Hi Judes45

Viareggio is really nice BUT if you were hoping for a quiet week then you may be disappointed. It's very busy -lots of traffic.

The Astor is on the main coast road as are most of the hotels.It will probably have it's own private beach space with deckchairs and parasols
which you have to pay for.The beaches and toilet/changing facilities are immaculate.

The buildings are impressive I think it's Art Nouveau.The beachside has shops cafe bars pizzerias etc with a wide pavement in parts for strolling along.Very flat you can walk for miles up the coast or there are bicycles for hire.

Really it's similar to a lot of our seaside resorts but more upmarket and a lot cleaner.

I would recommend you visit Pisa and Lucca some time over your holiday.

Regards

Florence is one of my favourite places!

There are little narrow cobbled streets with little unusual shops along them. There are all different classes of food, from self service to good restuarants. I particularly like the self service at lunch time, you just take a tray, but you have to ask them to pass you it over. I find the pasta and mini pizzas etc to be quite good, and good value too. There are also some bars, just north east of the station, including a Scottish one, Irish one etc.

Some interesting stuff to do, but not like there is in Rome. More a 'wandering' city. You can get everywhere on foot. There's the Duomo, and the David. Also the town hall is quite interesting. There's lots of nice squares, and there's some entertainers in the squares in the evening (more so than in Rome I thought).

You'll have an excellent time! Last year we did 4 nts Rome, 3 nts Florence, 5 nts Rimini, 2 nts Milan. We got nice weather, except in Rimini where it was dull for 3 days. We previously had bad weather in Rimini at same time of year though. Florence weather was really good when we were there.

Thanks very much for the info. I love Italy and can't wait to go back

Hi ....

We are going to Italy in September ... as part of it we will be staying in the Grand Royal Hotel in Viareggio. It is the only hotel that has it's own pool.

If you can get hold of the Magic Of Italy brochure or the Citalia brochure, they have a section about Viareggio.

You could look at http://www.citalia.co.uk website to see this information.
As I managed to get Bournemouth to Pisa flights for £35 each, I booked accommodation only with them. It was cheaper than going direct or using Magic of Italy. Expedia were cheaper, but didn't include the HB option.

Mark

We stayed in Viareggio last year (2004). We stayed in the Hotel Pricipe di Piemonte which was fabulous. We say the Grand Royal Hotel which is an equally impressive looking building. Be prepared for plenty of walking as the main promenade in the town is quite long and its fair walk to the Railway Station. Viareggio is an interesting town, not typically Italian but a good place to spend a week all the same. Imagine a typical UK resort but make it Italian instead, and Vireggio is about what you might expect. The only thing we didn't care for was the beach there, but we didn't go for the beach so we not too bothered. The beach is typically Itallian, row upon regimented row of deckchairs and sunloungers for miles and miles. The Promenade is built in such a way that you dont really notice the sea unlees you are going onto the beach. Some fabulous buildings in the towns, some of the Hotels are superb. Quite a few shops and a very nice 'green' forest area in the centre of town that takes you away from all the traffic. Check out the harbour, there are some boats there that would make a big dent in Roman Abramovich's wallet!Public transport is very good making it a good place to explore the towns and cities of tuscant from. Got to Pisa, Lucca, & Florence very easily by train.

I was in Viareggio last Friday but only for that day. I was staying in Pisa for the week and also went to Florence, Lucca and Sienna. I thought Viareggio was really nice and spotless clean. I took a pic of the Grand Hotel, I thought it looked like I might want to stay in it sometime.

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