La Maddalena

La Maddalena needs 2 days: touring the La Maddalena Archipelago National Park by boat, seven main islands of pink granite with white sand beaches and turquoise water, on one, and visiting the neighboring island of Caprera, where Giuseppe Garibaldi lived and is buried, on the other. June-September brings ideal beach weather. It's expensive, facing the Costa Smeralda, one of Italy's most exclusive areas. The archipelago, declared a national park in 1994, was an Italian and US naval base for decades due to its strategic position facing Corsica, and its Spiaggia Rosa, a beach with pink sand from coral fragments, has been protected and off-limits to walk on since 1994.