Gabriella

The concept of paid beaches is something that is foreign to a lot of people around the world but they are actually quite a common thing in Italy. They are just cordoned-off and privately-owned sections of a beach but there are also usually free sections that you can choose to use instead if you would prefer to save a little bit of money. However, if you want better facilities, such as sun loungers and umbrellas, cleaner bathrooms, beachside bars, etcetera, you often have to pay for them. Depending on your needs and interests and personality, you may choose to splash out on a paid beach or you may just opt to find a free beach elsewhere. However, if you have found a luxury villa in Tuscany and you’re going for a more luxurious experience of the region and don’t want to have to worry about anything, then the paid beaches are a stylish and carefree way to have a beach day in the region. Those who have found a vacation rental in Versilia, one of the most famous stretches of the Tuscan Coast, and are looking for a paid beach to go to and enjoy a relaxing day by the sea with all of the best amenities and highest quality services, should plan to spend at least a day at Versiliana Beach.

Carrara Marble is famous worldwide. It adorns counters in the fanciest kitchens around the world and was the material of choice of the great Renaissance genius, Michelangelo. To this day, the area in and around Carrara is steeped in the tradition of marble quarrying and of parcelling it off to make beautiful things. You can go on exhilarating 4x4 tours through the glittering marble quarries of the region to see where the journey of so many famous art objects and buildings began, you can explore the stunning and exquisitely carved marble gem that is Carrara’s Cathedral and how the material can be used to its fullest and most extraordinary extent, you can wander around the many marble beauties in the town of Carrara, and you can also seek out the exceptionally lovely sculptures made of Carrara marble in churches and galleries and museums all over Tuscany, Italy, and the world.

Lucca is a stunning city in Tuscany, full of attractive monuments and tourist attractions to explore. During your stay at a villa in Lucca, if you have a day or two to spare, why not embark in a rented car to visit some of these charming towns within a short driving distance?

Start off your day with a trip to Pietrasanta which is located 25 kilometres North West of Lucca. This is a welcoming artistic town full of interesting museums, art galleries and sculpture workshops to stroll around. An art lover could easily lose themselves happily in Pietrasanta for a few hours!

Pietrasanta is an incredibly picturesque Tuscan town that is a must for art-lovers who are interested in getting off the beaten path while exploring the region. Of course, destinations such as Florence, Pisa, and Siena will all yield all sorts of truly extraordinary and world-class museums and galleries but there are many other important towns and cities throughout the region that have rich cultural histories and in which some of the most famous names worked and the most astounding pieces of art are on display. So, if you have found a villa with pool in Lucca and you are looking to take in amazing works of art and learn about great Renaissance masters, be sure to set aside a day to visit Pietrasanta, which is basically one large, open-air museum dotted with artistic gems.

Though the town has ancient Roman origins, it was one of the ideal towns of Tuscany founded in the 13th century that were created based on plans involving perfect proportions, symmetry, and balance, and the historic core of Pietrasanta is made up of five main streets running parallel to each other with a large square at one end. Made particularly famous once Michelangelo noticed the beauty of the stone from the area and began to use it, the town is located close to the famous marble quarries of Carrara and, as a result, has been a beacon for sculptors and artists for centuries, since at least the late Middle Ages.

If you are holidaying in the picturesque Versilia district of Tuscany, you would thoroughly enjoy a day trip to the towns of Pietrasanta and two mountain towns called Seravezza and Stazzema in Alta Versilia.

Visitors wishing to stay for a few days have a fantastic range of holiday villas in Pietrasanta and the Versilia region to choose from, most with superb views of the Apuan Alps and the nearby coast. The beautiful town of Pietrasanta is known as ‘Little Athens’ because of the colourful artistic culture that is in abundance here.

There are many artists based here because of the spectacular views that can be viewed from all around the town and tourists have plenty of interesting attractions available to them also.

Pietrasanta is home to many artisans that specialise in marble sculpture because of the availability of the stone in nearby quarries. This elegant tourist town has a superb collection of lovely shops, restaurants and bars to browse around and only a few kilometres away is Marina di Pietrasanta on the coast where activities like sailing and swimming can be enjoyed.

House-museums are dotted all over the globe and there are lots of them in Italy, in particular. These are a particularly insightful and interesting breed of museum in which objects by an artist are displayed in a space in which they grew up, lived, and/or worked. Often in a childhood or final home of an artist, they celebrate the full spectrum of the life and work of an artist and are a great way to get to know more about the maker behind the pieces.

In Rome you can find the Hendrik Christian Andersen House Museum, dedicated to the life and work of the Norwegian-American 20th century artist Hendrik Christian Anderson, in Milan there is the Manzoni House Museum, dedicated to 19th century Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni, and in Possagno, the Canova Museum, which is not a former home to the artist but is where much of his living and work spaces were transported, as well as works of art, after his death. Another, more recently established house museum dedicated to an artist is Forte dei Marmi’s Ugo Guidi Museum.

One of the most celebrated Italian sculptors of the 20th century, the museum is set in Ugo Guidi’s studio and home in this beautiful Tuscan seaside city. If you are interested in Italian art and fancy a Tuscan vacation by the sea, a holiday rental in Forte dei Marmi is a great idea as it will allow you to enjoy both at the same time! With over 600 sculptures, tempera paintings, drawings, and more by the artist on display, the Ugo Guidi Museum is a fine testament to his legacy that maps out the artist’s entire life and career inside the space in which he both worked and lived.