Stupid question alert: are there nice beaches in Italy?

[LowLevelWhingeing]

I know there must be...

Is a lot of the coastline cliffy though? We'd like to book a massive villa for a couple of families and it would be great to be near a beach, but I don't know where to look!

Any advice?

One of my neighbours took their family to Puglia last year, said it was fantastic, everything very reasonable, very 'rural' & rustic, unlike northern areas of Italy. They loved it & would definately recommend it, with 4 DCs aged 6 to about 17.

Ooh fab fff, thank you!

We have been to Puglia a few times. It is lovely, really lovely. The beaches on the east coast, at the southern most part of the region (the Salento) are known locally as "the Maldives" as they are so lovely, and the water is as warm as a bath. Puglian food is terrific and people very very friendly. The towns are fascinating and very attractive. You almost never hear an English voice there either.

Whereabouts are you looking ? For villas, you will need to find Italian companies on the web, as most of the other renters they are marketing to will be Italian families, so they won't be listed with English companies.