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Your insider Travel Guide
to falling in love with Maremma

This Travel Guide is an insider guide to breathtakingly beautiful Maremma and its special places, written by a person who lives there. It is for the independent traveller who not only likes to explore and discover new places away from the crowds, but who also likes to sit sometimes and watch the world.

Photo by Dario Morelli

It is not difficult to understand why people fall in love with this part of Tuscany and Lazio. For some, it is the natural beauty of the undiscovered wildernesses and national parks. This is the wildest part of Tuscany.

For others it is the spectacular 250km Mediterranean coastline with prestine blue flag beaches stretching for as long as the eye can see. The secluded white sand coves that look as though they are the set of a James Bond film. The crystal clear blue, turquoise, and green waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea with it's fishing villages, ports, marinas and islands.

Or the medieval hill top villages and towns, unspoilt and steeped in history. Where the tranquility is profound and it is so very easy to imagine life centuries ago.

The wonderful home-cooked traditional food, with wild boar or hare from the densely wooded hills, fresh fish from the sea .... And the renowned DOC and Super Tuscan wines.

This Guide is full of tips and suggestions from my own experiences. It will tell you about:

• Maremma's cities, villages and towns, with their rich Etruscan, Roman and medieval histories;
  
  
• The Etruscan Coast - Costa degli Etruschi - with the stunning Golfo di Baratti and Populonia, the only Etruscan city built by the sea;
  
  
• The Metalliferous Hills and the Golfo di Follonica, with the spectacular medieval Massa Marittima at its heart and the most beautiful beach in Italy;
  
  
• The Inland Hills and Tufa Hill Towns;
  
  
• Grossetto, Castiglione della Pescaia, Punta Ala and the Tuscan archipelago;
  
  
• The Silver Coast - Costa d'Argento - with the Argentario peninsula and the very special natural environment of the Alberese marina;
  
  
• Maremma in Lazio with black sand beaches and the Etruscan necropolises at Tarquinia - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - with over 6,000 tombs.
  

The vast array of medieval fairs and festivals and le sagre throughout the year, the summer concerts and shows.

Places to stay, whether your accommodation preference is bed and breakfast, camping, hotels, apartments, villas, farmhouses or agritourismi.

Favourite places to eat and drink - restaurants, osterias, trattorias, pizzerias .... and great lunch and supper stops along the road. Where to taste and buy the local produce for your picnics or self-catering. Where to find the best coffee, "dolce" (cakes) and home made ice cream.

The myriad of things to do and see, from sailing & surfing, to fishing and scuba diving, trekking and cycling, horseback riding and the Maremman Cowboys, wine-tasting and cooking classes, medieval castles and towers, museums and mines...

La dolce vita in Maremma is simple and unpretentious; but life is rich. People smile a lot in Maremma. May you too start a love affair with this special tranquil part of Tuscany and, who knows, one day decide to stay.