Sandy beach town within 3 hours from Milan in early Sept with a 4 year old?

Hello all! Thanks for the great info here.

I'm trying to do a budget trip to a beach town with my husband and 4 year old early September for about 8 days. I've been trying to do research but maybe some Italy experts know just the right city!

1. We're landing in Milan and staying for one or two nights, so we'd like to take the train to this place, hopefully within 2-3 hours for the kid's sake.
2. A town with sandy beaches and shallow water for the kid to be able to make castles and wade without too much worry.
3. Largish town so we can do day trips occasionally by foot that's not too far (again, 4 year old in tow).

We're basically looking for a place that has great public transportation options and great sandy beaches not too far from Milan. Thanks so much in advance!

If you search on best family beaches north italy you get a lot of possibly useful links.

Levanto and Monterosso at the northern end of Cinque Terre could be suitable, but also worth looking at the beaches to the west of Genoa (we have only taken the train along that coast, without stopping, but it looked very attractive).

Hi there
I am also in research mode for an Italy trip. We are staying at a small seaside village called Camogli, which sounds like it fits most requirements. We chose Camogli based on this review... https://www.danflyingsolo.com/camogli-italy-cenobio-dei-dogi/
It appears accessible by one direct train from Milan. A website I have discovered in my research is www.rome2rio.com, it is brilliant.
Good luck and safe travels.
Jo.

Camogli looks beautiful in the pictures ... is that a pebble beach rather than a sandy one?

Yes, gorgeous, can't wait to get there myself :)
Images do look like pebbles, but there may be sandy beach further along. Not too sure.

@MusicBoxx - perhaps check out Google Maps satellite view to see if there are any sandy beaches nearby.

Forget the small 5Terre pebble beaches (with a kid)! Check Sestri Levante, Alassio or Finale Ligure instead.
If you don't mind go farther away:
there is nothing but sand between Chioggia/Sottomarina - Jesolo - Bibione - Caorle - Grado (day trips to Venice possible)
and south of Sarzana (up to Pisa).

Forget the small 5Terre pebble beaches (with a kid)!

Levanto and Monterosso do have sand beaches ... that's why I mentioned them.

Alassio, between Genoa and Monaco, also has a nice sandy beach.

The most spectacular sandy beaches (and for me the most beautiful in Liguria) are: in Alassio,Finale Ligure,Noli,Varigotti and Bergeggi. They are all very close to each other and all are located about 3 hours away from Milan.

Camogli has a white pebble beach, Sestri and Monterosso have sandy beaches ... however all towns in western Liguria that I've mentioned you before have the places that are really similar to Caribbean beaches :)Really stunning.

Hey there
I literally came across this article today, and thought you may also find it useful... https://www.thelocal.it/20170608/map-best-beaches-blue-flag-italy-swimming-clean-award
Check out the interactive map.
Cheers.

I literally came across this article today

Three gushy links in three posts ... hmmm.

Do you mind if I ask where you ended up going and how did it work out for you? I'm basically looking for the same thing as you: for a sandy beach easily accessible by public transportation from Milan so that my 2 year old can play in the sand.

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