Nude Beaches in Italy: Yes, They Exist

Because Italy is home to the Vatican and most Italians still call themselves Catholic, you might not expect a country full of nude beaches. Italy has fewer than France, Spain or Croatia, and the rules are patchier. But official naturist beaches do exist, there are more of them than there were a decade or two ago, and a few towns renew their naturist zones by ordinance every summer.

Here's how the rules work, and where you can actually go in 2026.

Is nudity on the beach legal in Italy?

It depends where you are. Italy has no national law on naturism. Bills have been put to Parliament since 1993 and none has passed. What exists instead is a patchwork:

• Court rulings. Italy's Supreme Court (the Cassazione) ruled in 2000 that simply being naked on a beach that naturists traditionally use isn't an obscene act. That protects you on established naturist beaches, not anywhere you like.
• Regional laws. Six regions have passed laws to recognize and regulate naturism: Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Abruzzo and Sardinia. Emilia-Romagna's came in 2006, and Sardinia's 2017 tourism law tells its towns to designate naturist areas and signpost them.
• Town ordinances. In practice, a beach becomes officially naturist when the comune (municipality) designates a stretch of it, usually with signs at the entrances and rules on behavior. Many of these ordinances are renewed each season.

Outside a designated or traditionally tolerated area, public nudity can still bring a fine, and plenty of local officials enforce it. Stick to the official beaches.

Topless is a different matter. Women go topless on most Italian beaches without anyone batting an eye, mixed in with women who keep both halves of their suits on. If you're not sure, look at what the people around you are doing. Town centers are another story: several seaside towns fine people for walking the streets in swimwear or bare-chested.

Italy's official nude beaches

The Italian Naturist Federation (FENAIT) keeps the list of beaches that towns have officially recognized, and it's the one to trust. These are the best known, north to south:

• Bassona, Lido di Dante (Emilia-Romagna): Italy's best-known naturist beach, south of Ravenna, backed by pine woods and dunes. Ravenna renewed its naturist ordinance for 2026: roughly 400 meters of the southern end of Lido di Dante, from 30 May to 20 September, with a lifeguard and facilities provided by the neighboring campsite. Don't cross the dunes (nesting birds), and don't smoke, camp or put up shelters; fines run 150 to 450 euros.
• Lido di Volano (Emilia-Romagna): a quieter officially designated beach near Comacchio, on the Po Delta coast.
• La Lecciona, Viareggio (Tuscany): a long, wild beach between Viareggio and Torre del Lago, reached through the pinewoods of the regional park.
• Tuscan coast near Livorno: Punta Combara in Livorno, Nido dell'Aquila at San Vincenzo and Punta del Miglio are all on the official list.
• Elba (Tuscany): Acquarilli, near Capoliveri on the island's south coast, and Le Tombe near Campo nell'Elba are both recognized. The other hidden coves of Elba, many reachable only by boat, are where people improvise.
• Capocotta, near Ostia (Lazio): the closest to Rome. In 1999 the city designated a stretch of about 200 meters here, making it Italy's first officially recognized naturist beach, and nudists had been using it for years before that. It sits in a protected coastal reserve along the coast road south of Ostia.
• More near Rome: Focene, by Fiumicino, and Sabbie Nere at Santa Marinella, whose 90-meter naturist area was authorized again for 2026.
• Termitosa, Castellaneta Marina (Puglia): a 150-meter stretch the town confirmed as a naturist area for the 2026 season, with strict rules against harassment.
• Troncone, Marina di Camerota (Campania): the last 300 meters or so of the beach south of Cala Finocchiaro, on the Cilento coast.
• Sardinia: the region that has gone furthest. Official naturist beaches include Porto Ferro near Sassari, Baia delle Ninfe at Alghero, Is Benas at San Vero Milis, Piscinas at Arbus (the giant dunes of the Costa Verde), Feraxi at Muravera and several more on the south and east coasts. Sardinia is also working on officially recognized naturist hiking trails in a protected area, a first for Italy.
• Calabria and Sicily: Stignano in Calabria, San Saba near Messina and Bulala near Gela round out the list.

There are also naturist lake and river beaches in the north, such as the Sesia river at Varallo and the Trebbia near Piacenza. For campsites and resorts where naturism is the norm, FENAIT lists certified naturist centers.

Beaches to cross off your list

Guvano, in the Cinque Terre, between Corniglia and Vernazza, was for years the backpacker's naturist beach, reached through an old railway tunnel. The tunnel has been closed since 2016 and the beach is off-limits because of landslide risk. Don't try to get there.

Older lists also name spots on the Lido di Venezia, at Portonovo near Ancona, at Marina di Bibbona and at Costa dei Barbari near Trieste. None of them is on the official list today. People may still be naked on the quieter ends of those beaches, but you'd be relying on tolerance, not permission.

Etiquette

• Stay inside the signed area, and don't walk into the clothed part of the beach naked.
• No photos of other people. Ever.
• Bring a towel to sit on, take your trash home, and keep off the dunes, which are protected on most of these beaches.
• Naturist beaches are for sunbathing and swimming, not for anything sexual. Ordinances say so explicitly, and people get fined.

More sand, clothes on: see our guide to beaches in Italy.