Viareggio Beach

I can not speak directly for Viareggio, but beaches are free for the walking in Italy, and Viareggio is large enough that there will be public access points (even small beaches in coves are Public, but crossing private land creates access issues.)

All the beach at Viareggio and adjoining municipalities is assigned to "bagni", i.e. firms allotting their clients a patch of sand with a couple chairs and an umbrella. Rental prices are quite expensive. By law, the very few meters into the water should be left free for walking and there should be accesses, but both the free and the reserved areas are likely to be in summer only marginally less crowded that the Shibuya street crossing in Tokyo :-)

An Italian article about free beaches in the area:
http://viaggi.corriere.it/viaggi/weekend/spiagge-libere/

Yes you can always walk the beach near the water in Italy, by law. There will also be short sections of free beach, again by law. Viareggio has a long pier out into the water which is nice for watching the boats, the harbor, and the beach. South of Viareggio is Lecciona beach which is a couple of miles of beautiful and free sandy beach backed by piney woods. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiaggia_della_Lecciona

Another wonderful amenity are the extensive pine wood park within and just south of Viareggio. The parks have amusement rides, bike rentals, cafes, horseback riding, benches, picnic tables, and more. On a hot summer days and evenings the parks are loaded with folks enjoying the outdoors.

1. No charge to walk anywhere. Only if you rent chairs and umbrellas at one of the concession establishments (Bagno) you need to pay.. The Viareggio "Passeggiata" (stroll) as the promenade is often called, is a very wide boulevard with lots of people taking a stroll (plenty of gelaterie too along the way).

2. The only restaurant I know is "la Darsena" (mainly seafood). But There are hundreds of restaurants and cafes in Viareggio, being such a popular beach destination. Some are more expensive than others. Seafood is the specialty in the area, obviously. I would ask locals, or do a search on tripadvisor.

3. Plenty of shops too, everywhere.

One of the best fried seafood dishes l've found is from the fry boat that docks along the canal next to the pier. You'll recognize it from the gigantic octopus on the roof. For 8E you get a good helping of fried calamari body and tentacles and shrimp. For 10E there are also fried anchovies included (recommended).

Also across the canal in the boat docking area, there are a line of boats and bungalows that serve a wide variety of casual food dishes - mostly seafood - and there are benches and a few picnic tables nearby for convenience.

Thanks everybody, sounds like a wonderful place to walk the beach and get fresh seafood.