Discovering Tuscany's secret Riviera: The birthplace of the Italian Renaissance is known for its rolling hills and 中世 towns, but there’s also 143 miles of breathtaking coastline...

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It's late afternoon on Bagno Carducci beach and, all around, bronzed Italian families are beginning to pack up their raffia 捕らえる、獲得するs. Tuscany may be loved by the Brits for its cypress-topped hills and glorious sunflower fields, but for the Italians it is Versilia Riviera, just a short 運動 from Pisa and Lucca, that is the 星／主役にする attraction.

And taking 有利な立場（位置） is Forte dei Marmi, a 訴える手段／行楽地 town perched at the 最高の，を越す of the coastline where Bagno Carducci is just one of its many beaches.

Attracting 井戸／弁護士席-heeled Italian families 同様に as fashion 王族 ? the 億万長者s Miuccia Prada and Giorgio Armani both have holiday homes nearby ? Forte dei Marmi’s swish seaside 遺産 stretches 支援する to the 早期に 1900s when it became one of Italy’s first holiday 目的地s.

Italians love Tuscany for its Versili a Riviera, which is just a short 運動 from the Tuscan hot 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs of Pisa and Lucca (pictured)?

With 静める waters, golden sands and a scenic 背景 でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるd by the Apuan アルプス山脈, it’s no surprise that the tiny town has been 愛称d Fabulous Forte. The 訴える手段／行楽地’s chic 評判 was 固く結び付けるd in the 1960s when the world’s glitterati would decamp here for the summer.

These days the town has a manicured yet modest feel, unlike Europe’s other, more showy hotspots, of, say, Saint Tropez or Marbella.

In the centro storico, the old town, you can buy a stracciatella ice cream (vanilla with 罰金 flakes of chocolate) at one of the many artisan 蓄える／店s, 同様に as browse the petite outposts of designer brands. Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Gucci all have shops there.

Above is?Forte dei Marmi, a 訴える手段／行楽地 town along the coast that's known for its 静める waters, golden sands and a scenic 背景 でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるd by the Apuan アルプス山脈

Don't 行方不明になる?Forte dei Marmi's Wednesday market at Piazza Marconi (pictured), with vendors selling 地元で made cashmere, ceramics and linens?

For shopping which won’t break the bank, however, the Wednesday market at Piazza Marconi, with 地元で made cashmere, ceramics and linens, is unmissable.

To feel fully immersed in la dolce vita, the hotel Principe Forte dei Marmi is the place to check in. The 28 bedrooms have a 悪賢い, modern feel, and there’s the 特別手当 of the 私的な Dalmazia Beach Club. Here you can people-watch from the stylish beach gazebos and enjoy authentic Tuscan dishes at the alfresco restaurant.

Rooms cost from £300 per night (principefortedeimarmi.com).

To feel fully immersed in la dolce vita, the Hotel Principe Forte dei Marmi (pictured) is the place to check in

Enjoy authentic Tuscan dishes at the alfresco restaurant at Hotel Principe Forte dei Marmi's Dalmazia Beach Club

The 28 bedrooms at the Hotel Principe Forte dei Marmi, pictured, have a 悪賢い, modern feel

Carved out of an Art Nouveau 郊外住宅, Hotel Byron, on the other 手渡す, dates from the late 18th Century and was 指名するd after the English poet who adored Tuscany.

正規の／正選手s keep coming 支援する for its beachside 場所 and Michelin-starred restaurant.?

Guests can take excursions to nearby artists’ studios in the 古代の town of Pietrasanta ? known for its marble 遺産 ? 同様に as boat trips to the villages of Cinque Terre.

With?Hotel Byron as your base,?take an excursion to nearby artists’ studios in the 古代の town of Pietrasanta (pictured) ? known for its marble 遺産

Vibrant: Above is?Vernazza, one of the colourful fishing villages in Cinque Terre that can be 調査するd by boat 小旅行する

Rooms cost from £383 per night (hotelbyron.逮捕する).

For the 十分な-on Italian beach experience, however, there’s nothing like the buzz of Viareggio. Be 警告するd: if you’re 捜し出すing peace and 静かな, 調書をとる／予約する in 手渡す, this is the wrong place. Its miles of sandy beaches are 支配するd by the Milanese and Romans playing volleyball, watersports and, of course, chatting effusively.

The 早期に evening passeggiata ? the Italian tradition of a stroll with friends and family ? is 事実上 an 会・原則 here and is taken along the seafront promenade.

