Le Castella Beach

Le Castella has one of those views that does the work for you. A honey coloured Aragonese castle stands on a small island just off the shore, joined to the land by a narrow neck of rock, and the whole village is arranged around it. The fortress has roots back in the Greek and Roman periods and took its present shape under Aragonese rule in the 15th century, and it has been restored so you can walk in and climb to the tower. Beside it lies a small beach of clear, shallow water, set inside the Capo Rizzuto marine protected area, the largest in Italy, where the sea is among the cleanest in Calabria.

For a couple, this is a place to plan around the light. In the heat of an August afternoon the little beach by the castle is full, the village busy, and the romance hard to find under the umbrellas. But come for the golden hour and it changes completely. As the sun drops, the castle walls turn warm and then floodlit, the water by the causeway goes glassy, and the whole scene becomes the most photographed sunset on this coast for a reason. Take an evening table in the village, walk out toward the castle as the lights come on, and Le Castella earns its name.

The honest read is that the castle beach itself is small, so it is the setting and the swim rather than acres of sand that you come for. If you want more room, the wider Capo Rizzuto coast around Isola di Capo Rizzuto has further beaches and coves with the same clear water and far fewer people. Use those for a long day on the sand, and keep Le Castella for the early swim, the snorkel in the reserve and above all the sunset, which is the thing that stays with you.