A Secret Tuscan Island

This place outshines Positano, but the tourists haven’t discovered it quite yet…

Island?  Peninsula?  Both?  The most beautiful place in Italy that you have never heard of…Monte Argentario

Drinking a sunset aperitivo poolside, on a cliff overlooking Tyrrhenian Sea with views of the islands, I am left to wonder: Why isn’t this place overrun with tourists? 

While there is no train service nearby, it is only an hour and 45 minutes from the Rome airport.  Human settlement here predates the Romans, and perhaps even the Etruscans.  Argentario was named after the early Roman money changers (argento = silver). 

Still, more interesting is the topography.  Long, long ago, it was an island, part of the Tuscan Archipelago along with Elba, Giglio (famous for being the crash site of the Cost Concordia cruise ship), and Montecristo (hmmm… there may be a book about that island). 

While these other islands are in clear view at sunset, let’s return to our focus of Argentario.  Long ago it was an island, but eventually three sandbars rose from the sea, connecting it to the mainland.  Viola.  Argentario became a peninsula long ago.   Through the centuries it was ruled from afar, including by the Spanish and more recently by the King of Naples, but enough about the history and the land.  Let’s talk about why you should visit.

The peninsula is home to only two towns worth your time, the picturesque Porto Ercole and Porto Santo Stefano.  While both are lovely for an afternoon, or a meal, I recommend staying a bit further afield, in the midst of nature.

My favorite place to stay there is Boutique Hotel Torre Cala Piccola.  The views are breathtaking, on a cliff over the sea. 

The walk back up from the beach is also spectacular, and thus the faint of heart drive down to the beach rather than having the climb back up after swimming.  There are several spectacular beaches a short drive away, or a long challenging walk, but very rewarding. 

It is hard to find a more undiscovered, remote shoreline in Tuscany.  The water is a clear crystal blue, and several beaches are in small coves protected from the sea.  If you liked the hotel in season two of White Lotus, but prefer something away from the crowds, this is your place.

One morning during our walk we met a few local fishermen who just returned from a morning of casting from the shore.  It is hard to imagine a daily catch like theirs from anywhere else one the Tuscan coast, given the typical onslaught of tourists.  This area is simply too remote for most tourists.

The food at the resort was very good, but several nearby restaurants were outstanding.  One night we drove 7 minutes to Ristorante la Fontanini.  The food was amazing and were were surrounded by locals.  Our experience was capped after dinner with a sighting of a wild boar just down the hill hear our parked car.  “It’s a boar!”

Our drive back to the hotel that evening was a challenge.  Given the remote nature of the area, cell service is spotty, with roads that can quick change from blacktop to a gravel track.  After dinner, after the boar, we lost our GPS / cell signal on our way back to the hotel.  Being remote takes on new meaning when the road simply ends in the woods, on a dark, dark, night.  My advice is to download a local map.