An Unexpected Stop: Forte Dei Marmi

I hadn’t planned to discover Forte dei Marmi. It found me, the way the best places usually do - sideways, uninvited, through a cancelled connection between Nice and Florence that left me scrambling to find a way to get to Florence in the least amount of time and with the most ease.

Nice to Florence was six hours by road. Rather than resent the long drive, I decided to make something of it. I hired a driver, opened google maps, and started looking for somewhere to break the journey, a place to land for a night or two before pressing on. Forte had been sitting quietly at the back of my mind for a while, having seen it pop up on my social feed, and a neighbour is always talking about how special it is. This was the perfect moment to discover this little place on the Tuscan coastline.

What I found was a small seaside village, unhurried and entirely unbothered by the idea that it should be anything other than what it already was. It felt like stepping back in time, many of the villas looked untouched since the 50’s, simple and understated, but you could tell good times had been had inside them.

Two days there did more for me than I expected, a proper repair from the hustle and noise of the cities I’d just left behind.

I stayed at Hotel Roma Imperial, and it felt less like a hotel than like being taken in by a wealthy Italian aunt, the kind with excellent taste and no interest in showing it off. Intimate, personal, the sort of place that knows your name by the second morning. I spent my days barefoot, riding a bicycle down to the beach, shopping a small but curated collection of stores, and relaxing in the garden reading my book.

While the beach and water aren’t the most beautiful (we are spoilt in Australia for white sand and aqua water) the backdrop of the Apuan mountains is spectacular. I love a day or two at a beach club, because it’s so very different to how we beach in Australia. I appreciate the comfort and service, and feels so very luxurious (which it is!).

Beach clubs at Forte aren’t cheap at 450 euro per cabana, fitting up to four people, but they give you room to breathe. No jostling for a metre of sand, no neighbours listening in on your conversation (or vice versa), none of the crowding that’s become the price of the clubs in St Tropez for example. Here, space and room to move is part of what you’re paying for.

As my time was fleeting, I ate at the Bagno Assunta restaurant, the best vongole Tuscany style! I didn’t get a cabana, because travelling solo I figured it wasn’t worth it and made use of the hotel pool and the beautiful garden. Though when I return with family and friends, I would love to do some of the beach clubs – the Italian way. A little side note: the beach clubs can look empty, but I was told by a person in the know, it’s because local families hold a season pass to their favourite club, and their cabana is reserved for them whether they show up or not.

Early evenings belong to aperitivo (anytime from 6pm, not before ), when the Florentines and the Milanese arrive alongside the visitors and the whole village seems to step outside, drink in hand, in one of the small bars that line the streets. It’s molto chic without trying to be.

And then there’s the Wednesday morning open air market with umbrella pines overhead, tables of Venetian slippers, raffia baskets, Italian bathroom linens, the kind of things you buy because they are genuinely good. There is always something worth carrying home.

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