A holiday in Maremma is just what I’d like this summer. Yes, because the Tuscan Maremma offers everything I love: historical villages, art, sea, wildlife, amazing horses, food and wine, thermal baths, and silence.
If you follow me, you know I go there often, even off-season, and every time I fall in love with it a little more. During my visits, I discovered the many nuances of this territory in the heart of Tuscany, and I created my ideal program for an unforgettable holiday.
Historic villages
You’ll run into one every few kilometers, and ideally, I’d recommend visiting them all, even just for a quick stroll around the central square, the church, and the medieval walls. It’s like this that I discovered the quiet and discreet beauty of Manciano, Scansano, and Magliano, for example.
However, there are villages you really can’t miss, deserving time and their visit can not be left to chance.
Pitigliano
Getting to Pitigliano is uncomfortable, far from everything and badly connected. However, getting to Pitigliano takes your breath away, and you are discovering it turning over a winding hillside. It’s simply a precious moment.
Engraved into the tuff, this citadel is perched on the mountain with which it forms a whole. Almost chameleon-like and oh so beautiful. In addition to the color of the rock, its main features are the Medici aqueduct and the Jewish quarter, which earned it the nickname of Little Jerusalem.
My advice is to get lost in its labyrinthine alleys, browse through the many shops in the old town, visit Palazzo Orsini, the cathedral, and the ghetto. Very impressive are the Etruscan necropolis and the Vie Cave outside the village. These are mysterious Etruscan trails excavated in the rock, up to twenty-five meters in the subsoil!
Once left the town behind you, stop at Poggio Rota, a megalith complex for the celestial vault observation. Like a tiny Stonehenge.
Sorano
The last time I’ve been drenched, and suddenly the sun got back, in time for a very cinematic light sunset. But Sorano is a fantastic natural movie set with other weather conditions too!
A walk between the monumental Fortezza Orsini, the Collegiata, the Church of San Nicola, the Palazzo Comitale, the Clock Tower that rises above the Masso Leopoldino, and then to the Porta dei Merli, gives you extremely photogenic views and history, so much history!
Do not miss the rocky complex of San Rocco, the Vie Cave, and the rocky settlement of Vitozza, with about two hundred caves within an archaeological park.
Sovana
Another small village that makes my fantasy flies away. I’d like to see an episode of Games of Thrones set here, for instance …
You enter the village through the ruins of the massive Aldobrandeschi fortress and cross it along the super-characteristic Via del Pretorio, dotted with shops and artisan boutiques. This long and narrow street flows into a beautiful and homonymous square with the splendid pavement! Once here, do not miss the Palace of the Archives, the late Romanesque church of Santa Maria, the palace of the Marquis Bourbon Del Monte, the early Christian church of San Mamiliano, and finally, the Palazzo Pretorio.
Going along the Via di Mezzo, you will then get to the house of Pope Gregory VII, born Ildebrando Aldobrandeschi, and the Gothic Romanesque Duomo of Sovana. The Great Beauty!
The Etruscan necropolises are also with a pitstop, such as the Vie Cave linking ancient settlements and necropolis between Sovana, Pitigliano, and Sorano.
Montemerano
The village of Montemerano is beautiful and perfect. In a dominant position on a hill overlooking Tuscan Maremma, it’s protected by three lines of ancient walls, and it’s no wonder that it was named among the most beautiful villages in Italy.
To fall in love with Montemerano and visit it, you have to get lost among the narrow lanes, micro squares, flowery balconies, gourmet restaurants, and art ateliers. Wonderful Piazza del Castello and the Romanesque church of San Giorgio with its collection of Renaissance artwork and walls with frescoes from the Sienese school.
Take your time here, smell the emerald green moss of its walls and the scent of flowers and listen to the sound of the steps on its stony pavement. Montemerano is special.
Thermal baths in Tuscan Maremma
When saying spa or thermal baths in Tuscany, you implicitly say relaxing stay in Saturnia.
There are two options to let you cradle – and cure – from the sulfur waters of Saturnia: the beautiful natural waterfalls forming several pools by the mill of the Gorello stream or the Terme di Saturnia SPA & Golf Resort built a few hundred meters upstream right on the crater of volcanic water springing at 37 ° since ever.
I recommend you try both options, but I personally prefer the waterfalls. Small swimming pools trapped by water in the countryside. They are always open and free, and the steam that blurs the landscape all around is pure magic!
The sea
The beaches of Maremma are wild and look endless, but I left my heart in the Argentario. Almost an island, connected to the land by three Isthmuses: the Tombolo di Feniglia, the Tombolo della Giannella and more recently by the road that crosses the Orbetello Lagoon.
The coast is completely jagged, wild, and it’s difficult to access coves, with crystal clear waters, a perfect backdrop for snorkeling and scuba diving, and a perfect breeze for sailing. A real paradise for summer vacations.
For those who like me love history, the Argentario concentrates on it: from the first Roman and Etruscan settlements between Porto Santo Stefano, Talamone, and Ansedonia, to the Aldobrandeschi and Orsini’s fortresses, and then came the Sienese and finally the Spanish.
My advice? Do not miss the fortresses, hike to reach its stunning beaches and coves, and drive along the panoramic road connecting Porto Santo Stefano to Porto Ercole! It takes a lot of time due to photo stops, but also due to the roughly four miles dirty road that at some point interrupts the asphalt.
If you have time, there are also five islands waiting for you in front of the Argentario: Giglio, Giannutri, Isolotto, Argentarola, and Rossa.
Useful tips for a holiday in Tuscany
Like I said in every way: this region is truly unique and beautiful! Tuscan Maremma is still – luckily – wild and relatively isolated. To visit it you can’t count on public transport, and personally, I advise against a last-minute not arranged holiday. You could spend hours driving all around to find accommodation.
I recommend you to check options and offers on the Weekendesk website. Only risk? You’ll probably be tempted by plenty of other destinations, but an endless bucket list is never that bad 😉
P.S. Do visit Grosseto!
* In collaboration with Weekendesk
