“How did you even know about this place?” It’s the question I’m asked by nearly every Italian in the small town of Ospedaletti, Liguria. Travel writers love being the first to “discover” a place. We pride ourselves on scouring the globe for hidden gems so we can share them with the world. But here’s the rub: Sometimes a  place is so charming and so beautiful you almost want to keep it a secret.

What if it becomes crowded? What if it becomes too expensive? What if they build a McDonald’s? Ospedaletti, a small town on the Ligurian Coast just an hour from Nice, feels like my secret. I spend a month here each summer with my husband and we’ve fallen in love with the town of just over 3,000 residents. To us, it’s the perfect Italian summer.