Italians Swap Crowded Beaches for Greece, and Campania Feels the Ripple

The Local Italy's editor Clare Speak has written that a visit to the lido reminded her why Italian beach days are anything but relaxing, and why growing numbers of Italians are heading elsewhere in the Mediterranean instead. The piece, published on Saturday, taps into a familiar summer refrain: the domestic coast, for all its beauty, can be an exercise in endurance.

The observation lands with particular weight in Campania, where the summer months bring a surge of visitors to the Amalfi Coast, the islands of the Gulf of Naples, and the city's own waterfront. The pressure on beaches, the queues, and the prices are part of the daily reality here, and the foreign press has taken note of Italians voting with their feet.