mindy

Our family is travelling to Rome, Florence and Venice in July, and we all love to swim. I cannot seem to locate an upscale hotel in Florence with a pool. Since we are Californians, we'd also like to spend some time at the beach. What is the drive time from either Rome or Florence to a decent, family swimming beach? Also, we love Portofino. What is the drive time from Florence to Portofino?

RichB

Viareggio is coastal resort town about 60 miles from Florence. Portofimo's another 80. Also, the Spa town of Montecatini Terme is only about 15 miles from Florence. Lots of hotels with pools.

Dawn

My husband is from Viareggio and it is beautiful. Great beaches and nightlife. You can get from Florence to Viareggio in a hour. The water is great.

jennifer

Mindy, I would vote for time in Viareggio. You can rent umbrellas, chairs, changing rooms, etc. Restaurants and shops are very close by. We also visited the beach just west of Rome. While it was off season, it appeared to be a bit "dated" in comparison to Viarregio.

Joanna

I would second (or third!) Viareggio instead of Rome's beaches. I'll never forget an Italian movie I saw, made in the '70s, about a woman stuck in a colossal traffic jam for hours on her way to the beach. I can't remember the name of the film, or if she ever made it to the beach! I assume it's not too far from the truth either for summer weekends/month of August in Italy.

Joelle

I am currently investigating on the same subject, since we shall be in Florence in August. <BR>I found upscale hotels with a swimming pool: Villa San Michele (in Fiesole, anearby suburb) but this is very expensive, Villa Medici and Grand Hotel Minerva are located in downtown Florence and also have a swimming pool. <BR>Two more possible hotels : Villa La Massa (15 mn from downtown) and Grand Hotel Villa Cora (3 km from downtown) are former mansions and do have a swimming pool. Hope this helps.