Italian Beach Cities

I would consider either Sicily or Puglia,. We enjoyed waterfront Polignano a Mare in Puglia. We loved Sicily except for overtouristed Taormina. Stay in charming Ortigia. We spent a week there and wished we had more time for our visit. Palermo is a wonderful big city visit it but give more time to Ortigia. We didn’t care for the Amalfi Coast, loved Puglia and Sicily.

If you fly out of Rome to come home, leave Rome as your last destination. In other words go to the farthest point first (wherever that might be) then come back to Rome for the last few days. Even if you decide to fly in and out of Rome, go to the next destination first upon landing then return to Rome for your last few days.

Visiting Rome requires at least 4 nights (your last 4 nights, as explained above). Obviously if you have a love for Roman stuff, then you can stay longer.

You don't have a lot of time to visit many of the places you mention. Sicily alone requires at last 10 days for the bare minimum. Puglia is also vast, and would require 7 to 10 days to visit (if you have a car, since with public transportation Puglia is more challenging).

The beaches near Rome are not the greatest. Sperlonga is not too bad however. Also the Ponziane islands (Ponza and Ventotene) are quaint. Beaches are rocky but the water is gorgeous. No car necessary.

The Amalfi Coast is beautiful and easily reachable from Rome (fast train to Salerno, then ferry or bus to Amalfi, or, if you prefer to stay in Sorrento, train to Naples, then commuter train to Sorrento). Just be aware that the area is very cliffy, therefore more than beaches yo will see small pebbly coves and cliffs. No car necessary or advisable for this area. This area would be the easiest to reach with public transportation.

Puglia has great beaches, but as I said a car would be advisable. You can rent it in Rome or you can fly to Bari immediately upon arrival to Rome on the first leg and rent it there (that would be my choice). If staying in Rome first, then it's faster to take a fast train to Bari.

Sicily requires a separate flight and is too large to visit for the short amount of time you have since you plan to devote at least 4 or 5 nights to Rome. If you do decide to go to Sicily, choose between either the East side (Taormina, Syracuse areas) or the west side (Palermo and Trapani areas). If you stay in Palermo a car is not necessary (bad traffic in Palermo) and you can visit Cefalu by train. Some ruins like Segesta can be seen by bus. Mondello has a nice beach. The Zingaro Natural Marine Reserve near Scopello is great but a car may be necessary. San Vito lo Capo has the most gorgeous beach in Italy (a car necessary).

Sardinia has the greatest beaches in Italy, but a car is absolutely a must and you must fly there also. A week would be a minimum also to visit the basic north area.

Southern Tuscany (Maremma) has nice beaches. It's only 2 hours north of Rome, but a car is also advisable if not necessary.

I think any of your selections would be nice. I would choose based on what gives me the best flight options. It can be more difficult to get to the islands or further afield places without too many transfers or higher flight cost, but with that amount of time and the availability of Rome round trip flights, what you might do is fly round trip Rome, then insert "a vacation within your vacation" by flying to Sicily or Sardinia. Sicily is so packed with sights, that a week there would be shortchanging it, but you can always just pick one small portion. If I am going to a big city, I like to consider it in two parts--the first several days for all the excitement and intensive sightseeing, and on return, just wandering the neighborhoods, etc.

As you can plainly see by perusing the forum, the Amalfi Coast is quite popular. It would work well for a week, but I am kind of just tired of it. Someone else will have to sell you on it.
Puglia would be a longer trip, but it is marvelous for just wandering and has lovely beaches.

I probably wasn't clear in my original post . We are looking at either Palermo or Taormina, not both. We know with only 4-6 days we wont be able to visit an entire region i.e. Sicily or Puglia. We are looking for just one nice destination that would be enough for 4-5 days of a more relaxed vacation that we will be having in Rome. With beach access and good food being our primary requirements. One of the reasons we considered Amalfi , besides its postcard beauty, is that it does seem to have access to quaint towns, beaches, and beautiful scenery. I guess our fears are that it will be overwhelmed with tourist(including us I know) and that it will be less authentic if the economy is geared towards tourism. Thanks for the answers so far

So with that in mind we have considered Sicily, Both Palermo and Taormina. We have considered that Amalfi Coast.

