I must admit that my keyboard seems like a compass whose needle always points to Italy. Call it my genetic footprint or just my romantic soul but I just can’t seem to get enough of it, especially its beaches.
During a visit to central Tuscany with a group of about a dozen other solo travelers (solo in a group – go figure) I just had to break away from the pack. Well, you know me, if you’ve been reading my work long enough! I wanted to venture down to the beach and nothing in Tuscany is nearby since it is one of Italy’s largest regions. So, I hopped in the car and drove 90 minutes. The drive made me wonder if I was still in Italy but since I was surrounded by fields of sunflowers, all doubt was erased from my mind.
I made my way through small villages and towns and finally entered La Maremma, which is now a protected National Park complete with wild horses and Italian cowboys. Yes, you heard right, cowboys, Italian style. The tree-lined drive down to the beach and the Tyrrhenian Sea is spectacular and adds to the adventure.
The rugged beauty of La Maremma
This is where Italians, the locals, go to spend a sunny day. There are no loud tourists or the crowds that fill the beaches of Rome and Milan; there are no boom boxes. In La Maremma, there is white sand, plenty of sun, a topless section for those who dare and a pleasant place to drop your towel and dream.
By the way, if you get homesick, the crazy American pilots from Aviano fly by every now and then to check out the girlies. They buzz so low you can almost see them wave back at you.
And if you’re heading back to central Tuscany after a day at the beach, stop in the village of Saturnia and have a late lunch at I Due Cippi da Michele right in the heart of the piazza. The fettuccine con funghi (pasta with mushrooms) melts in your mouth.
TOURIST TIP: The port-a-potties in La Maremma are big enough to be individual changing rooms and are very clean.
Wow- You made it come alive!! Italy has always been the place that I have dreamed about visiting… Hope to get there soon…
I think your site was so great and it is really awesome..Of course it really impress me a lot..
Good job dude and i hope you can keep it up..
Good blogging !!
Ciao! The sandy white beaches of La Maremma sound like a perfect weekend getaway from the rocky beaches of the Amalfi Coast. I didn’t know anything about this part of Tuscany, but now I would love to go. Thanks for the great post!!
I, too, will happily second the opinions on the Maremma. It’s a lovely area of Italy. I’ve holidayed there and loved it!
Not a well known area of Tuscany, even though it should be.
All the best from Milan,
Alex
Hello Lisa!
Thank you for your comment about my English! I am flattered! I studied in Pisa and my English is far from perfect! The fact that my husband is Canadian helps quite a bit!
Sarteano is lovely, isn’t it? Monte Amiata is another really underrated area, because it’s somewhat out of the way with respect to the most popular destinations.
Hope to “read you” on twitter too. Ciao,
Gloria
Hello Lisa,
thank you for spreading the word about the Maremma, which I am lucky to call home.
It’s funny how you can write about a place for years and all it takes for travellers to really listen is an article in a big newspaper! And a much needed one, I’d like to say!
To be honest, it does get busier than you might have experienced, but it’s nothing compared to what you find on the coast of Northern Tuscany or in the more popular beach resorts of the Adriatic coast.
I am glad you loved the area. Where did you drive to the Maremma from? The Maremma is not only the coast though. It’s a mostly-undiscovered region made up of several and diverse areas. I was born and bred here, I am from a village located between Siena and the coast called Civitella Marittima, in the Alta Maremma (Upper Maremma), which contrary to what one would expect is quite hilly.
What I love of this part of Tuscany is that there is stilla lot of empty countryside, it is not overpopulated like elsewhere in the region.
Once again, let me thank you for your post! It’s nice to know that the area is starting to get some well-deserved attention!
Ciao from Civitella,
Gloria
(Casina di Rosa)
How wonderful. I have never been to Tuscany, but that might change this year.
In the last three years we (husband) have been to Sicily, lake Como, and liguria..all were beautiful, very hard to say which we loved the best..! The only mistake we might of made was with our villa in Sicily…No it was Beautiful, very well looked after, beachs. etc but it was too far too lots of places. Not walking distance or transport. But nonetheless it was a wonderful holiday!
Lisa .. Do you have an email address please?
I agree: Maremma’s beaches are simply spectacular. Maremma has over ninety along her 250 km long coastline with the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas, from stretches of jet black sand with white surf to small intimate soft white sand coves within nature reserves… with a backdrop of dense oak wooded hills home to wild boar…
I fell in love with Maremma a few years ago and am now very lucky to live there. Her beaches are food for the soul..
Ciao
Donna
Donna, thanks for dropping by and you are indeed lucky to live in such a beautiful place. Maybe a guest blog from a native?
Ciao ciao,
Lisa
Ciao Gloria,
Your English is wonderful. Where did you study?
I am still working on my Italian but it a lifelong work in progress.
I stayed in an agritourismo in Sarteano. That was “home base” so to speak and then I traveled either by train, or mostly car, from Florence to the north and down to Maremma, with lots of smaller stops in between. I LOVE Tuscany and can’t wait to get back but I have been spending a lot of my free time on the Amalfi coast of late.
Thanks for stopping by,
Lisa
I can only aspire to speaking Italian as well as you speak English/Canadian.
And I’ll look for you on Twitter too.
Ciao
It was so funny because when I told the ladies who ran the agritourismo that I was heading to the Maremma – they looked at me as if I had two heads.
I love Tuscany – have to get back there – if I can ever tear myself away from Sorrento! LOL
And I will get to all of that info you so graciously sent me. Thanks again!
If I were madly rich Lisa, I would probably buy a house in each of Italy’s regions, and then spend six months in each of them!
Italy is so full of interesting areas, that it is difficult to know which one to go for!
Even Milan, which is not my favourite place – I prefer the peace and tranquillity of countryside or mountains, is not a bad place, especially if you love to spend your time eating out and meeting up with friends in the city’s myriad of cool bars.
Italy is a fabulous country, even if at times it can be quite maddening too!
As for the info – in your own time!
Best,
Alex