns in late May/early June

My partner and I are traveling to Italy for the first time for an 11-day stay in late May. We have roundtrip tickets in/out of Rome/Fumicino. We're planning the first three days in Rome and then would like to take a 4-day stay in a beach town, before finishing the trip with a visit to Tuscany/Florence.

What are the best and untouched beach towns? We're open to the Adriatic Sea coast or the Tyrrhenian coast (or even Ligurian Sea). We're looking for a place that's not frequented by tourists and that is a true example of a small Italian city. We're frequent world travelers and enjoy a rustic and "off-the-beaten-path" kind of excursion.

Would the weather be warm enough for a good beach trip around that time of year? We're open to traveling by train or by renting a car.

If you know of a beach town that is especially good for LGBT folks, that's an added bonus for us. I'm also a professional cellist, so a place that has a good music scene is an extra-extra plus!

Thanks!

Posted by
11651 posts

Take a good look at the upscale Forte dei Marmi which is in Tuscany onTyrannian Sea. It ticks all your boxes including being LGBT friendly.

Posted by
386 posts

Yes, Forte dei Marmi is where my Italian relatives go to the beach. From the beach you can look up at the white marble mountains of Carrera

Posted by
5204 posts

Look at Orbetello. It's a lagoon town--quite unique--but it is near some of the finest beaches I have enjoyed in Italy (in late May--I think the sea bed might be shallow there because the sea was warmer than what we have encountered elsewhere). Great natural sand beaches at Feniglia and in Ucellina park (Marina di Albarese access), scenic rocky beaches on the Monte Argentario promontory.
Also look at Castiglione della Pescaia.

Posted by
8428 posts

We lived in Germany for four years and the beaches we visited in Italy and France were a huge disappointment.
The Greek Island are better, still, nothing like the Caribbean or even the US Gulf coast.

Also, why spend all the money to fly to Europe to go to the beach?

Posted by
2 posts

Thanks for the suggestions so far, they are appreciated! As for why go to the beach...simply because we enjoy it. It'll be a slice of the trip and offer some downtime for us. Thanks for the insight and your opinion.

Posted by
5568 posts

What are the best and untouched beach towns?

That's a bit of an oxymoron. By the very virtue of being The Best they are going to be widely popular as a result. But best is also subjective to much of a degree. One poster frequently posts that European beaches are incomparable to Caribbean or Gulf Coast beaches which is something I completely disagree with. If you like long boring stretches of sand flanked by condo's and hotels then yes, the Gulf Coast may appeal however European beaches have much more to offer. How about having a castle to explore above the beach? How about isolated coves flanked by high cliffs studded with pine trees? How about small but cosy slivers of sand lapped by water as clear as that in the Caribbean but also with excellent Spanish, Greek orItalian restaurants a stones throw away. Every Caribbean, Mexican, South Carolina and Floridian beach I've been to has never impressed me enough to leave the resort pool. I even recall one poster claiming that there are no sandy beaches in Europe!!!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to go to the beach in Europe. The US and Caribbean doesn't have the monopoly on beach tourism, far from it. Europe isn't all about museums and city exploring, spending some beach time is just as good a use of time than slogging it around a hot medieval city desperately trying to tick off as many 'must sees' as possible and actually not seeing much of the 'must sees' in the process.

Posted by
1810 posts

You should also consider the Viareggio / Torre del Lago area. Forte dei Marmi is a good suggestion, but if you are interested in a LGBT scene, the Lecciona beach area of Torre del Lago has a long sandy beach and numerous clubs popular with LGBT customers. https://www.gayfriendlyitaly.com/lgbt/lucca/friendly-beaches/gay-beaches-lucca
At the other end of Torre del Lago is one of Pucini's homes (now an interesting museum) as well as an outdoor theater for Pucini operas in July and August. Since Torre del Lago is fairly small, you'd probably want to stay in nearby Viareggio which is an active and ever-interesting resort with excellent Liberty (Italian art deco) architecture. From there you can visit beautiful and historic Lucca which additionally features Puccini's birthplace and now offers frequent concerts of his music.

Posted by
2331 posts

And the beach bars! That's the reason I love going to the beach in Italy. I thought of Pesaro, home of the Rossini Festival, but it's in August. Darn.