Castagneto Carducci

This mountain village is nearly like out of a picture book. The centre of the village developed in concentric circles around the Castello, masoned in the 11th century, of the earls della Gherardesca before Castagneto Marttimo expands to the west in the 18th century. Since 1970 the village is called Castagneto Carducci related to Giosuè Carducci (1836 – 1907), a Nobel prize winner and the “Poet of New Italy”, who lived here in Bolgheri in his youth. From the small park of Piazzale Belvedere, 200 m above sea level, you have a wonderful view over the hilly landscape and the coast.

Sassetta & Suvereto

The romantic mountain villages Sassetta and Suvereto, which are around 14 km away from each other, are located on the foothills of the Colline Meallifere in direction to the Mediterranean Sea. Sassetta (340 m above sea) nestles to a rock slope in the middle of the close maroon forests. This village is picturesque and at the same time exhausting, because all the narrow streets are going uphill and afterwards downhill. Suvereto was built up in the year 1000. Through the Porta alla Silici, the well-preserved town wall of the 14th century, you reach the upper town with the nice Piazza Gramsci, which is outshined by the ruin of the old castle.

Campiglia Marittima

The viewing balcony in front of Porta a Mare offers you the maybe most spectacular panorama of the complete coast. At the bottom the level of Venturina, in front of it crenelated Castelli on olive cultivated hills. On the let the bay of Follonica, straight away the peninsula of Piombino and the visible mountain crest of the island Elba and on the right again the Mediterranean Sea with the gulf of Baratti.

Bolgheri

A five km long and straight alley of cypresses, the most beautiful and longest of Tuscany, leads from Via Aurelia up to Bolgheri. The village, which is built like a fort, half village and half-feudal princely site of the earl Gherardesca, has its origin in the 16th until 18th century. Due to its nearly unchanged building fabric since 200 years, it is a real rarity. The Cabernet wine Sassicaia, which is of Bolgheri and one of the best red wines of Italy, is a rarity and world-famous.

Strände

There are many beautiful beaches along the Etruscan coast. Here are a few examples.

Castiglioncello
The charming village with a beach of the 19th century located on a stone cape with pine groves and picturesque beaches was the address of the high society for a long time and a booming artist colony. The less charming Rosignano Solvay with its chemical industry is nearly seamlessly in the south. Behind them, the Colline Metallifere becomes less and losses ground for the Pineta (pine forests).

Vada
Although the Etruscans and Romans of Volterra had their harbour here, this village appears like a retort compared to Castiglioncello. However, it has many of the beautiful beaches far and wide: of fine sand, sometimes nearly white coloured and uncongested in comparison – excepted in July and August. The Pineta goes forward more and more to the Mediterranean Sea in the south until Marina di Cecina (8 km). You can even find cosy places between Molino a Fuoco and Mazzanta – outside the summer turmoil.

Cecina
Due to its strategic great position at the Cecina River this town was a turntable between Roma, Pisa and Volterra already in former times of the Etruscans and Romans. The town became charming when the Aurelia (the former military road of the Romans), which rolls through the city, was changed into a pedestrian zone. The Napoleon chequerboard pattern of its streets and parks continues until the rowed sunbed lines of the maritime appendage of the town Marina di Cecina (3 km). Many hotels, campsites and an aqua park exist between town, Pineta and beach.

Marina di Bibbona
The beaches here, southern from Cecina, are mostly uncongested (excepted in midsummer). The beach is 4 km long and wide and is adorned by a French fort of the 18th century. Dunes and Pineta go forward to the south until San Vincenzo.

Marina di Castagneto – Donoratico
It is more exclusive as Bibbona, more fine sandy and less shored with free entry in the south part and near Antico Forte. The hiker finds a nearly deserted landscape of dunes and pine groves, if he walks along the Mediterranean Sea from Marina di Castagneto to the south.

Southern of Castagneto, the Colline di Metallifere goes forward closer and closer to the cost and reaches it at the needle eye of San Vincenzo.

San Vincenzo
The stronghold of beaches of the Etruscan Riviera let us guess that there was once a fisher village, which was built up by the Pisans with starting to build a coast tower. The former fisher harbour became a lively yacht harbour. However, the main attraction is the beach, which is around 5 km long. An excellent highway leads through the pine zone of Parco di Rimigliano, behind which a kilometre wide free accessible fine sand beach expands, to Populonia and Piombino (ferry to Elba).