Palermo is a busy city and does not have a swimming beach although it does have a cruise-ship harbor. Taormini kinda checks off the shops & streets and you can sit on the beach but its more like a cove. Check out pictures and see if it's what she has in mind. Sorrento does not have beaches in town, it has swimming docks. The RS guidebook gives directions on reaching nearby sand beaches.

Amalfi Town and Positano are set in hillsides so the wandering is a bit limited and especially aerobic in Positano, plus they fill with tourists during the day. More tourists than you can imagine. I've never heard anyone recommend them as convenient bases for visiting the region because the traffic on the road is so bad.

People say good things about Cefalu but we've never been there. The Adriatic side of Italy may have more of what you're looking for. We enjoyed a visit to Pesaro more in the north end of the coast.

Puglia may be an option. We've been to the following. Trani a bit north of Bari has the shops and charm but you'd need to drive a few miles to find a beach. Even farther north of Trani is Vieste which is a beautiful town but the sandy beaches are about 2-3 miles out of town. Otranto, south of Bari, may have what you're looking for as may Monopoli; both have smallish beaches in town. Lecce is a beautiful city (some call it the Florence of the south) but is inland about 10 miles so you'd need a car to visit beaches. For many of these you could take a direct train from Rome to Bari and pick up a car.

Since you say this is your first trip to Europe I do have some concern, though, about recommending Puglia. Italians are wonderful people but Italy is not a service-oriented economy the way many Americans are accustomed to. And the farther south you go in Italy the more authentic it will become, especially in places less frequented by English-speaking tourists. Something to point out...

As you consider various options spend some time on YouTube. There are plenty of walking tours people have uploaded so you can get a sense of what a town offers.

Lido Sirenetta is the beach area for Palermo, on the way to the airport.

Thank you so much for the responses so far. Any thoughts on San Vito Lo Capo? What is the town like? Is it close enough to Palermo to do as part of a trip there? Thanks

Palermo does have a beautiful beach in the district of Mondello, less than 30 minutes by city bus from the center.

Taormina is not really on the beach, it's on the hill above the coast. However Giardini Naxos, basically at the bottom of the hill from Taormina, does have a beach. I usually stay in Giardini since it's cheaper than over touristy Taormina.

San Vito Lo Capo may need a car to visit from Palermo on a day trip. Autoservizi Russo runs buses between Palermo and San Vito but it takes a couple of hours and there might be very few runs a day.

Regarding how the town San Vito Lo Capo is, it is a typical Italian beach town.

n Summer, when schools are closed (Mid-June to Mid-Sept) it is lively, and at night it's very vibrant, with lots of people walking around and eating at the many sidewalk restaurants and cafes. In July and August it is jam packed with people.

However you are going in September, maybe when schools have already started (mid Sept), therefore somewhat off season. The weather at the end of September is generally still good and warm, but unless you are there on a weekend or very early in September, you are not going to see the crowds that characterize the popular beach town, like you'd see in July and August.

Consider also some not so traditional tourist spots near rome for the other half:

https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/towns-near-rome

https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/beach-vacations/italy-pontine-coast-where-to-go

Enjoy the planning!

Gaeta and Sperlonga are beautiful and close to Rome. I do think you would probably need a car to really be able to explore the area, but that’s a lot easier than going all the way to Sicily. I think you can take a train to Formia and maybe rent a car from there if possible.

”I am the type that wants to see ruins, museums, historical sites, etc.”

I know Rome is the focal point for you for good reason, but I will just point out that almost every Italian region can give you that list, also. If you wanted to just go to Sicily for the entire time, you both would have plenty to enjoy. Otherwise, the Amalfi Coast & Rome are probably your easiest option. Be sure to see Paestum for the Greek temples.

I typically "base" myself in or around Florence and would frequently go to Viareggio for a beautiful sandy beach experience. A lovely town to rent your umbrella and chair (so many beach clubs). Also, most of the clubs have attached restaurants or since you rent your chairs for the day, you are able to walk to the promenade and find a place to eat if you want then go back to your chairs. Some other beaches I have visited were pebbles or rocky so I preferred the white sand of Viareggio and was pretty close to where I was living....