TRIPS and EXCURSIONS

Viareggio is not only the city of sandy beaches, elegant shops, cafés and restaurants, it is also an ideal place to start to explore the pearls of Tuscany or even the Ligurian coastline. We will of course give you all the tips for your field day once you are here with us, but we thought to give a small glimpse of what is expecting you rigth here, right now:

CITIES and VILLAGES

FOOD / WINE

WITH KIDS

LONGER EXCURSIONS

CITIES and VILLAGES

Only a 25km ride away you will find two world famous Tuscan towns, Pisa and Lucca. The leaning tower of the first one is one of the most known edifices in the world, whie the 4km long city wall of the second invites you to lush stroll or a bike ride high above the rooftops. Lucca is the birthplace of Giaccomo Puccini , and one of the few places in the world, where they have created a square on the ruins of an old roman amphitheatre (piazza dell´ amfiteatro). 85 kilometers fromm the Apollo you will find Florence, the capital of Tuscany, with the Uffizi galleries, the world famous duomo and of course the Ponte Vechhio. Take a walk in the footsteps of the medici in the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli gardens and enjoy the shere beauty of this ancient city. Leaving Tuscany to the north, you will soon reach the Cinque Terre, the five small villages clinging to the rocks just above the waterline on one of the most beautiful costlines in the world. This beauty is best explored by boat, conveniently leaving from Viareggio harbour every day.
The well known gems of Tuscan, the medieval cities of San Gimignano and Volterra are both within a 100 km ride by car.

FOOD / WINE

We are proud to say the we are the organisers of the Culinarium Tours, which you might know from TV. You can read more about our culinary tours here. All of you staying at the Apollo will of course get all the insider information which we have gathered over the past years, where to go wine tasting, cheese making, where to book a trip with a fishing boat, or where to buy the best olive oil or prosciutto ham.
On all Saturdays, that is the day after your arrival, we invite you for dinner in our hotel dining room in order to get to know the other guests, and of course the tusscan cuisine. If you want, you can even help us in the kitchen. For those of you who want to have the full treat with everything at once, we recommend a trip to the central market hall in Livorno, which is just under 40km avay from our hotel. Here, in one of Italys largest still active market halls from 1894, you will find everything Tuscany has to offer a foodie of style. If you want we will organise a tasting for you in the middle of the market hall.

WITH KIDS

Having four kids ourselves, this section was created early upon “own initiative” when we choose to take over the Apollo. Our first half dozen tips for trips with kids are: A real submarine in the port of Genova, A steep jeep tour up the white marble quarries of Carrara, rafting and zipline just above Lucca, The zoo of Pistoia, The acquarium in Livorno, and of course the Cavallino Matto amusement park in Castagneto Carducci. Most of all the kids appreciate hanging out with the other kids of the hotel in “our bagno” Guido, where most of us end up on a sunny day. The kites aare flying in the seabreeze, the icecream is cooling, and the table tennis table is just getting free again – summer holidays at their best!

LONGER EXCURSIONS

Should you look for longer trips from early morning to late night, Tuscany is full of gems waiting to be discovered. The ideal position of Viareggio on the crossing of several motorways makes it easier to reach far away than from “hilly central Tuscany” where a mile takes two minutes on average. Let´s see the favourites: For nature-lovers there is the Garfagnana with high hills and wild nature which can be seen standing on the beach in Viareggio. Climb up to 1900 meters with a breathtaking view of the sea. Florence is just an hour away, but then again you can spend weeks there seeing new things every hour. Going more southward you will San Gimignano with its world famous 13 towers from medieval times; we recommend to look at Volterra as well, once you are in the neighbourhood. Even further south you will of course find Siena, the second most important city of Tuscany with its century old sstreets and piazzas and the world famous inclining piazza del Palio, one of Italys most visited sites with all what this brings.