Hello, we are planning a trip to Italy, can anybody suggest something?, a nice hotel, apartments, a house? We are driving so we are really looking for the closest beach from Switzerland to Italy. Thanks!
Lunguria- Genova region is the closest - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liguria , look out for Porto Fino, the Saint Tropez of the I talian Riviera and the beautiful Cinque Terre - The Five Lands.
http://en.agriturismo.it/ - As it's name suggests, it's an agricultural tourism site, in other words, lovely old farms that have been converted into B&Bs.
Where ever you go there, you are bound to enjoy yourself.
Cinque Terra - yes! Portofino....no. It's like Saint Tropez to be sure, but I disliked both. The beaches around there aren't always sandy though, especially at Portofino, S. Margharita and Rapallo.
Thanks to you all for taking the time to help me making a decision. i am having a look to all places you suggest, must also say i am traveling with an 11 month old baby so any other tips?
A bit further, maybe 7 or 8 hours for you, is Le marches, East coast. The beaches are large and sandy and value is much better than Liguria or the portofino area. If you google Le Marches you can find some info
I have an interest in this as I spent summers there as a child and still spend time there now. If you like the area send me a PM and I will send you more info.
Liguria (Genova coast) is for sure the closest. However if you are looking for a safe sandy beach for a kid I would go a bit further as suggested by others in previous posts.
Toscana coast is nice and there are some sandy beaches there, however the Adriatic side has usually larger equipped beaches and the sea is calm with not deep water at the beginning (good if you want to play with a kid in the water).
but its overrun by tourists...i have been there when a friend opened up a small hotel in 1992 and it was nice an quiet. now jumbos drop their tourists bombs and its a nightmare compared. but still its a nice area..
However the water quality on the Adria side isn't always the best, particularly further north around the Po delta and Venice. Maybe also worth checking.
We made two trip to the Riviera side, between Genova and France. Frankly, the beaches were not worth it, no space for anything and at any somewhat nice spot was a fence and you had to rent a chair for completely rip-off prices.
I must say that I prefer to drive a bit longer and stay at the Cote d'Azur instead. Antibes for the beach an Nice for having dinner.
Liguria seems to be close, but according to the places i've seen the beaches seem full of stones as mentioned before, i guess my baby is too small to enjoy the ocean but will surely enjoy the sand... we will be traveling by june 15th, is it already crowded? i am checking the other options as well, thanks again, if you can name hotels even better!
Agree, cinque terra and the area around Genoa is a beautiful place, sadly I also found it a tourist trap and was disappointed by the shameless way you get ripped off, I think the amount you get stung for is governed by the numberplate on your car, only rich people who can afford it live in CH, so do not be surprised if your wallet is a lot lighter when you return