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Probably most famous for its yearly carnival, Viareggio is Tuscany on Sea, with enormous expanses of sandy beach, plenty of 'gelaterie', cafes, restaurants, bars and shops to service them, a buzzing night life, and some fine Liberty-style architecture along the seafront. The town gets its name from the Roman highway the Via Regia, or 'king's road' but it really rose to prominence in the mid-1500s when it became the coastal base for the landlocked city of Lucca, then a major imperial power. Percy Bysshe Shelley was cremated on the beach here in the presence of his dissolute poet pals Lord Byron and Leigh Hunt, though today that stretch of sand is likely to lie beneath one of the many thousands of sun loungers that the Italians arrange, with military precision over their well-kept and cleaned beaches. You'll also find plenty of sports activities, including beach volleyball, boules and the like. If you can tear yourself away from soaking up the sun, major sights include the Torre Matilde, which the Lucchese built in 1541 to protect against seaborne attacks from North African invaders. There are some impressive yachts to be seen, with Viareggio now a base for the manufacturing of luxury ocean craft. You'll find some terrific restaurants, specialising in seafood - the town still has a working fishing harbour. There's good shopping - check out the stores around the Piazzone (a large square) which also has the central market. And there's the carnival of course, which since its inception in 1873 has grown to be one of Italy's biggest. The papier mache floats are marvels of construction and inventiveness.
To the left you'll find a selection of hotels, to get you in the mood
- see also our full listings of Viareggio hotels.
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