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Staying at Villa Costanza means having Forte dei Marmi as your home base, with an entire region within easy reach. A holiday in Tuscany, starting from here, opens onto a landscape that reveals all its richness: hill towns, historic cities, rolling hills whose colors shift throughout the day. And then there is Liguria, postcard-perfect, beginning almost unexpectedly with the scenery of the Gulf of Poets and villages perched between rock and sea, closer than you might imagine. This is the privilege of setting off from Forte dei Marmi: moving between two different worlds that are close, authentic, and ready to be discovered.
Just minutes from Forte dei Marmi, Pietrasanta is always worth the visit. Its historic center is a small gem of timeless elegance: Piazza del Duomo, where marble takes on golden reflections at the end of the day, a succession of art galleries, and the sculpture studios that have made the town an international point of reference. Walking through the streets around the cathedral and the Cloister of Sant’Agostino, you sense the deep connection between art and place, one that is not decorative here, but a true expression of identity.
Lucca invites you to move through it almost on tiptoe, entering from the walls that encircle the city like an embrace. Walking or cycling along them is already a way of understanding the place, as the city’s lines reveal themselves from above: bell towers rising from the rooftops, hidden gardens, streets winding inward toward the center. Once you step down, the rhythm changes. Via Fillungo flows with shops, while Piazza dell’Anfiteatro appears suddenly, its shape telling centuries of history and continuing to surprise even those who know it well.
Viareggio is close by, yet it has a character all its own. A seaside town that truly lives by the sea, with its Liberty-style promenade running straight between boutiques and historic cafés, wide beaches, and the scent of pine trees drifting down to the waterfront. The architecture tells the story of Italy’s golden age of seaside holidays, with elegant façades and Art Deco details. Walk out toward the pier and the atmosphere shifts: fishing boats coming and going, the lighthouse, a stronger breeze. Viareggio is just that way, elegant yet grounded, always in motion. A good reason to stretch out the day and linger a little longer.
The Cinque Terre ask for time, but it takes very little to understand why they are so loved. The train runs through tunnels, opening onto unexpected glimpses of open sea, sometimes calm, sometimes forceful, crashing against the rocks. Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso are easy to reach, one after another. There is no right way to visit them. You can linger in just one, or explore them all, letting the sea set the pace.
The road curves, the scenery shifts, and suddenly the Gulf of Poets comes into view, with Lerici’s castle overlooking the water and a harbor shaped by life at sea. As you head down toward the promenade, it becomes clear why this stretch of coast is so beloved. It is not just the view, but the way the light reflects off the pastel-colored buildings. Just a short drive away, Tellaro is reached in minutes: a cluster of houses pressed together on the rocks, where the sound of the sea carries even into the narrowest lanes. A stretch of coastline that is simple and direct, able to show Liguria exactly as it is.
