ITALY TRAVELEscape
No. 270 of 1001 · Friuli Venezia Giulia

Lignano Sabbiadoro

The golden beach of the Adriatic

On a peninsula between the lagoon of Marano and the mouth of the Tagliamento river, Lignano is the most famous seaside resort of Friuli Venezia Giulia and one of the most popular in the northern Adriatic, with an 8-kilometre beach of fine golden sand, from which the name of its main district, Sabbiadoro, "golden sand", derives. Lignano is divided into three areas: Sabbiadoro, the oldest and liveliest, with the centre, shops, the pedestrian streets and the nightlife, Lignano Pineta, designed in the 1950s by the architect Marcello D'Olivo with a spiral street plan among the pine trees, elegant and green, and Lignano Riviera, quieter, near the mouth of the Tagliamento, surrounded by woods.

The beaches, wide and with shallow water, are ideal for families with children, and are equipped with bathing establishments, sports facilities and services. Lignano is also linked to the American writer Ernest Hemingway, who visited it in 1954, during a duck-hunting trip in the lagoon, and called it "the Florida of Italy"; the town has dedicated a park to him, the Parco Hemingway, and a literary prize. Symbol of the town is the Terrazza a Mare, a round building on stilts over the sea, at the end of a pier, with a panoramic restaurant. Lignano also offers a large water park, a zoo, golf courses, and from its port boats depart for the lagoon of Marano and its casoni, and for Grado and Trieste.

Tip: if you want quiet, choose Pineta or Riviera; take a boat trip to the lagoon of Marano.

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