Sperlonga, Italy

Ahhh Sperlonga, Italy. So nice, my best friend and I literally had to do it twice during my 14 day stay! This beautiful coastal town is halfway between Naples and Rome and is well worth the trek.

The morning of our day trip to Sperlonga, we bought a few pre-made salads and flatbreads at the supermarket for lunch later that day. With our food and beach totes in hand, we then hopped on the train at the Termini station in Rome and took a shared cab to arrive to our destination, the spiaggia di Sperlonga.

Sperlonga is incredibly photogenic as it’s perched on a cliff overlooking the water. It is a bit reminiscent of Mykonos in that the houses are connected by sinuous stone staircases descending towards the water. The aesthetic is very beachy with white stone homes and bold, colorfully painted front doors.

Once on the beach, you’ll find several establishments with beach chairs and day beds for rent. We were there in August, and the shaded area that our lounge chairs offered was a welcomed respite from the blazing, unrelenting sun.

For lunch, we were still hungry after our salads and in the mood for seafood. So we ventured back up the staircases to find a restaurant serving fresh fish. And guess what?! We stumbled on EXACTLY that! I’m serious, the waiter at the restaurant came out holding an assorted platter of fresh fish with their eyeballs staring back lovingly at us, ready for consumption once grilled.

Our bellies full and our hearts content, we continued to explore and get lost among the long, open-air corridors. We were invited inside a kind old Italian man’s home for water. He told us about his late wife, how he missed her and how this had been his home since he was young boy. My best friend and I left his one story flat, honored that a perfect stranger felt comfortable enough to share such a heartfelt story with us.

We returned to our beach chairs for the rest of the afternoon, heading into the water every 1/2 hour or so to cool off, frolic and act like anything but grown women lol. Tired and ready to go home, we stopped for an obligatory gelato, which seemed to have been a trend throughout the whole trip.

Overall, both times we went were truly amazing, so make sure you add Sperlonga to your list of places to go in Italy during the summer!

Photos by: Laurence Agénor