The article explores Tuscany's coastal region, highlighting its diverging character from traditional Tuscan imagery. While beach resorts like Forte dei Marmi and Viareggio have lost their local charm to commercialization, areas like Argentario and Capalbio are thriving with new energy and a strong Tuscan identity. The diverse sectors within this region, which include Giglio Island and Monte Argentario, attract a mix of locals and tourists. Villa rental expert Huw Beaugié notes that this emerging destination feels reminiscent of Tuscany's past hotspots, suggesting an exciting evolution for the area.
When Mediterranean villa rental specialist Huw Beaugié of the Thinking Traveller visited Argentario and Capalbio on a reconnaissance trip in the spring of 2023, he was impressed not just by the houses, but by the people who were heading there and the sense that this was a destination that is "at the beginning of something.", he told me. "It felt very much like Puglia in 2009."
This happening place doesn't have a single name, or a single identity. Situated at the southernmost end of the region's coastline, it's made up of three adjacent areas, each with its own charm and scene: Giglio Island; the Monte Argentario peninsula; and Capalbio.
Forte dei Marmi is a seaside village that was turned into a Tuscan Hamptons by well-heeled Florentines. Viareggio, characterized as a family resort, lives on Belle Époque memories, which dampens its local character.
Running up the thigh of Italy for about 250 miles, the Tuscan coast seems to float free of its mother region- and the associations it evokes. Lazy days on a boat and spaghetti with clams were somehow un-Tuscan.
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