Hello!
I will be in Florence this August 6 - 16, 2016 and my friend wants to experience one day at the closest beach. Is it better to take the train or bus? Also, would we get the bus or train at Santa Maria Novella train station or another location? Our apartment is closest to that station.
Thank you,
Valerie
Check out Viareggio train connections. Great beach but a busy, bustling town. Yes, SMN station is the best to had west.
Also a beautiful beach at Pietrasanta, on the Ligurian Sea, I took the bus, bus station is directly behind SMN.
Second ViaReggio and I would suggest an overnight there. We stayed one night at Hotel San Franscisco, which is across from lovely beach ( you do have to pay but thats for most beaches) . We enjoyed being able to relax , had 2 of the best meals we had in italy at small restaurants (one at Elisabetta beach across from hotel and one on the strip). Just really enjoyed the atmosphere and relaxed pace. We actually had rented an apartment in Florence, so we left our stuff there. Yes, we 'double 'paid as we alrady had a place to sleep in Florence and it was an easy train trip, but it was worth it.
Viareggio: one of the most famous sea resort towns in the area. It's not a small fishing village, it's a larger town. Long sandy beaches. Easy to reach by train.
Castiglioncello (and/or Quercianella): smaller towns, just south of Livorno. Rocky cliffs and smaller beaches. Very quaint. Both easy by train.
Do a google Image search and see which one you prefer.
So far, everyone is speaking up for the west coast - any plugs for the east, Rimini, for instance? (Haven't been, myself, but curious about others' impressions.)
Thank you for all the great responses! I am hoping to get to a beach that is close just for one day. How long is the ride by bus to the closest beach? Up to an hour?
What no one has mentioned about Viareggio is that it also has a large number of beautiful Art Nouveau buildings on the streets that are at the edge of the beach. Many now house shops and restaurants. I understand that at one time there were many more, but quite a few were destroyed by fire. If you go there, by all means take a walk to view them.
Around one and a half hours for each of the beaches mentioned here going west.
All those locations can be reached by train:
www.trenitalia,com
Regarding Rimini, on the Adriatic coast, that is a bit farther to do in a day trip.
It's similar to Viareggio, but more crowded in summer.
