Famed for its glorious mild climate, and with easy access to the beautiful Tuscan countryside, the north Tuscany Coast also known as the Versilian Riviera, boasts stylish resorts with palm lined promenades, grand hotels and delightful beachfront restaurants. With its stunning landscape and picturesque beaches, Tuscany Coast holidays are perfect for all holiday-makers.
The city of Viareggio is located in northern Tuscany, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Viareggio is one of the most popular beach resorts in Tuscany and is also home to Carnevale di Viareggio, one of the largest carnival festivals in Italy. Boasting glorious beaches and vibrant Italian culture, Viarggio holidays are ideal for beach-lovers and those looking to immerse themselves in the local way of life.
The Versilian Riviera is particularly popular with wealthy, sophisticated Italians who tend to take their holidays in July and August. To accompany this wonderful setting, we have a range of exceptional 4 and 5 star hotels for those on Viareggio holidays or elsewhere on the Tuscany Coast.
Tucked away in Tuscany's northwest corner, Forte dei Marmi is the most exclusive resort in the area with its tasteful beach huts, picture perfect sand and acres of bicycle lanes making it an idyllic retreat as a perfect beach destination as well as for Italy's high society. Despite the more recent arrival of nouveau riche foreigners, Forte dei Marmi manages to keep the scene discreet and the super yachts at bay.
Its long stretch of beach is full of chic beach clubs and the town oozes with sophisticated restaurants and designer shops. Just to the south of Forte dei Marmi lies Viareggio, the main coastal town on the Versilian Riviera. It is a popular and busy seaside resort famed for its beautifully maintained beach and fabulous old buildings with Liberty-style and neo-classical facades lining the town's famous promenade. This stylish, vibrant and welcoming destination is a great choice for holidays to the Tuscany Coast.
It was one of the first seaside resorts in Europe and is still enormously popular today, both with Italians and foreign visitors, particularly those in the yachting community. The Tuscany coast has an abundance of vineyards, lemon groves, cypress trees, and bougainvillea plus fragrant pine forests tucked on the foothills of the Apuan Alps providing a lovely contrast to the honey-coloured sands of the coast.
Cuisine
Dining features highly on any tourist's menu on Tuscany Coast holidays, with olive oil and wine playing major roles. Generally the gastronomy is traditional and succulent. Relying heavily on fresh produce, meats are simply roasted or grilled, with elaborate sauces saved for pasta dishes. Trattoria and ristorante signs hang over similar looking establishments; generally a trattoria provides a more casual setting, and a ristorante implies more expensive cuisine.
Osterie are simple tavern-like wine shops perhaps serving hunks of cheese, and tavola calda or rosticceria are cafeteria-style eateries. Visitors should be aware that some Italian eating establishments close for holidays, often for a couple of weeks during August.
The Versilian Riviera region is especially famous for its excellent fish restaurants: and the local light dry wines from Montecarlo near Lucca go well with most fish dishes.