CanuckFlyHigh

We are travelling to Europe this June, and will have 7-9 days to hang out somewhere in Italy before we spend 4 days in Rome. We will have a 4.5 month old baby with us, and while we are very experienced travelers, this is our first trip with a baby and everything will be new to us. The number one piece of advice we have received is not try to do to much, so we have determined it will be great to just set up camp in a nice quaint Italian beach town, get a nice Airbnb with a terrace, and immerse ourselves in the local culture for 7-9 days. Ideally this town has a great "core" with restaurants, cafes, bakeries, etc. and be close to the ocean so that we can have an Airbnb where we can sit on the terrace overlooking the sea while baby naps, as well as take the baby out the front door in the stroller/bassinet/carrier for walks around town when appropriate or to dinner if baby falls asleep or be able to run out and grab food if baby is being bad, etc.. Having a beach would be ideal so we could even take turns headed down there fore a few hours. We have done a lot of research and come up with the following options, along with some of our thoughts behind each. We have never been to these areas, so any insight you have would be greatly appreciated, and if we are missing a town you think we should consider, please let us know. We do not plan on having a rental car, and therefore plan on sticking to the town we choose. If baby and parents are up to it, maybe we do a short day trip on a bus or something, but that is very low on the priority list. Our budget for an Airbnb is up to 500 Euro a night, but most of what we see are much lower than that, which is fine.

To summarize our priority list, we would like a small quaint beach town that has a good core area with restaurants/cafes that is reasonably walk able, is close to the ocean so we can have Airbnb terrace with views, and has a decent beach so one parent can spend some time down there while other is with baby,

Options:
Mondello - We like that it is close to Palermo for transit, not sure it has that quaint beach town feel, but seems nice and walkable.
Ponza - We like the island feel, haven't seen many great Airbnb's, and not sure if the town is big enough to not get royally bored
La Madellena - again, nice small island feel, seems walkable
Praiano/Atrani - We love these options for the amazing Airbnb's available with stunning views (wine and cheese on terrace while baby sleeps!), but it seems like there are just SO many stairs in these towns that it would impossible to head out with baby
Cefalu - Near the top of our list, great Airbnb's available, nice beach, seems very walkable
Polignano a Mare - Again, near top of our list, looks like a big enough town to not get bored, reasonably walkable, nice airbnbs available
Sperlonga - We like the proximity to Rome, seems very walkable, not sure it has the "quaint italian beach town" feel


Thanks so much for your insight.

YYCCL3

We stayed here for 3 nights in 2018 when our daughter had just turned 3 and very much enjoyed it. Probably not too many people visiting Cesenatico from Calgary, or even Canada for that matter.

https://www.beerandcroissants.com/ce...enatico-italy/

Never used a car, walked or biked everywhere. If I remember correctly it took us about 20 minutes to walk with lots of luggage and a stroller from the train station to our accomodation which was very close to the sea.

iapetus

I don't have too much to add about seaside towns with an infant. We've never made that a priority while traveling in Italy.

However, I will add that mrs. iapetus did not like having to push strollers back uphill while staying in a hotel between the Trinitŕ dei Monti and the Barberini station (much closer to the latter). So I would just recommend that you choose a place in Rome that doesn't involve pushing strollers uphill!


ETA: We have twins; so I was pushing a stroller uphill, too!

I.CRIS

YYCCL3's is a wise advise: the Adriatic coast around Rimini and Ravenna is a very nice place to stay, with a family-style tourism, expecially out of peak season (which is typically August), with affordable prices both for accomodation and f&b.
The cities of Rimini and Ravenna are nice to see as well, I recommend the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe (close to Ravenna, train station Classe is just beside) and the historical center of both cities.
If you are passionate about motorsports you're close to Misano Circuit (check when the annual Moto GP is held, as the area becomes packed and prices rise) and you can enjoy other amusements, as the acquatic parks (Aquafan in Riccione or Atlantica in Cesenatico) or acquariums (Oltremare in Riccione or Acquario di Cattolica).
I'd suggest you a day (or halfday) trip to San Marino as well, check it out.