Baking on the beach, Finale Ligure, Italy. I am not your average lie-around-all-day-on-the-beach-tourist, I'm just not. But after more than two months of continuous backpacking, I was more than ready for a rest -- and Finale Ligure was the perfect place to find it.

Clean, smooth-pebbled beaches, unbelievable blue Mediterranean seas, and nothing to do but rotate between the two, sometimes reading a cheesy borrowed paperback novel. Did I mention I was spending my nights in a castle?