Sea temperature today Italy

Choosing your coast

The northern Adriatic suits travellers who want wide beaches and plenty of services close at hand. Rimini combines that seaside tradition with a historic town centre. Puglia offers another side of the Adriatic, with whitewashed towns and a coast that continues around the heel into the Ionian Sea.

Sardinia is a good starting point for a holiday built around beaches, with pale sand, granite headlands and clear shallows in many bays. Sicily adds markets, ancient monuments and volcanic scenery. A stay in Cefalù puts an old town beside a sandy beach; Taormina holidays offer a different setting above the Ionian coast. On the Calabrian mainland, holidays in Tropea come with views of Santa Maria dell’Isola, a sanctuary on a rocky promontory above the sea. Further north, the Amalfi Coast and Capri reward travellers drawn to dramatic scenery, boat trips and terraces above the water.

Food and the summer season

Leave room for regional cooking: Sicilian street food, Puglian pasta and seafood on the Adriatic give each stop its own flavour. Summer is the main beach season, while late spring and early autumn suit a trip with more walking and sightseeing. For a stay focused on swimming, compare local sea temperatures before choosing an early or late-season month.