It’s been many months now since I put a hold on my Tempting Tuesday series, where I weekly tempted you with a beautiful spots, off the tourist track places to visit, interesting churches and monuments, and beautiful beaches here on the Amalfi Coast. I am very happy to announce that I am relaunching this series – and with a fun twist! Over the next month or so I’ll be featuring guest posts written by some of the best writers around the blogosphere sharing some of their favorite and temptingly beautiful spots in Italy. To kick off the series, I’m happy to have Cherrye from My Bella Vita writing about one of Calabria’s beautiful beaches. And just in time … summer has finally arrived in southern Italy!

Welcome Cherrye!

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I can’t quite remember when I met Laura-it must have been more than a year ago already-but since then I’ve been trying to tempt her to come to Calabria and explore Italy’s even deeper south.

She recently announced the relaunch of her Tempting Tuesday series and—glutton for punishment that she—invited me to share.

Maybe it is the warm summer winds blowing across the Ionian or the dramatic panoramic vistas from a medieval city center, but nothing is more tempting to me than Calabria and her beaches.

Photo courtesy Mikuzz on Flickr.com

I’ve written a lot about Calabria’s beaches, especially my personal favorites Pietragrande and Caminia, as well as trendy Tropea and dazzling Diamante, but one beach I’ve yet to write about is sizzling Soverato.

Soverato is located about 15 minutes from Catanzaro and is thought to be the hottest cool beach town on the Ionian. Its long sandy shores scoop to form a peninsula and at night the bright blue waters reflect the hundreds of lights from the busy lungomare.

And busy it is. In the summer months, people from nearby villages flock to Soverato to enjoy some of the best nightlife in the region. The lungomare is alive with people of all ages – lovers walking hand in hand, whispering to each other below the sounds of the crowd; grandparents pushing strollers full of toddlers, happily slurping cones of homemade gelato and sunburned teenagers gathering post-beach for a Naples-style pizza or stuffed panino.

Photo courtesy Panoramio.com

During the day, the beaches are filled with locals, day-trippers and vacationers and the tiny side streets overflow with shoppers looking for a bargain in one of the tiny boutique shops. On Fridays, they share the lungomare with market vendors, who sell handmade jewelry, household items and produce.

The energy in Soverato is contagious and if you find yourself near this tiny town in the depths of summer, be sure to stop by for a little beach-bummin’, shoe-shoppin’ and people-watchin’. And while you are at it, have a gelato-or three-and plan to stay awhile. Pretty tempting, isn’t it?

Cherrye Moore is a freelance writer and Calabria tour and travel consultant living in southern Italy. She writes about travel for MNUI Travel Insurance and about living and traveling in Calabria on her site, My Bella Vita.