Along a path fringing the Adriatic Sea, I find families entering a play park and older couples walking hand in hand. This is Rimini, a long-time favourite coastal resort for Italians, which is becoming more accessible to UK travellers thanks to new British Airways direct flights from Heathrow, just in time for summer.

My tour guide, Monia Magalotti, notes that some families have been choosing the same beach spots for decades. The city in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region features a pedestrianised "park of the sea," a quiet spot for morning strolls that transforms into a lively night-time destination. What once was a road and car park is now a 15km path curved like the waves of the sea.