Viareggio rentals

Besides the usual sites (AirBnB, Booking, TripAdvisor.it) look into Homelidays, Casevacanza.it, Mediavacanze.it, windu, casamundo. I don’t know what exactly you are looking for but good luck.
I see no reason to stay near the station. The closer to the beach promenade the better.

Interesting choice of a base when you have all of Italy to choose from.

Are you sure you want to spend a week by the beach in Tuscany? The beaches around Viareggio are good, but they aren't great either and it is very built-up. You have far better beaches in N Carolina for instance.

I'd rather stay in Lucca and have beach day, than the other way around.

As someone who just spent two weeks on the NC beaches, I couldn’t agree more. Beaches are vastly better in the US than just about any beach in Europe.

Let me clarify, we did stay in Lucca this past summer and absolutely loved it. We used it as our base to visit different areas of Tuscany by train, because we have a group of 6 and I don’t feel comfortable driving. A day trip included Viareggio.

We have 2 teens & a young adult who want to visit Tuscany again but want something more relaxing, preferably by the beach. I realize Viareggio is not the finest beach Italy has to offer; we only stayed at beach club Bagno Mauritzio one day.

We did not explore the boardwalk, other beach clubs, restaurants. We thought our young people would like it. We have spent many summers in OBX, NC. OBX is nice, but it’s not Italy. We also thought Viareggio is a good base to visit other coastal areas up north.

Could you please recommend some other beaches on the Ligurian coast where we can rent and still has train access? We are open to staying elsewhere. We were planning to fly into Pisa from DC, but is Genoa an option?

I think your Viareggio plan is an excellent one. The town is endlessly entertaining with beach, boats, people, architecture, parks and good train service. I believe you can get a bus directly from Pisa airport. The only downside is the Viareggio train station is somewhat away from the most active areas, but you can get a taxi if the walk is too far. Another good town with train service is Sestri Levante, but it's less active than Viareggio and much further from the airports. Right next to Viareggio is Lido di Camaiore which is a nice town and a bit less congested. I'd suggest using Google Street View to actually see any place you are considering booking.

From Genoa, look at Camogli, Rapallo and Santa Margherita. All are cute little towns. Easy train access, walking, hiking, wonderful food.

Of the sandy beaches in Liguria, we are looking for a quaint town with train access. Alassio is one we are considering. I'm sure it can get a bit crowded in the summer, but it isn't run overrun by tourists is it? How do Camogli, Rapallo and Santa Margherita compare to Alassio?

Truth is all of coastal Liguria is touristy - that's what it does. Most of the tourists are Italian and only Cinque Terre and Portofino get concentrations of American tourists. None of the towns you've mentioned can qualify as quaint. The oldest & most classic Italian would be Camogli. It has a nice beach, but it's not a sandy beach. Liguria Ponente (west) has the better beaches, including Alassio which is a bit upscale. Rapallo is nice and people enjoy it, but Santa Margherita is a better choice, in my opinion. Rapallo and SML both have sandy beaches but they are not extensive like Viareggio.