Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
farm, explaining how he tends his
cinta senese
(indigenous Tuscan pigs), Maremma cows
and rare Livornese chickens.
Everything served for dinner comes from the estate (with the exception of dinner on
Friday - fish fresh from wife Vilma's fisherman friend in Piombino). The spirit of the
place is 100% in harmony with nature, down to the state-of-the-art thermal spa (admission
€20) - a series of pebble rock pools cascading down the hillside. Grapes and olives are
harvested in September, chestnuts in October.
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San Vincenzo
POP 7020
Italian visitors flock to this moderately attractive seaside town in summer to flop on sandy
beaches backed by herb-scented
macchia
(wild scrubland) and pine forest.
In town, yachties moor their vessels in the smart, modern
Marina di San Vincenzo
, well-
endowed with a waterside line-up of chic, glass-box boutiques and bars. Those in the
know remain staunchly loyal to shabby-chic
Zanzibar
( 05 6570 2927; Piazza del Porto; meals
€40; lunch & dinner Thu-Tue)
with vintage decor, designer nourishment and DJ sets after
dark. It's in a former fishermen hut at the northern end of the marina.
A few kilometres inland, the
Parco Archeominerario di San Silvestro
(
www.parchivaldicornia.it
;
adult/reduced €15/11; 9.30am-7.30pm summer, shorter hr rest of year, closed Nov & Dec)
explores
the valley's 3000-year mining history. Around 50m before the turn-off to the park en-
trance, a sunken lane on the right signposted
'forni fusori'
leads to the remains of some
Etruscan smelting ovens, once used for copper production. The park itself comprises the
ruins of the 14th-century mining town
Rocca di San Silvestro
, reached via an underground
train that passes through the Temperino
copper and lead mines
(with a small
mineral museum
)
en route. Guided tours depart roughly hourly.
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Suvereto
POP 3140
Suvereto, seat of a bishopric, was only incorporated into the Tuscan grand duchy in 1815.
It is one of Tuscany's most beautiful medieval villages, hence the summer crowd that
