Rimini, Italy

I have not been to Rimini but am a big fan of the nearby town of Senigallia, which is much smaller (about 40,000 pop. vs 150,000 for Rimini).

Senigallia has wide, gently sloping velvety sand beaches that extend for miles. A charming downtown area ... very walkable. A daily market. Lots of great restaurants, including two with Michelin stars. Two interesting nearby day-trip options: the walled hill town of Corinaldo and the Caverns of Frassasi.

If you don’t get much response about Rimini, I think Senigallia would be a worthy alternative.

Thank you so much. Senigallia sounds like our kind of place.

Cesenatico is the place you should go.
Great restaurant cafe scene along the canal.
Other places on the Romagna coast that are nice are Riccione, Cervia, and Milano Marittima (all a bit more expensive and upscale however). Cesenatico is my favorite although having relatives in Rimini I often go there as well.
Senigallia is also nice.
The beaches are similar in the entire Region, I wouldn’t make my choice based on the beaches. If you dropped me in one I couldn’t tell the difference between them.
August tends to be crowded. I was there in Rimini and later in Cesenatico for a few days last July and it was kind of empty compared to what I remember from childhood. I guess they are not as popular as they once were. With low cost airlines nowadays people prefer to go to more exotic locations I guess.

The towns can be nice but the beaches are like mud pits just heaving with people. I kind of hated it.

I think the crowds depend on time of year. We were there in late September. Weather was gorgeous and we had the place to ourselves. A bit cool for swimming but lovely for walking along the beach and sitting at a table on the sand for an aperitif after a day of sightseeing.

Locals told us that July & especially August are crowded but any other time of year there are few tourists in Senigallia.

I was in Rimini on the last weekend of June (June 29-Jul 1) and was surprised to see that 90% of the chez chairs at all beach concessions were empty. Similar situation a couple of weeks later in a Cesenatico.

The place is certainly not Bora Bora or even Sardinia, however to describe the sand in Romagna as “mud” is somewhat of a gross exaggeration. But maybe now people from Austria may be hard to satisfy given the great white sand beaches and coastline that country boasts.

I’m not Austrian. I go home, to NC for my beach vacation.

Still it is hard to define the Romagna beaches as muddy.
Some spots may be better than others, but “mud”?
Below is Riccione
https://images.app.goo.gl/gQ4A5nhBRW9oUSWdA

We lived in Germany from 87-91 and spend a few days in Rimini. Not sure how it is today, but the beaches were very poor. We spent more time visiting nearby places like Ravenna and San Marino.

I took a day trip to Rimini last May (I knew it wasn't "beach season" - and it was rainy anyway. Didn't care.). It looks like it would be a busy beach town in July and August. The old town has a little charm, but it's probably forgettable. Beaches are big and wide. It's a big Italian beach resort town.

If I wanted charm as well as a nice beach in Italy, I'd probably go to the Riviera side. The town of Camogli just south of Genoa is lovely and charming but not very big - I spent three nights there a few years ago (in May, when it wasn't busy with Italian beach tourists). I really fell in love with the town. There is more to see in the riviera than beaches, too, and it's easy to zip up and down the riviera by train.

I could probably list 100 better places to visit in Italy than Rimini.

Since you are coming from Ravenna, both Cervia and Cesenatico are near and both are charming towns, especially near their respective canals (lots of restaurants and cafes along both canals). If I had to rate the best town on the Romagna coast, they would come on top.
Rimini is bigger but has a charming historical center.
The beaches are wide and sandy. Unless you are there mid July through August they are not crowded at all. You can see what they look like by doing a simple Google Image search. Although the beaches in that area are not best in the world (or Italy for that matter) however they are much closer to Ravenna than Camogli (or especially North Carolina). Pay a visit to Cervia or Cesenatico and you won’t regret it. At least the seafood is good.