September 22, 2025 · 0.84 miles · Punta Marina Terme, Ravenna
Ten minutes. That’s all it takes. One bus from the centre of Ravenna, hop on, hop off, and suddenly you’re standing on the Adriatic coast with sand under your feet and a storm building on the horizon.
We hadn’t planned it as a walk exactly. More of a reconnaissance. We were three days into our first proper visit to Ravenna — the city we’re moving to — and we wanted to know how close the sea actually was. The answer, it turns out, is very close indeed.
Punta Marina Terme is Ravenna’s nearest beach. In summer, this stretch of coast is packed — the beach clubs line up shoulder to shoulder, the parasols bloom orange and yellow, and the Adriatic does its best impression of a holiday brochure. We arrived in late September, a Monday afternoon, with the season just closing and a weather front rolling in from the sea. The parasols were stacked. The sunbeds were empty. The sand went on forever.
We had it almost entirely to ourselves.
There’s something quietly powerful about seeing a place for the first time out of season. No crowds to filter it through, no noise to compete with. Just the sound of the waves, the wind picking up, and the knowledge that in a few months this will be our local beach. We can get the bus. We can walk to the water. We can do this on a Tuesday evening after work.
That thought hadn’t quite landed until we were standing there.
We didn’t stay long. The storm that had been threatening all afternoon was making good on its promise, and the last bus back wasn’t something we wanted to miss. But before we left, we found a small bar just back from the beach — the kind that looks like it hasn’t changed since 1987 — and a lovely old man who served us a cold beer without ceremony or fuss. We sat outside and watched the clouds come in over the Adriatic.
We’ll be back. Next time in the sun. And we’ll venture further — north along the coast, south toward Rimini. There’s a lot of beach to explore, and we’ve got all the time in the world.
Distance: 0.84 mi · Moving time: 19:31 · Elevation: 9ft Route: Punta Marina Terme · Adriatic coast