Make a pitstop for an Aperol spritz at the Gran Caffe Margherita, which was once the favourite haunt of オペラ 作曲家 Giacomo Puccini, the 地域’s most famous son. For オペラ fans it’s 井戸／弁護士席 価値（がある） a visit to Torre del Lago, where Puccini lived and wrote many of his オペラs. His mansion, carved out of an old watchtower overlooking Lake Massaciuccoli, is now a museum, while the open-空気／公表する theatre by the lake hosts a summer festival celebrating his work.

For the 十分な-on Italian beach experience, there’s nothing like the buzz of Viareggio (pictured)?

オペラ fans will love?Lake Massaciuccoli (pictured) - the 作曲家 Giacomo Puccini lived by the water and wrote many of his オペラs here?

Plaz a e de Russie, built in 1871, is the oldest hotel in Viareggio. 設立する on the seafront, it is the perfect base for experiencing the town’s lively beach clubs, 同様に as its carnival, which takes place over a number of 週末s each February and March.

Rooms cost from £238 per night (plazaederussie.com).

If the northern coastline has all the fizz of a Fellini film, then southern Tuscany exudes the 複雑さ of a Giovanni Fattori oil 絵, where the smudgy greens of olive groves 合併する with the turquoise hues of the sea.

South of the port town of Livorno, the coastline becomes wilder, the （人が）群がるs 減少（する） away and it seems like a forgotten corner of Italy.

When you travel south of the port town of Livorno, pictured, you'll notice that the coastline becomes wilder?

This is the Maremma 地域 of Tuscany, a timeless 目的地 where tiny bays, accessible only on foot or by b oat, are trimmed with pine groves and beaches are strewn with driftwood.

Much of this stretch of jagged coastline sits within the 強盗 di Scarlino 保護するd nature reserve, and the beaches have an other-worldly feel, surrounded by oak forests and scrubland. While wild boar roam the hinterland and egrets 急襲する above, you can bathe in wonderful （疑いを）晴らす water.

Italy’s most unspoilt beaches are 設立する here ? such as Cala Violina, poetically 指名するd because of the musical sound that the sand 放出するs as you walk over it.

Above is picturesque Cala Violina, one of Italy’s most unspoilt beaches, which lies in the Maremma 地域?

追加するing to Maremma’s wild 控訴，上告 are the butteri, or cowboys, who have worked this land since Etruscan times, farming the 独特の-looking longhorn cattle.

Agriturismo a Gelsomino has a riding school which 申し込む／申し出s horseback treks with butteri along the coast and through the surrounding hills (ilgelsomino.com).

One of the jewels of the Tuscan Riviera is Castiglione della Pescaia. The small fishing town is overlooked by a 15th Century 城 and still has its 中世 塀で囲むs 損なわれていない. You can meander around its 狭くする, cobbled streets before 調査するing the family-friendly beaches nearby.

One of the jewels of the Tuscan Riviera is the?small fishing town of Castiglione della Pescaia (pictured)?

Spiaggia Fertilia beach is renowned for its kitesurfing and windsurfing, and is also a 広大な／多数の／重要な 位置／汚点／見つけ出す for little ones to 追跡（する） for 爆撃するs and sea urchins in its necklace of 激しく揺する pools.

A short 運動 inland will take you to the romantic L’Andana 訴える手段／行楽地. The Medici 郊外住宅-turned-hotel was where Grand Duke Leopold and his 法廷，裁判所 used to decamp during summers in the late 19th Century. 設立する in a 1,200-acre ワイン 広い地所, it still 申し込む／申し出s a regal Tuscan 控訴，上告. 同様に as a lavish spa, a 最高潮の場面 is the Michelin-starred La Trattoria Enrico Bartolini overlooking the vineyards.

B&B costs from about £375 per night based on two 株ing (andana.it).

The regal L’Andana 訴える手段／行楽地, pictured,?was where Grand Duke Leopold and his 法廷，裁判所 used to decamp during summers in the late 19th Century

設立する in a 1,200-acre ワイン 広い地所, L’Andana 訴える手段／行楽地 申し込む／申し出s a regal Tuscan 控訴，上告. Pictured is a Superior 控訴?

B&B at L’Andana 訴える手段／行楽地 costs from about £375 per night based on two 株ing. Above is a Prestige 控訴?

最高潮の場面s at L’Andana 訴える手段／行楽地 含む a lavish spa and the Michelin-starred La Trattoria Enrico Bartolini

Go その上の south still and you’ll reach the Monte Argentario 半島, linked to the 本土／大陸 by three （土地などの）細長い一片s of land, one of which 削減（する）s through the Orbetello Lagoon.?

