Why Italians Are Leaving Their Beaches for Greece

A visit to the lido reminded The Local Italy's editor Clare Speak why Italian beach days are anything but relaxing — and of why growing numbers of Italians are heading elsewhere in the Mediterranean instead. The account, published this week, captures a frustration that many on the Italian coast have come to recognise.

The complaint is familiar to anyone who has spent a summer on an Italian beach: the packed sand, the rows of rented umbrellas, the cost of a day by the sea that rivals a restaurant meal. For the price of a week at an Italian lido, the argument goes, a traveller can find quieter shores and better value across the Adriatic.

The trend carries particular weight for Sardinia, whose economy leans heavily on coastal tourism. The island's famous Costa Smeralda has long attracted an international crowd willing to pay premium prices, but the domestic visitor — the Italian family that once filled August beaches from Cagliari to Alghero — is now weighing other options.