Estate Italiana

A Summer you Never Leave Behind

The slower we move, the greater life’s joys appear. This is what Estate Italiana means to us as Italians, and it’s why we return to it every year.

Somewhere between the first taste of the season’s ripest peach and the last swim before a winter hibernation, the celebrations like La Festa di San Giovanni in June and then Ferragosto in August, Estate Italiana takes hold.

Despite its literal translation - ‘Italian Summer’ - Estate Italiana is more than a season or time of year. It’s a feeling, a rhythm, and a way of being where life settles into something unhurried and idyllic.

As Italians, we return to Estate Italiana every year because there is nowhere else in the world where doing nothing feels so full. Where hours stretch long and golden, shaped only by appetite and the shifting light.

The day unfolds with a kind of effortless choreography: a gentle breakfast with a strong caffè, a morning stroll in an old town, a clear night sky still warm from the afternoon’s sun.

The pictures, moments and memories of Estate Italiana showcase our coastal towns, vibrant colors, local traditions and famous cuisine. They are nostalgic reminders of carefree childhood summers and the almost-perfect Italian vacation, guiding us through a cold winter in the hope of brighter days.

While Estate Italiana transcends one physical place or one set ‘thing', there are certain features, sensations and rituals that define it…

The sea, of course, is always there. A constant and a companion. The water shimmers with a thousand camera flashes, catching the light before it catches you. You dive in to cool off from the sun, then return to your lounger to warm back up again. The heat, the haze, the deep exhale. The pages of a book flutter in the breeze.

Lunch looks like unbuttoned linen shirts, sandy feet, and a table shaded by pergolas and vines. Olive oil pools in little plates, bread is torn by hand, and ice cubes clatter in glasses of crisp white wine. The prosciutto warms in the air, its fat melting into the sweet melon. Then the spaghetti alle vongole arrives, briny and glistening. Someone orders another bottle. Someone disappears for gelato.

Afternoons are empty by design. You find a hidden corner with a view to remember. You revisit that playlist of songs that you only listen to in summer. You swim, you nap, you return to your room for a tea and a read.

The sun dips and, with it, the pace changes. You dress for the evening, skin glowing (and hopefully not burning). A spritz appears in your hand, dark green olives arrive at your table, the first few notes of a piano drift across the terrace. You talk, you laugh, you watch the light head on to new places.

Time is inconsequential. Its only use is to remind you that this moment, right now, is enough.

Estate Italiana is a return to the senses. A rekindling of childhood memories that feel both distant and familiar.

As children, the world is full of wonder, with each day carrying a secret waiting to be uncovered. As the years pass we misplace that wonder, yet we know it’s still there. We learn that it’s found not in the grand moments, but in the quiet ones.

That’s why at Grand Hotel Miramare, Estate Italiana is not just something to admire. It’s something to immerse yourself in.

A refreshing swim in our seawater pool or the adjacent Ligurian Sea. A lunch at the Pool Restaurant & Bar or at Barracuda Beach Club. Drinks at Bar Le Colonne, on the hotel terrace, in Santa Margherita’s best bars or Portofino’s nearby town square. Then back to Vistamare Restaurant for a dinner full of twists on Ligurian classics.

The slower we move, the greater life’s joys appear. This is what Estate Italiana means to us as Italians, and it’s why we return to it every year. When our shutters re-open each spring, we welcome you home to it once more.