Private Tuscan Summer Holiday Tour

Day 1 Arrival at Pisa

Landing at Pisa airport you will be greeted, as with all our customizable Italy tours,  with a warm welcome by both your driver and private tour host who will take care of every little detail for you during your trip to Italy, ensuring you experience the very best of the soul of this magical land. 

From the airport we will make the short 30 minute trip to the coastal resort of Viareggio. This quintessential lively Italy beach holiday town will show you how Italians do summer! After settling in to your boutique hotel and a dip in the pool or the sea to freshen up, we will start the serious business of relaxing into the Dolce Vita. An `aperitivo` and dinner will be prepared for you in one of the finest historical beach bars while watching the sun go down over the glistening Mediterranean sea.

Day 2 …..And Relax!

Enjoy a relaxing beach day on the Viareggio coast at a private beach club. For those feeling energetic we can organize a surfing or stand up paddle board lesson. Otherwise you can just lay back on your sunlounger and enjoy a good book to the gentle sounds of lapping waves and Italians chatting and laughing in the background.  As the heat of the day cools, take an evening stroll in the long Passeggiata (pedestrian street running along the seafront) of the town. Perhaps taste some of the irresistible Italian gelato and indulge in some window shopping and people watching, three classic Italian pass times usually combined together!  For those who want to see some of the famous luxury Italian designer stores we can go 5 minutes down the coast to neighbouring Forte Dei Marmi, a hub for fashion and celebrities on summer holidays.  A sunset drink at a rooftop bar will be followed by a gourmet Italian Dinner at a local restaurant in town with seafood plucked straight from the sea by the local fishermen and white wine produced at a nearby vineyard on the hills behind Viareggio. This is farm to table Italian style! Our Italy tours 2022 will be very tasty indeed!

Day 3 Michelangelo’s Marble Caves and Pietrasanta

On day 3 of our classic Italy coastal tours, we will explore the incredible Carrara Marble caves by Jeep. A private guide will take you to see this spectacular place where Michelangelo himself went to choose the material he used to craft the infamous statue of David. In the afternoon we`ll freshen up again at the beach before an evening stroll and dinner in the charming artists’ village of Pietrasanta. Pietrasanta is perhaps the most enchanting of all the surrounding villages and is home to many renowned sculptors and their workshops, who come here to work with the marble. The village’s main Piazza is one of the prettiest in all of Italy with a gleaming white marble church and dozens of gourmet restaurants. We`ll take you to our favourite, where the chef Gianlucca will whip us up something worthy of an artist!

Day 4  The Gulf of Poets

After a hearty breakfast we will leave Viareggio and make the short 45 minute drive to our next destination. For these Italy tours We suggest at least a 2 night stay in Lerici, the pretty fishing village at the heart of a bay which has become known as the Gulf of Poets. It will be immediately obvious why the British poets were so inspired by this place.  We’ll enjoy the day strolling along the 2 km’s of sea front stopping at our favourite sandy coves for a swim and perhaps even a pizza for lunch at one of the beach clubs.  Later on we can  explore the back street alleys of the village leading up to the old castle that overlooks the bay. Here we will see one of the most spectacular sunsets in all of Italy.

Day 5 Cinque Terre 

It would be remiss to come all the way on a trip to Italy  to this region and not visit the coastal area of Cinque Terre, perhaps the jewel in the crown in this region for Italy beach holidays. Cinque Terre, literally ‘Five Lands’, is an area covering five villages, and, with the surrounding hillsides, is part of the Cinque Terre National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. No longer a secret, it is of course busy in the summer and indeed all year round, but Alma Italia will make sure you experience the soul of this place, visiting by private boat. Our captain will pick us up in the little port at Lerici just outside our hotel and we will spend a magical day cruising around the nooks and hidden coves of this awe inspiring coast line where mountains spill into the sea. 

Crossing over the Gulf of Poets, our first stop will be the Italian Riviera’s hidden gem, Portovenere. This magical town will give you the first glimpse of the Cinque Terre but without the crowds. We will explore the village and the hilltop church built in the thirteen century while admiring a stunning view of the Mediterranean sea. This is definitely an instagram day!

We`ll hop back on our boat and go a short distance further round the coast, jumping off as we go, into the deep blue sea, looking back at the spectacular shoreline. We will dock at one of the villages for a fresh Italian lunch before walking it off around the village and the vineyards high above. Back to Lerici in the evening to enjoy another dramatic sunset over the Gulf of Poets.

Days 6 Bolgheri Wine tasting and boat to Elba Island

It will be hard to tear yourself away from the world class beauty of the Italian Riviera but of course, Alma Italia can arrange a longer stay there for you if you want a more in depth Italy coastal tour of that region.   There are however more treasures of the Italian summer holidays to be experienced. Today our private driver will take you south along the coast towards the Island of Elba for a 4 night stay where you will enjoy discovering the relaxed summer vibes of the largest Island in the Tuscan archipelago.

 On the way we will make a stop at one of Italy’s most prestigious wine making regions, Bolgheri.  This is the land of the full bodied and smooth reds known as the ‘Super Tuscans’ and we will stop at a friend’s  vineyard for a tasting followed by a delicious lunch in the eponymous village of Bolgheri. If you are a wine lover this is the one of the holy grails of Italian wine tasting and Bolgheri is regarded as one of the most beautiful regions of mainland Tuscany as the ocean glistens in front of the miles of vineyards that stretch down the coast.

After a long, relaxing lunch we will head down to the port to take the 1 hour ferry crossing to Elba. It is possible to fly to Elba but we always prefer to take the picturesque ferry ride which is in itself a highlight of the trip. Arriving in the stunning port of the capital of Elba, Portoferraio, the view from the ferry  is worth the journey alone. What lays ahead of us are 3 days of very relaxing Italian beach holiday!

Days 7~9 Elba Island

For 3 glorious days we will explore the summer joys of the Island of Elba. Italy beach holidays of Tuscany would not be complete without a few days on Elba. Dotted with picturesque hilltop and fishing villages and more than a hundred beaches, Elba is the best of Tuscany condensed into a small island, protected from over-development with natural park status. Your  Alma Italia host guide will make sure you experience the best of the island, and really get to know it. You might even bump into some of our Alma Italia founders’ families who normally base themselves here for the entirety of the summer, so alluring is it. 

Day 10 Florence

On this day we get back on the ferry and drive away from our Italy coastal tour and on to Florence where we will stay for the last couple of nights of your holiday. Florence offers some of the richest jewels of Renaissance art and architecture: Brunelleschi’s 15th century cathedral dome remains the largest brick and mortar dome to this day; the Uffizi Gallery houses one of the finest and biggest art collections in the world. The city – ruled by the Medici family for over 300 years- is a treasure trove of beautiful churches, squares and historical interest. 

Your tour host will lead you amongst the alleys of the city giving you a memorable walking tour, with stops along the way for admiring the Renaissance architecture and art that adorns the city, imbuing it with that magical atmosphere. If you feel like getting cultural, we can visit the famous Uffizi gallery or even climb to the top of the Duomo to take in the views over this ancient city. Florence is of course worth an entire trip to Italy in its own right. We can discuss all the fun options of things we could do here and you can decide with your Alma Italia host what will be best for your group. We will make sure however that you get a taste of the authentic heart of Florentine life.

Day 11 Departure from Pisa

Departure from Pisa airport. Enjoy your final Italian breakfast before heading to the airport by private transfer. We will have achieved our goal if you are feeling relaxed and inspired in equal measure, having created memories of a lifetime with your friends or family. It’s time for us to say goodbye…or maybe just `Ciao for now`! You can always come and sample more of our Italy tours next year!

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