Viareggio Holidays

Viareggio, on the northern Tuscan Riviera, is an historic fishing town turned holiday hub. The place has inspired artists for centuries – the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley lived here and Puccini wrote his most famous operas nearby. Add to that a sandy beach, chic piano bars and some great restaurants and you have a holiday with a sophisticated twist.

Viareggio comes with a spacious 3-kilometre stretch of sand that’s very popular with Italian families. It’s backed by a promenade with art nouveau buildings housing shops and restaurants, so it’s easy to grab a gelato or cold drink. There’s not much in the way of watersports, though, so if you’re looking for jet-skis or parasailing head to Montignoso, a 15-minute drive away.

The promenade is pretty much the hub of Viareggio. It’s where the locals come for their daily passegiata, or stroll. And it’s here that the elegant piano bars keep customers up ’til late drinking chilled white wine. And the young, trendy crowd certainly don’t have early nights when they’ve got such a great line-up of waterfront discos.

Viareggio is well placed for exploring. Pisa, of Leaning Tower fame, is just half-an-hour away, while an hour gets you to Florence with its much-photographed piazzas and famous Uffizi art gallery. And closer to home, about 4 kilometres away, you’ve got Villa Puccini at Torre del Lago – composer Giacomo Puccini wrote some of his most famous operas here and you can tour the ground-floor mausoleum where he’s buried.