These 4,000 acres of 湿地帯 are 住むd by grebes, rare 移住する birds and some 4,000 pink flamingoes.

The two main towns on the promontory are Porto Santo Stefano, 支配するd by a magnificent fort, and Porto Ercole, which has a charming old town and harbour.

Along the waterfront at Porto Ercole, seafood restaurants and artisan workshops are carved out of old fishermen’s huts. There’s nothing better here than a bowl of the 地元の tagliolini with shrimp, clams and zucchini.

In Porto Santo Stefano, Trattoria a Casa Paolo e Rosita 申し込む／申し出s a その上の 下落する into 地元の cuisine, which 自然に 焦点（を合わせる）s on an 豊富 of seafood, 同様に as seasonal 成分s such as wild mushrooms, boar and chestnuts.?

Porto Santo Stefano, pictured, is one of two main towns on the?Monte Argentario 半島 and is?支配するd by a magnificent fort

Seafood restaurants and artisan workshops are carved out of old fishermen’s huts along the waterfront at Porto Ercole (pictured)

The Orbetello Lagoon (above) is 住むd by some 4,000 pink flamingoes

Those in the know 雇う 郊外住宅s in Monte Argentario for the summer to enjoy blissful, tranquil days.

L’Agrumento Dell’Isola 郊外住宅 is a two-bedroom, pink-painted 石／投石する farmhouse surrounded by olive, orange and lemon trees. 同様に as a pool, it’s blessed with 接近 to its own secluded beach. It sleeps four and costs from £2,108 for one week, from September 24 (tuscanynowandmore.com).

You can spend your days here with a 引き上げ（る） up the highest 頂点（に達する） of Punta Telegrafo, take a glass-底（に届く）d boat trip out to the nearby islands of Giglio and Montecristo, or cycle along 経由で Panoramica, a road that gives cinematic 見解（をとる）s over the 群島.

L’Agrumento Dell’Isola 郊外住宅 is a two-bedroom, pink-painted 石／投石する farmhouse surrounded by olive, orange and lemon trees

L’Agrumento Dell’Isola 郊外住宅 sleeps four and costs from £2,108 for one week, from September 24

同様に as a pool, L’Agrumento Dell’Isola 郊外住宅 is blessed with 接近 to its own secluded beach

Take a glass-底（に届く）d boat trip out to the islands of Giglio and Montecristo (pictured)?

Divers can 調査する the shipwrecks around the tiny, 三日月-形態／調整d island of Giannutri, such as the Roman ship Punta Scaletta, and see the 素晴らしい vertical 塀で囲むs of multi-coloured 珊瑚s and sponges, 同様に as a kaleidoscope of sea life in the form of barracuda, scorpion fish, イルカs and fin 鯨s.

For a 伝説の 沿岸の stay, it gets no better than Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole ? arguably t he most glamorous hotel in Tuscany (if not Italy), which 初めは opened in 1965.

It has a breathtaking setting perched above the Tyrrhenian Sea. Guests can also 接近 a 本気で hip beach club by taking a 解除する that 急落（する），激減（する）s you 負かす／撃墜する the cliffside.

Divers can 調査する the shipwrecks around the tiny, 三日月-形態／調整d island of Giannutri (pictured)?

Glamour: Above is the clifftop pool at Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole, which is?arguably the most glamorous hotel in Tuscany (if not Italy)?

Pictured is?Hotel Il Pellicano's Pellicano 控訴. The 伝説の hotel?初めは opened in 1965

Guests at?Hotel Il Pellicano can 接近 a 本気で hip beach club by taking a 解除する that 急落（する），激減（する）s you 負かす／撃墜する the cliffside

At the hotel’s 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 All’Aperto, start your evening with a Pellicano martini, made with a hint of the 地元の 蜜柑 liqueur.

Michelin-starred chef Michelino Gioia 監督するs the main restaurant, Il Pellicano, where he elevates the copious 量s of 地元の produce on 申し込む／申し出 to stellar levels.

A five-night trip to the Tuscan Riviera, 含むing flights, car 雇う, two nights at Hotel Il Pellicano and three at Hotel Byron, B&B, costs from £5,400pp (blacktomato.com).

Perhaps above all, Hotel Il Pellicano has mastered the art of what the Italians call sprezzatura ? meaning it oozes a 確かな nonchalance about its obvious 控訴，上告.

In other words, much like the Tuscan Riviera itself.