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Tuscany's cuisine is impossibly famous worldwide but while the savoury food is more well-known, Tuscany is also home to plenty of delicious treats, amazing pastries, tasty snacks and wonderful cakes. Many were originally and traditionally only made for special occasions and during the key religious holidays of the year such as Easter and Christmas but, today, they can be sought out and purchased whenever you want.

The seaside of city Piombino is one of the many gems that dots the Tuscan Coast. While the coast in Tuscany is not as famous as other stretches along the sea in Italy – particularly the beloved and trendy Amalfi Coast – it is equally beautiful and its towns boast incredibly untouched beaches, nature reserves, great facilities and wonderful views.

Piombino has long been a famous port town and naval base and offers all of the above. In particular, it really has the wonderful views covered with stunning vistas out onto the Tuscan Archipelago and the islands that make it up. Just find a villa rental in Piombino and come see its soul-soothing views for yourself while you have a perfect holiday in this charming Tuscan seaside resort.

Glamorous seaside getaways in pretty coastal towns and bustling cities where the sand is soft and white, the seas are crystal clear and the food is fresh and delicious, are one of the things that best sell Italy as a holiday destination for many. As the country has such a long coastline and several stunning islands, there is endless choice in beaches and seaside locations.

However, there are always some beaches and locations that are going to be more desirable, and have more to offer, than others. In our last article, we discussed two such beaches: the very famous and world-renowned Rabbit Beach, on the island of Lampedusa off the coast of Sicily, and the beaches of Trani, a lovely town known as the “Pearl of Puglia”. There are plenty of others worth mentioning so we have prepared more of our favourite picks to help you plan the perfect coastal vacation in Italy!

The Tuscan coast is home to some truly lovely little seaside towns and if the bright and fun Follonica is the Miami of Tuscany, then Punta Ala is a more low-key but equally charming option. Lesser-known and a bit of a hidden gem, Punta Ala is located on a stretch of the coastline between Pisa and the Maremma Natural Park. Expect a marina full of thousands of sailboats and racing yachts, private beach clubs, regattas, excellent restaurants, seaside bars, ultra-bright blue water and air fragranced with pines. If you have found a vacation rental on the Tuscan coast, it is a perfect spot to go and get away from it all.

The Tuscan Coast is dotted by lots of incredible surprises and little gems, among them being the vibrant seaside city of Viareggio in the Province of Livorno and its epic Carnival celebrations and the famous Elba Island, to which Napoleon was notoriously exiled. Not far from Elba is another, lesser-known delight, the island of Pianosa. One of the smallest islands in the Tuscan Archipelago, it is an almost entirely uninhabited beauty located in the glimmering Tyrrhenian Sea and is a must-see for those who have found a vacation rental on the Tuscan Coast and are interested in exploring the most interesting and lovely hidden corners of the area.

So incredibly flat that it is barely visible, and often described merely as looking like a darker blue line in the sea, Pianosa was first inhabited in the late Stone Age and then was a Roman settlement before Pisa and Genoa began to fight over the land in the 12th and 13th centuries. Variously inhabited by pirates, fishing colonies, and military officers, the island became a maximum security prison in 1868 and remained home to prisoners, with many particularly dangerous Mafia criminals among them, until 1998. Upon the closure of the prison, almost everyone left with just a few people remaining on the island today.