The Romagna coast
The Romagna coast is the stretch of Emilia-Romagna's coastline on the Adriatic Sea, running from the mouth of the river Reno to Gabicce Mare, on the border with the Marche: about 110 kilometres of beaches, among the busiest in Italy.
It crosses three provinces. In the province of Ravenna are the Ravenna lidos and Cervia, with its historic salt pans. In the province of Forlì-Cesena, Cesenatico, Gatteo Mare, Savignano Mare and San Mauro Mare. In the province of Rimini, Bellaria Igea Marina, Rimini, Riccione, Misano Adriatico and Cattolica.
From north to south
The beaches change character along the coast. To the north, towards the Ravenna lidos, the shoreline is wilder, dotted with pine woods and wetlands. Cervia and nearby Milano Marittima, the latter born as a "garden city" set in greenery, combine the salt pans that still yield Cervia's sweet salt with the coast's most elegant seaside life.
Cesenatico keeps the atmosphere of an old fishing village: its canal port, designed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1502, remains the heart of the town. Rimini and Riccione, further south, hold most of the area's big amusement parks and equipped beach resorts; Cattolica and Misano Adriatico close the coast towards the border with the Marche.
The nine Ravenna lidos
The coastline of the municipality of Ravenna is not one place but nine, from north to south: Casal Borsetti, Marina Romea, Porto Corsini, Marina di Ravenna, Punta Marina Terme, Lido Adriano, Lido di Dante, Lido di Classe and Lido di Savio.
Character changes from lido to lido. The three furthest north lie within the boundary of the Po Delta Park, among pine woods and coastal lagoons. Lido di Classe and Lido di Dante grew up around the mouth of the river Bevano, on a stretch of coast with dunes and wide free public beaches, the least built-up on the whole coast.
The Blue Flag beaches
In 2026 the Blue Flag from the Foundation for Environmental Education was awarded to eleven places in Emilia-Romagna: Comacchio in the province of Ferrara, Ravenna and Cervia in the province of Ravenna, Cesenatico, Gatteo and San Mauro Pascoli in the province of Forlì-Cesena, Bellaria-Igea Marina, Rimini, Riccione, Misano Adriatico and Cattolica in the province of Rimini.
The award is annual and covers more than bathing water quality: land management, services, accessibility and sustainable mobility all count too. The list changes every year, so it's worth checking on the programme's website.
What to do beyond the beach
Inland Romagna is only a few kilometres from the beaches: from Cesenatico you can reach both Cesena, with the Biblioteca Malatestiana, and the first hill villages such as Longiano in around half an hour. From Rimini it's an easy trip up to San Marino and the Valmarecchia, with its fortresses.
The coast is also one of Italy's best-equipped destinations for cycling tourism, thanks to cycle paths that run along almost the entire coastline and continue inland.