Palace Hotel
Viareggio - Via Flavio Gioia 2
Set on Viareggio’s seafront, Palace Hotel features a rooftop terrace with panoramic views of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Apuan Alps.
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The charming Viareggio has long been one of Tuscany’s most beloved seaside destinations. This town in the province of Lucca, home to over 60,000 people, is renowned throughout Italy not only for its exceptionally long stretch of fine sandy beach, but also for its Carnival, one of the most important in the country.
Viareggio is the place to go to relax in the sunshine along the Versilia coast, to be pampered and indulged by the numerous amenities offered by the beach clubs, to dine at sunset with your feet in the sand, and to enjoy the vibrant nightlife: Viareggio’s nightlife scene is famous for its bars and nightclubs, beach parties and aperitivo culture.
If you’ve decided that Viareggio will be the destination for your next summer holiday, or simply a relaxing seaside weekend, you’ll discover a lively town brimming with amenities, a pedestrianised promenade lined with magnificent Art Nouveau buildings, an unrivalled hotel selection, and naturally a beach that has no equal in Tuscany when it comes to facilities.
Viareggio Beach is the main reason tourists come here for a holiday. It’s a beach of fine golden sand that is fully equipped. The beach clubs line the shore one after another, all beautifully maintained with excellent facilities for guests.
Many of them, for example, have a private pool, others offer pilates or yoga classes on the beach, whilst some provide spacious tents instead of umbrellas that can accommodate entire families.
All of Viareggio’s beach clubs provide basic services: in addition to umbrella, sun lounger and deckchair hire, you’ll have access to showers and changing rooms, lifeguard services, pedaloe rental and a bar.
Free beach along Viareggio’s promenade is practically non-existent, save for a narrow strip near the port. Remember that access to the sea is always permitted, but it is strictly forbidden to place towels on the shoreline or plant umbrellas unless you’re a customer of one of the beach clubs.
South of Viareggio and the port, shared with the locality of Torre del Lago Puccini, lies the expansive Lecciona Beach. It’s a completely free beach nestled in nature: behind it there’s dense Mediterranean scrubland, which soon transforms into a broad pine forest crisscrossed by woodland paths that lead towards the sea.
Lecciona Beach is the complete opposite of Viareggio Beach; because it stretches so far, you can even find spots where you’ll be completely isolated. The beach has no facilities, so bring your own water and food.
Viareggio is a very touristy town where the sea and the beach are undisputed stars. There aren’t many historically significant sights, monuments or museums of extraordinary importance. So spend your days in the sunshine, stroll along the promenade, take a walk around the port and sample the typical seafood specialities of Versilia’s culinary tradition.
The Viareggio promenade is always bustling with people walking along it, from first light until late into the night. This is the zone that can be considered the heart of the town, though it stretches for almost two kilometres, from the pier to the Hotel Principe di Piemonte. Walking up and down the promenade you can stop to admire shop and boutique windows, have a drink at one of the numerous bars, dine alfresco or simply watch the world go by.
Parallel to the pedestrian promenade runs an extensive cycle path, which leads as far as Lido di Camaiore and beyond, whilst across the street there are countless hotels, some of which are of primary importance to Tuscan tourism.
Some buildings that overlook Viareggio’s promenade, including some beach clubs, are elegant Art Nouveau constructions from the early 1900s of quite remarkable elegance.
Notable are the “Gran Caffè Margherita” and the former “Caffè Savoia” now renamed “Caffè Liberty”, which counted among their guests some of the most important figures of the day: Guglielmo Marconi, Ermete Zacconi, Giacomo Puccini and many others.
The splendid “Gran Caffè Margherita” with its distinctive dome, an exclusive meeting point for the town, still dominates the promenade today, while the “Caffè Liberty”, protected by the Cultural and Environmental Heritage Authority, has retained its original structure and decorations. Today it’s still possible to admire the designs, stucco work, ceiling lights and ornaments, all works by Chini.
At the end of the pedestrian promenade, heading south from the town, you’ll find Viareggio Port. Take a stroll along the Eugenio Guidotti Pier, which runs alongside the canal that flows out to sea, stop to admire some fine yachts, and round off the evening with a delightful fresh seafood dinner at one of the restaurants lining it.
Viareggio Port is of primary importance to the town’s economy, including tourism, as this is where boats depart for daily sightseeing excursions to other parts of Versilia and even to the Cinque Terre.
Viareggio is famous throughout Italy as the home of one of the country’s most important carnival celebrations: the Viareggio Carnival attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year, who gather along the town’s promenade during the weekends of February and March to admire enormous allegorical floats that are constructed over the course of an entire year.
Often inspired by satire, politics or topical events, the Viareggio Carnival floats are built from papier-mâché, and the Viareggio tradition of parading them dates back to 1873. But the carnival in Viareggio is much more than that: masked balls and parties accompany the event throughout its duration, and during these days the town’s various districts organise festivities, dinners featuring local dishes and masked balls that last the entire period.
Viareggio is also home to two institutions linked to the Carnival that operate year-round: the Carnival Citadel, Europe’s largest thematic park dedicated to masks, consisting of 16 hangars where the floats are constructed, and the Carnival Museum, which tells the story of this grand celebration, how it has evolved over the centuries and the way the floats are built.
The road running parallel to Viareggio’s promenade is Viale Michelangelo Buonarroti, which marks the eastern boundary of Viareggio Pinewood, a true green lung set right in the middle of the town, so much so that it somewhat resembles Manhattan’s Central Park in miniature.
In the Viareggio Pinewood you can take walks, hire bicycles or grab a drink at one of the numerous refreshment kiosks inside. There are also several restaurants, a little train for children that winds through the park, and the Summer Theatre, an outdoor space where theatrical performances are held.
Viareggio is a very traditional seaside destination, and therefore the main forms of accommodation are hotels. There are options for all tastes and budgets, including two 5-star properties. Many are located directly on the promenade, which proves to be by far the ideal area to stay in Viareggio as you’re just steps from the beach, pinewood and shops. As you move inland, prices drop, and this can be a smart strategy if your budget is limited.
Private rentals in the form of apartments have recently developed. Bed and breakfasts, however, are almost non-existent.
We offer a selection of hotels at Viareggio to suit all categories of travellers. The most booked by tourists are the sea-facing hotels, often right on the beach. If you want to play it safe, choose one of the following: they are among the most booked hotels in Viareggio, sorted by number of reviews.
If you prefer space, privacy and the ability to prepare your own meals to a hotel holiday, book a holiday home at Viareggio. We recommend a few below, but in this case we advise you to book early because houses and apartments for rent at Viareggio are in high demand.
Viareggio is very easy to reach, located at the intersection of the A11 Florence-to-the-Sea and A12 Genoa-to-Rosignano Marittimo motorways. It takes less than an hour from Florence, just 30 minutes from Pisa, and the same from Lucca town centre.
Viareggio is also very easily accessible by public transport, as the town is served by an important railway station that receives regional and intercity trains from the Tuscan coast and inland areas. Trains from Florence run frequently, and the journey takes approximately one hour and 30 minutes.
What's the weather at Viareggio? Below are the temperatures and the weather forecast at Viareggio for the next few days.
Viareggio sits in Versilia, a coastal stretch of Lucca Province. Located between Lido di Camaiore and Torre del Lago, it's easily accessible from both the provincial capital and other towns along the Tuscan coast.
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