Beach-lounging is big business in Forte dei Marmi. Framed by the Apuan Alps, this swish resort is made for swimming and strolling and there’s even a stretch of dunes. Patches of beach are freely accessible, while the remainder is made up of smart bathing huts and tropical-style bars, perched on the fine pale-grey sand. The gently sloping shore means bathing is safe. Italian-resort-style, the sea is mostly reached by paying an entrance fee. Regimentation rules so expect to lie on a sunbed among rows of others, on sand carefully raked and flattened.
For the smart set, summer in Forte dei Marmi is highly ritualistic, with a consensus about which beach, beach club and cocktail bar is the most desirable spot. Not that you have to follow the crowd. One of Versilia’s most fashionable nightspots is Flavio Briatore’s Twiga Beach Club, between Forte dei Marmi and Marina di Pietrasanta. Here, passing celebrities down cocktails on the beach before dancing the night away in this chic club. The smart set can book a massage, dine on seafood or resolutely French bubbles. Over-priced and over-hyped, with hip DJs, the club is international rather than Italian but it delivers what is expected. Beach Club del Principe Forte dei Marmi is another cocooning beach club, with the equally exorbitant Ristorante Dalmazia serving such delights as stir-fried shrimps, baked seabass, grilled rock-octopus, or Jerusalem artichokes with black truffles – all on the Principe’s private beach, of course. Bagno Angelo (on via Arenile, T: 0584 82050) is a more affordable beach establishment. If you don’t want to pay the inflated prices of Forte dei Marmi, simply head to Viareggio, further down the coast. While there, sip reviving drinks in the historic Gran Caffe Margherita on the seafront.
See our full Forte dei Marmi guide for more. If looking for cultural stimulation, head away from the coast to the closest art cities. Foremost among these are Pisa, Lucca, Pistoia or Florence.
Address: Twiga Beach Club, via Roma 2, Lungomare, 55042 Forte dei Marmi
T: 0584 21518 & https://www.twigafortedeimarmi.com/en/
Beach Club del Principe Forte dei Marmi, Hotel Principe, Viale Morin 67, 55042 Forte dei Marmi
T: 0584 784145 & www.principefortedeimarmi.com
