So thanks to COVID our Cinque Terre trip had to be changed last minute because Liguria was added to the quarantine list for Switzerland. After some internet research I chose Cesenatico on the Adriatic coast, because it was quite close to a lot of easy day trips. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did, but like everywhere in Italy, it was so charming and beautiful.
Cesenatico is a small seaside town on the water with beach, canals, delicious seafood, and lots of options. We did quite a few day trips but we also spent a good few of our days in or nearby. The restaurants along the main center canal was where we ate dinner every night and they were all delicious. We tended to have lunch wherever we were day tripping and dinner back on the canal. This worked very well and we ended up getting to try quite a lot of the local places this way. There was also a beautiful sandy beach we walked up and down for miles, and lots of cute little areas to explore.
Our first full day we relaxed in Cesenatico and explored the city, as we had just driven 680km after work on Friday to get there and wanted a chilled out day. Then the second day we were off to San Marino (independent state within Italy like the Vatican) and enjoyed exploring the medieval towers and doing some tax free shopping. Since San Marino is up a big mountain the views from all around it are stunning so we did a big walk around the town.
The next day we were off to explore Bologna, which we absolutely loved and had a very fun vibe. We would definitely want to go back and stay a bit longer and go into some of the museusm, but we got a great overview that day. We had a delicious lunch with traditional Bolognese food, and visited the beautiful Basilica di San Petronio, and did a wee bit more shopping.
Our 4th day we stayed close to Cesenatico and went to a small sleepy beach town called Senigallia. Since we were there in October it was just out of season so we had the whole beach to ourselves, which was amazing! Apparently 24 degrees is too cold for people to be on the beach, so that worked well for us.
We spent the 5th day in Cesenatico, enjoying a delicious Michelin starred lunch (I could not believe in a town of 26,000 there were several Michelin star options!) for our Crete wedding anniversary. We were not quite back in Crete, as originally planned at the beginning of the year, but it was still amazing and I have no complaints! Afterward we enjoyed a long walk on the beach and played with our son, who absolutely loved sand and water and beach time in general.
On the Thursday that week we went to Florence, one of my favourite cities in Europe, and of course had an amazing time. Went to the famous viewpoint where we could see the whole city and it was nice seeing it all sunny. The last time I was there was in December so it was a bit cloudy/foggy. I had to show hubby Michaelangelo’s David and for someone who is not hugely into art he seemed very impressed. We went into the Duomo and walked all around it, had delicious pizza right outside with a lovely view of it. We then met up with a good friend of mine whom I had visited the last time I was in Florence, had some beers, and then walked all around to some of the sites. We finished off the day with gelato on Ponte Vecchio and my happiness levels were extremely high!
The 7th day we went to the city of Rimini, which was very closeby and to my suprrise had a lot of historical sites, including the Arco d’Augusto and the Tempio Malatestiano, both very old and stunning. I loved the architecture around Rimini and how dense it was with grand, beautiful buildings. I admittedly had not really researched Rimini and just decided on it last minute, and I am so glad we did.
We spent our last day again in Cesenatico, on the beach and at our final delicious restaurant for dinner. I could never tire of Italian food, and it’s definitely what we have at home the most. We also did a cheeky grocery shop because Italian prices made me feel like we won the lottery. Stocked up on a lot of pantry staples. And the next morning after our last breakfast we set off for home. The trip went far too quickly as with most vacations, but I am definitely glad we discovered Cesenatico and got to fit so much into our trip.
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