pommybird

We have visited many Italian cities but have never had a beach holiday in Italy....thinking of doing s next year, where would you recommend guys? Someone mentioned Gallipoli in Puglia any thoughts, or anywhere else you would recommend (we have already done Amalfi coast).

Looking for somewhere with lots of hustle and bustle, decent beach and maybe places nearby to visit.

brian12

We loved Lido di Jesolo.Loads of restaurants,beautiful beach and public transport to Venice with a travel card valid for all modes of transport including vaperettos.

carcajou

San Remo. Don't know if it will deliver "hustle and bustle" but there's a historic and see-and-be-seen casino, a quaint old town, and mountains etc nearby.

modicasa

If you want hustle and bustle then Rimini, Viareggio, Tropea. HOwever, beaches in Puglia are uniformly good, in august busy. Same in Sicily and Calabria and Sardinia. IT depends what you mean by hustle/bustle.

philat98

You can do Lido di Ostia or Civitavecchia as a day trip from Rome.

MigsAngel

Siracusa region has loads of good beaches and things to do.
Fontane Bianche is my person favorite

SanNico

Gallipoli and all of the beaches along that stretch are beautiful. As a town, it's got plenty of restaurants, bars and nightlife. If you have kids, then there is a fun but tacky waterpark called Splash, in fact I enjoy it as well. There is an arena called Parco Gondar where you can find some really big names playing. I saw Prodigy there (no longer possible) and a few Italian pop acts with the kids. Not sure if that's still going, but keep an eye out online. The celeb chasers love Gallipoli as it seems to be on their to-do list.

From there you can do plenty of sightseeing in Porto Cesareo, Lecce, Santa Maria di Leuca etc. and a bit further afield you could visit Matera. It's much cleaner and better priced than the Adriatic coast. Just remember, August is HOT and very busy.

pommybird

Thanks for all the feedback, looks like it will be Gallipoli for a beach holiday in the summer, may also try Sicily too, we were meant to go to Palermo in June for a few days but obviously that never happened. Maybe we will try again late next spring but stay longer and take in Siracusa too. Will put all your other suggestions on my list and tick them off one by one!

tooboocoo

Also consider the Cinque Terre region. Stunning scenery, nice beaches and not too crowded (when we went last September). And La Spezia is just down the road for some city nightlife.

Accetturese

We recently spent a couple of days in the Gargano. It is a delightful place with some charming towns - Peschici is great - lovely beaches, and if you like fish the food is incredible.

GeorgeYoung

Honestly, Italian beaches are often my idea of hell - busy, endless lines of regimented stabilimenti balneari, scorching hot sand you can't walk on.... Each to their own of course but I would generally recommend beaches further south which are "spiagge libere" (i.e. open-access beaches) and where you can often find a bit of space.
Mondello in Palermo is absolutely stunning and if you go in, say, late spring you may well find it reasonably quiet. I always had some great days on the beaches on the southern tip of Sicily near Punta Secca/Donnafugata (where some of Montalbano is filmed).

I'd also recommend the "beaches" around many of the mountain lakes, with cooler air, cleaner water and beautiful views. Look at the lakes in Molveno, Caldonazzo or Ledro in Trentino for some really great examples.

Lorna at Vicenza

I've been to Caldonazzo a few times but Lago di Lavarone is much closer to home. Not sure where Chloe went last year for a day but it looked stunning - might have been Lago di Tenno.

GeorgeYoung

Lavarone is an absolutely beautiful place and the whole altipiano is really worth a visit - plenty of space, history and views up there. Tenno is possibly even more stunning but it isn't always the easiest for access & swimming.

Just over a week ago, I had a post-run dip in Lago di Levico which is another one that is a real treat, particularly at the quiet northern end away from the lido.

Lorna at Vicenza

I guess, living under my mountain as I do, that I am just as close to some lakes as I am to the seaside. An hour each way either takes me up a mountain or down to the sea. What I do know though is that it's impossible to get out of my house on a weekend morning because all the traffic coming up from town mixes up with the traffic coming in from the Valdastico motorway and I cannot move. Thank goodness there is one old road down between the valley and river bank that has been made 'residenti' only.

pommybird

Thanks for all your suggestions, I really will try and visit them all at some stage. I know Italian beaches are generally packed and very hot in the summer but I love it. Quite happy to sit on a busy beach and ear wig at all the conversations around me, although my Italian is not that great so only get snippets!