Sargegna probably has the best beaches in Italy, but on your budget even if stretched, you will have a hard time finding a hotel. Calabria is much more economical. One thing to know about Italy other than Sardegna, most of the beaches are not so great. Instead of having sand, they have pebbles. The ones that have sand are usually like the picture I showed of Salerno; wall to wall umbrellas. And, you have to pay for he umbrella, and depending on where you are, that can be 25 euros a day. Positano has a nice beach and incredible beauty, but it's wall to all umbrellas. A little bit to the right there is a sort of hidden beach that is not overrun. All throughout the Amalfi Coast there are some hidden beaches maybe 25 meters long that you have to descend down from the cliffs to get to, and the beaches do not have umbrellas, and you can bring a towel and lie on the beach without too much crowding anytime of the year. You can find them but it takes some work, and they won't be right outside your hotel door like at a beach resort. Beach resort places on the Amalfi will go for at least 500 per night during high season, with the norm being closer to 700.

In Calabria, Troppea has a nice sandy beach, and even during high season I haven't seen it be too crowded. It's pretty far South, and it's a bit of a chore to get there. There's no place nearby for day trips that I know of, but it's a quaint town. Just like Sorrento turns into England with the streets and shops and stores being full of English people and some Americans, for some reason, Troppea becomes Germany. In Sorrento, it's really hard to speak Italian in any store or restaurant. The waiters and sales people are so accustomed to everyone they contact being an english speaking tourist that it is not possible for them not to speak english to you on auto-pilot. I ask them something in Italian, they answer in english. I start up a conversation at a bar when by chance I bump into the rare Italian, and they respond in english. We speak for ten minutes where I'm speaking Italian, and they respond in english. It's not because they are trying to practice their english, it's just that they cannot conceive that anyone in Sorrento is not from Great Britain or the USA.

It's a little like that in Troppea, but with German. For some reason, lots of Germans go there for the summer. The same thing happens. I stop at a bar, speak Italian, and the bartender answers in German. I say, "Non sprechen zie Deutch," then continue speaking Italian to them, so they start answering in English. So I tell them, "Non parlo inglese." Finally, I can get them to speak to me in Italian. In tourist areas it can be like that, but Troppea does have a nice, wide, sandy beach, some shops on the water to grab a bite or a drink, and not too many umbrellas. There is one side trip, Come to think of it, there are some side trips, but not many. You can take a ferry to Stromboli, where the volcano erupts every night, if you can call throwing up a few sparks in the dark an eruption, and you can have dinner over there.

There are lots of beaches in Calabria, but remember, compared to the Amalfi Coast, it's not as well developed. It's a little harder to get to. But if you are looking for a place to just chill for a week, it is a place to go. That's what I did a few summers ago in Troppea.

In Calabria you will be giving up amenities for economy, but also you can be in non-touristy towns, with uncrowded beaches frequented by locals only, such as Carminia. The Cosenza area has Diamante, which might be right up your alley, a nice small beach called Praia a Mare that is small, but unlikely to be crowded, but it's a nice beach, or a big beach like Scalea, which will have the umbrellas and be slightly crowded but doable. Scalea has a nice town, hotels, hiking in the national park, and things like that.

in other parts of Calabria there are many other beaches like Capo Rizzuto, Pizzo Calabro. If you are a bit adventuresome you can go all the way down to the medium size town of Reggio-Calabria, where they have nice beaches such as Scilla, or Marinella Beach in nearby Palmi. Reggio-Calabria can be a little bit of a rough town. Nothing is likely to happen, but it's not the Amalfi Coast down in the deep south. One of the side trips you can do from there is go to Sicily. There are frequent ferries from Reggio-Calabria to Messina in Sicily. It's so close that they have been talking about building a bridge between the two for decades. In Eastern Sicily you have the option of many more uncrowded beaches, renting a car and visiting Greek ruins, and seeing some of the more beautiful towns in Western Sicily. You'll definitely save money in Calabria compared to Amalfi. I'm not saying it's wild, but it's far less developed than the more northern areas like Amalfi, and you will need to be comfortable in your ability to travel. You don't have to speak Italian, but should be able to deal with say, a certain lack of organization and uncertainty.