Dreaming

Spend a weekend at Rimini on the Adriatic and the beach was poor, trashy and wouldn't go back.

Consider Umbria, it is not on the water, but less traveled by tourists and like Tuscany has several great small cities and towns.

Consider Perugia, Orvieto, Spoleto, Assisi and more.

Hi,

We love the Adriatic side of Italy

Perhaps look into - Atrani, Campania - It's a village. It's about 30 minutes from Amalfi.

From Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g635619-i11087-Atrani_Amalfi_Coast_Province_of_Salerno_Campania.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rx9dWL6cAc (RS narrated)

Orvieto is a sweet "hill town." It was Rome's best kept secret but has gained popularity. Crowding depends on the time of year (of course.) It offers a lot. It is one hour from Rome by train.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLnBeW76NMA (RS narrated on "Hill Towns")

Atrani isn’t even that far from Amalfi...maybe a 15 min walk, if you’re slow. We stayed there in 2014 and wandered over to Amalfi every morning and night. It’s tiny, but you are right there by Amalfi with lots of bus connections.

We liked Pesaro on the Adriatic. It has good connections by train or bus to Urbino, Ravenna, Rimini and Bologna. We enjoyed the city as well as the seaside walks. There’s a great bicycle path along the ocean that goes ar least as far south as Faro. The town may be too sleepy for many months, but it’s mainly visited by Italians.

What time of year are you planning to do this? That makes a huge difference in recommending locations. Are you hoping to be able to go swimming at the beach, or do you just want to be able to do long strolls?

Michael: My preferred timeframe would be mid September to mid November. Alternatively, April-May. An occasional dip in the ocean would be great, but we have no need to scuba or any such activity. Thank you for helping.

Girasole: We have been twice to Orvieto and love it there. Sort of ruled it out due to tourism, but will think hard on it because it's just such a fun place.

We really liked Polignano a Mare on the Adriatic in Puglia.

Girasole: We have been twice to Orvieto and love it there. Sort of ruled it out due to tourism, but will think hard on it because it's just such a fun place.

Ahh, okay.

Our dreams led us to Verbania, Italy. We are partial, but Lago Maggiore checks a lot of your boxes. We’ve lived here for 10 months now and are not bored yet. We strongly looked at Adriatic but opted for fresh water and mountains. Baveno would work too, but much smaller town. Stresa by comparison is extremely touristy.

• Not overly touristy- before July or after August. (Very few American tourists, mostly Italian, French, Swiss, and German). Verbania us the commune seat (county), so I’d equate to a blue collar working town.
• Great lakefront walking for miles.
• Summer ferry schedule runs early April to mid October. Limited ferry schedule after mid October. Great way to explore the many quaint Italian Villages around the 60 mile long lake including Switzerland.
• There are beaches, but not sandy. Water is warm enough in September into October, but too cold in April or May for swimming. (Today’s lake temp is 66f)
• A short 15 minute bus ride to train station. Train to Milan (1hr 20m) or to Domodossola where you can catch train to Switzerland.
• Lots of restaurants and shops in the three areas of Verbanis (Suna, Pallanza, and Intra)
• Lots of places to go by train for a 2-3 day adventure ; Switzerland, Turin, Verona, Bologna, to name a few.
• If you want to rent a car for a short trip, Stresa has a car rental place where you can pick up. We go to the same bakery everyday for bread for panini, which is next door to Gelato. The meat market is across the street, and the local street market is every Friday.
• sunsets with mountains and lake are beautiful.
• compared to more tourist destinations, we find it inexpensive. 2 glasses of Prosecco lake front =€6! Take away pizza= €5-6, nice dinner out with house wine, entrees= <€30.

I’ll PM you with additional info. Or ask me any questions.

While there is not a ton of English spoken, many menus are in English, and we’ve found locals to be friendly and welcoming. Google translate is your friend. Every time we come back from our travel adventures we are happy to be back home.

Thank you, Karen, for taking the time to give such useful information! I will check it out!

You might want to consider Lucca - I remember walking the top of the wall early in the morning, which seemed to be a popular activity with local folks also. Good train connections for day trips, including Viareggio if you want to see the sea.