Casa Plac · vacation home in Sant'Angelo di Gatteo (FC), Romagna
Walk out of the house, take the car, and in half an hour you're almost anywhere: in front of the canal harbour Leonardo surveyed in 1502, or under the arch the Roman Senate had raised in Rimini in 27 BC. Forty-two minutes away, past the border post, is San Marino.
The open parasol is five minutes from the house. The other beaches are all within half an hour.
This is where it starts
The closest sand is at Gatteo a Mare, Blue Flag 2026: walk out of the door and five minutes later your umbrella is open. Going up the coast the character changes at every stop, and at twenty-four minutes the salt pans of Cervia open up, with the flamingos standing behind the parasols.
It starts on the sand, five minutes away, and ends up on the fortress of San Leo, with the whole Marecchia valley below you.
about 5 minutes
On the home beach, Blue Flag 2026, children walk in the water instead of swimming: the seabed stays shallow a long way out.
You go in the morning and you're back for lunch without having to build the day around the journey.
The sea, beach by beach
about 10 minutes
You arrive in the afternoon, walk once around the Porto Canale and stay for dinner. It is close enough to decide the same morning.
Moored in the middle of the canal are the boats with coloured sails of the Maritime Museum.
Cesenatico in a day
about 18 minutes · 17.9 km
You walk straight through a shrunken Italy, with a monorail passing over your head.
It takes half a day, and on two of the rides you get properly soaked: put a change of clothes in the bag.
Which park, for which age
about 23 minutes · 25.3 km
An arch from 27 BC, a Roman bridge people still walk across, and just beyond the bridge the Borgo San Giuliano with its murals.
You go for the evening: you park outside the walls and walk in.
Cities and hill towns, one by one
about 24 minutes · 19.1 km
Behind the sun loungers a salt marsh opens up with flamingos, and in town there is the Quadrilatero of the salt workers: the town was built from scratch in 1698 on the Pope's orders.
You go for a beach that ends inside a 210-hectare pine forest.
The sea, beach by beach
about 24 minutes · 30.8 km
The day the sea is not enough any more: slides, rapids, and children who fall into bed early.
The big rides — Kamikaze, Black Hole, Speedriul — ask for twelve years of age or a height of one metre forty. Open from June to September.
Which park, for which age
about 35 minutes · 30.1 km
The largest park in Italy: Katun and iSpeed for teenagers, Nickelodeon Land for the little ones.
It takes a whole day. You leave after breakfast and you're back for dinner.
Which park, for which age
about 42 minutes · 41.7 km
You drive up the road that winds around the mountain, and at every bend the sea moves a little further away.
It is another country, with its border post and the three towers on Monte Titano. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The itineraries, day by day
about 47 minutes · 37.2 km
The fortress on top of the rock spur where Count Cagliostro died a prisoner.
Half a day, there and back included. The road is all bends: allow for the time, and for the stomach of anyone who suffers in the car.
Cities and hill towns, one by oneAtlantica, Italia in Miniatura, Oltremare, Aquafan, Fiabilandia, the Cattolica Aquarium, Mirabilandia and Safari Ravenna: how long they take, what ages they ask for, and which combined tickets can be used on different days.
Cesenatico, Santarcangelo and its caves, Roman Rimini, Cesena with the Malatesta Library, San Marino, San Leo, and the mosaics of Ravenna at fifty-one minutes.
Secondo Casadei, the man behind «Romagna mia», was born in Sant'Angelo di Gatteo: the hamlet where this house stands. And then the Malatesta castle, the Rubicone with the bust of Caesar, the Blue Flag beach.
The sea, the parks, Cesenatico at sunset, Roman Rimini on foot, San Marino, the hill towns, cycling along the river and the plan B for when it rains. With the right order of things and the minutes for every trip.
The long guides: a day in Cesenatico, what to do when it rains, the sea with children, Romagna at the table.
In Romagna in summer, kilometres are misleading: the main road clogs up and the motorway doesn't. Here's how long it takes, starting from home.
Driving times on the OpenStreetMap road network, August 2026. All the distances from this door
Seven days, seven directions. It's a suggestion, not a programme: change it however you like.
Tell us your dates and we'll tell you if it's free. If you're still deciding, write and tell us who's coming with you and how many days you have: we'll line the days up for you, from the nearest to the furthest.