The Apuan Coast

The sea appears welcoming and brilliant, protected by the lofty cathedrals of marble that are the Apuan mountains. If you are coming into Tuscany from the north, then the first taste of the coastline has a special quality about it that is different from the nearby towns one after the other perched on cliffs overhanging the sea. Here the landscape changes, the rock gives way to wide stretches of very fine sand that slips gently into the sea. The backdrop consists of the breathtaking Apuan peaks framing a panorama of intense brilliant green made up of the sea, the towns and villages, the mountains, all with their origins, traditions , colours and aromas.

The protagonists of this particular symbiosis are the blue sea, the beaches equipped with facilities, the seafronts behind which lie the pine-groves and then on up to the elegant towns of Massa and Carrara which are situated at the foot of the mountains of marble. The beauty of being able to alternate bathing one day with excursions into the hills or mountains on another is inestimable - rather like observing a magnificent panorama while tasting fish soup and the much-appreciated local ‘lardo di Colonnata’, washed down with a glass of Candia or Vermentino.