City by Rome

You will not find a quaint village, but there are beach facilities quite close to Fiumincino. There's Lido di Ostia. Not especially small, but great ruins (Ostia Antica) and lots of beach.

We spent a night in Fiumicino town. It is on the beach and close to the airport. It was over 10 years ago and off season so not sure what it's like today but we stayed in a B&B. The owner picked us up from the train station and took us to the airport the next morning.

Many beaches near Rome are privatized, so you'll have to pay a fee at a "beach club" to access the beach. In many parts of Ostia Antica, you cannot SEE the beach for the walls of the clubs running along the shore road. Ostia Antica does have a few free, public-access sections. I've been there often as it was easy to ride the metro, then at the end of the line, jump on the 62 bus.

I've also been to Fiumicino (the Mediterraneo Beach) and no, that's not a great spot. My favorite spot - and I went with friends who lived in the area - was Fregene. I found it cleaner, less crowded, and easily accessible. We did have a motorino so that did make it simple, but Fregene does have a train station (Maccarese-Fregene) and you can get there from the Roma Trastevere station in less than 20 minutes.

Coming home late in the afternoon from the beach by motorino was always a unique experience. You start out by yourself and at each redlight, the motorino traffic grows, By the time you get to the city, there were always 30-40 of us riding together. Our favorite water spot - with a small beach - was always Lake Bracciano (the cleanest water in the area!). Of course, hard to get there without transport.

We stayed here ( and would not hesitate to do so again) -- http://www.hotelrivierafiumicino.com/en/home-page.aspx

2-3 block to sandy beach and restaurants.

Has shuttle service to/from airport.

Thank you everyone....I so appreciate you thoughts and suggestions. Right now wondering about the 5 day quarantine I am reading about if I go through Heathrow. Even for a few hours.....going to Italy in September and do you think things will change?

Things don't seem to be getting better in the UK currently. Most airlines will let you change tickets these days: will yours? I would really try to avoid the UK...

Thank you....makes me sad to think of canceling again :(

I don't think Balso meant cancel your trip, but rather change your flight to avoid the UK. I know that from Phoenix, flights to Europe via London are the fastest, but maybe you'd do better at this time to change in the US to a flight for Italy (via JFK, EWR, PHIL, IAD, BOS, etc). A flight going nonstop from the US to Italy will avoid any "third country" hassles, which right now are live issue.

We lived in Germany for four years and visited Italy a lot, never found any great beaches north of Naples.