Looking for your dream beach in Italy?
Then you’re spoiled for choice, with a whopping 427 Italian resorts to choose from that stand out for cleanliness, quality of services on offer and sustainability.
That is in fact the total number of Italian seaside and lakeside resorts awarded the prestigious Blue Flag designation by the international Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), a non-profit organization promoting sustainable development through environmental education.
2022 has seen the addition of 14 new entries in the Blue Flag list, which were just recently announced. They include:
- Alba Adriatica in Abruzzo, where the beach is known as “Spiaggia d’Argento,” the silver beach, for its wide and sandy shoreline with silvery tones;
- Two locations in Calabria: Caulonia, an ancient city of Magna Grecia on the Ionian Sea, and Isola di Capo Rizzuto, jewel of the region, located within the largest protected marine area in Europe;
- Two locations also in Emilia-Romagna: the party-lover destination Riccione, and San Mauro Pascoli, both on the Adriatic Coast;
- Ispani in southern Cilento, region of Campania;
- Porto Recanati in Le Marche, a place that boasts nine kilometers of beaches, clean waters, a pedestrianized promenade, cycle paths and a seaside village with a majestic castle;
- Cannobio, on the north-western shore of Lake Maggiore in Piedmont, the only lakeside town among the new entries of 2022;
- Puglia was awarded three new Blue Flags: Castro, in the province of Lecce; Rodi Garganico, located in the Gargano National Park; and Ugento, in the lower Salento, with beaches overlooking the Ionian Sea protected by dunes;
- Budoni, Sardinia, a tourist center that overlooks the north-eastern coast of the island;
- Furci Siculo, along the Ionian coast in Sicily, between Messina and Taormina;
- Pietrasanta in Tuscany, part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps.
Five locations lost their Blue Flag award this year: San Mauro Cilento and Sapri in Campania, Ventotene in Lazio, the Tremiti Islands and Otranto in Puglia.
Liguria is still the Italian region with the largest number of Blue Flag beaches — 32 total — followed by Campania, Tuscany and Puglia, with 18 each.
For the full list of Italian Blue Flag beaches and lakeside resorts, click here.
