We are in Venice, during the Venice Climate Week and on World Environment Day, where Legambiente and the Italian Touring Club presented the guide “The most beautiful sea 2026”, the volume that has been dealing with the theme of summer holidays and environmental respect for over twenty-five years. The guide measures how municipalities manage water, waste, coasts and ecosystems, and in recent editions also their ability to withstand the climate crisis. This year, the heat is the common thread: the criterion is no longer just how beautiful a coast is, but where one can find refreshment when summer becomes a problem to manage, not just a holiday to book.
Pollica queen, Baunei and Otranto on the podium
At the top of the ranking of seaside resorts in Cinque Vele is Pollica, in the province of Salerno, the heart of that Cilento which for years has played the part of the top of the class. The Acciaroli and Pioppi area (the one that inspired Ancel Keys’ studies on the Mediterranean diet) returns to the top with crystal clear waters, protected villages and artisanal fishing.
Behind her we find Baunei (Nuoro), which climbs from fourth place in 2025 to second thanks to the coves of the Gulf of Orosei that can only be reached on foot or by sea.
Closing the podium is Otranto (Lecce), protagonist of the clearest leap, seven positions gained in just one year.
The thirty awarded locations, twenty by the sea and ten by the lake, represent the summit of an evaluation which, as Touring reminds us, does not measure the beauty but the overall quality of a territory, in which aspects such as water transparency, waste management, sustainable mobility, protection of ecosystems, accessibility, services and ability to respond to the climate crisis are elements of primary importance.
The primacy of the South and the islands
The South remains to dominate the geography of excellence. Sardinia is the region with the highest number of seaside resorts in Cinque Vele, six, ahead of Puglia (five) and Tuscany (four). The first nine positions in the top ten are all southern or insular, a fact that tells better than many conferences what is moving along the southern coasts.
The complete ranking of seaside resorts
Here is the ranking of the awarded seaside locations:
- Pollica (Salerno) — the Cilento of Acciaroli and Pioppi
- Baunei (Nuoro) — the Gulf of Orosei
- Otranto (Lecce) — the Upper Adriatic Salento
- Domus de Maria (South Sardinia) — the coast of Chia
- San Giovanni a Piro (Salerno) — the Coast of Myth
- Nardò (Lecce) — the Upper Ionian Salento
- San Teodoro (Sassari) — the Gulf of Olbia
- Santa Teresa di Gallura (Sassari)
- Cabras (Oristano) — the Sinis peninsula
- Castiglione della Pescaia (Grosseto) — the Tuscan Maremma
From eleventh position onwards, the other locations in Cinque Vele:
The lakes: the North takes the lion’s share
For the lakes the center of gravity shifts to the North, in Trentino-Alto Adige which confirms itself as a leading territory. Here is the ranking:
- Lake Molveno (Trento) — in the lead for the second consecutive year
- Mis Lake (Belluno)
- Lake Monticolo (Bolzano)
- Lake of Santa Croce (Belluno)
- Lake Fiè (Bolzano)
- Large Lake of Avigliana (Turin)
- Lake Scanno (L’Aquila) – the only one in the centre, with the famous heart shape
- Cannero Riviera (Verbano-Cusio-Ossola) — on Lake Maggiore
- Gardone Riviera and Toscolano Maderno (Brescia) — both on Lake Garda, both in ninth place.
New for 2026: holidays against the heat
This year’s edition inaugurates the column “A holiday in Cinque Vele”, which brings together twenty itineraries designed for those seeking refreshment away from the shoreline, making room for paths, such as the Sentiero dell’Infinito between Portovenere and Riomaggiore, cycling routes and excursions in the hinterland. A response, not even too implicit, to the summers that become hotter every year. . As to the reason for this turning point, the national president of Legambiente Stefano Ciafani was explicit: the climate crisis is also reshaping the choice of holidays, and those who love the sea and lake are increasingly looking for places of refreshment, so it is up to the localities to put in place adequate proposals. For Ottavio Di Brizzi, editorial director of the Italian Touring Club, the 2026 edition confirms and expands a careful look at the sustainability and quality of the territories, with the new section dedicated to walking itineraries, cycling routes and excursions in the hinterland.
Turtles and plovers: the biodiversity chapter
Then there is a chapter that has little to do with bathing and a lot to do with the future. The “Municipalities friends of sea turtles”, those who have signed the protocol linked to the European Life Turtlenest project for the protection of the Loggerhead, have gone from 102 to 124 in one year. Campania has twenty-five, Calabria nineteen, Puglia sixteen. A sign that the turtle, driven by the warming of the waters, has chosen the Italian coasts to nest, and that someone on land is taking notice. On the bird front, meanwhile, Barletta is the first Italian municipality to have signed the “guardian of the plover” protocol, as part of the European Life Alexandro project.
Special mentions to the mayors
For the first time the guide also awards four special mentions to mayors who have distinguished themselves in coastal defense. Among them Josi Gerardo Della Ragione, mayor of Bacoli (Naples), for the fight against illegal occupations on maritime state property and for the regeneration of the coastal strip, and Mattia Fiorini, mayor of Spotorno (Savona), for a Beach Plan which provides for an increase of up to 40% of the coastline intended for free beaches. Rewarding those who free the beaches, these days, is almost a declaration of intent.
