We have been to the seaside town of Viareggio most years, but only to witness the carnivale which is a mammoth float parade, and takes place in February. We will go again this year, but yesterday we went to Viareggio and hired bikes. The coast area is as flat as
Holland, and ideal for cycling - they are well provided with cycle tracks too. It is urban cycling, and we happily tootled along the front as far as Marina di Pietasanta only about 20 km in all. With the palm trees and the warm sun, we felt we had travelled to another country, and not just the 50 miles by train from Barga.
The shore and waterfront is lined with places catering to the needs of the obviously vast numbers of visitors in the summertime. It is quite hard to find an entry to the beach therefore, as entry is limited to a few places.
At the south end of the town there is the small harbour fed by the Burlamacca canal,which in turn drains the large coastal lake area , where Puccini had his villa at Torre del Lago. We may go there next time.
The harbour area boasts several small shipyards, and apparently Viareggio "represents the main luxury yachts producer city in the world"! (so saith Wikipedia)
 |
| The bike hire was situated in the Pineta - a large park of original coastal pinewoods |
 |
| A beach! What a novelty! |
 |
| One of the many beach establishments catering to summer tourists |
 |
| Even in winter the donkeys need their exercise! |
 |
| Lunch time ... |
 |
| A grand hotel on the esplanade |
 |
| The Burlamacca canal and harbour area |
 |
| The harbour showing shelters used for fitting-out of aluminium ships' hulls which are fabricated in large sheds beyond |
what a good idea! was it easy to hire the bikes?
ReplyDeleteIt was a great idea! Most bike hire places are closed, so we had to phone up. Our first choice wasn't in operation, but he put us onto someone who was - I think she opened specially for us! She was charming. We couldn't have organised it over the phone a couple of years ago! Better bikes than Lucca too!
ReplyDelete