• Venice is not well enough known for its Lido island - just 20 minutes by waterbus from the city. It faces out to the northern Adriatic across a band of yellow sandy beaches, fringed by hotels and bars. Your girlfriend can explore the cultural treasures of Venice, then join you each evening for a well-earned glass of prosecco at a beachside bar.
Jonathan Hollow

• Lindos on Rhodes. The village is a protected site, with beaches and an acropolis. Cyprus has fine mosaics at Paphos and there is a lovely beach at Coral Bay. Menorca has excellent beaches, and good museums at Mahon and Cuitedella, as well as Iron Age and Bronze Age archaeological sites.
Linnea Glynne-Rule

• Sorrento. You are within easy reach of Pompeii, Herculaneum and the archeological museum in Naples. Although much of the coastline is rocky, there are plenty of beaches to enjoy.
Caron Smith

• Go no further than Northumberland. They speak the same language as well.
Philip Scriver