Lignano Sabbiadoro
Eight kilometres of sand on a peninsula, with the lagoon on one side and the sea on the other.
Lignano stands on a peninsula between the mouth of the Tagliamento and the Marano lagoon, and it was built as a holiday place: there was nothing here before, and you can see that in the way it is laid out. Three distinct parts, one after another: Sabbiadoro with the shops and the nightlife, Pineta laid out in the nineteen fifties as a spiral inside a pine wood, Riviera newer and quieter.
The beach is eight kilometres long, wide, and the sea bed shelves gently: it is one of those places families with small children come back to every year. The campsites are large, nearly all under pines and with a pool, and many have a gate straight onto the sand.
What is around it
Behind lies the lagoon: you go out by boat among the mudflats and the reed huts, or by bicycle along the embankment to Marano Lagunare, a fishing town with a tower and narrow lanes. The Punta Verde zoo and the water park are close by, and Aquileia and Grado are half an hour away by car.
In August Lignano is full and prices rise; in June and September it is the same beach at half the price, with the water already warm because shallow sea heats up early.