Looking for a villa near Florence?

Florence is the capital of Tuscany and one of the most visited cities in the world. It is also inland, which matters if you are searching for a villa near Florence and hoping to combine the city with the sea. This guide explains what Florence is and where Roc Villa Bay is, without pretending that a coastal house is a city base.

Where Florence is

Florence lies on the river Arno, in central Tuscany, inland from the Tyrrhenian coast. It is the regional capital and the centre of the metropolitan city of Florence. The historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the city is surrounded by hills that have been painted, built on and visited for centuries.

Roc Villa Bay is in Castiglioncello, on the coast in the province of Livorno. Florence and Castiglioncello are both in Tuscany, but they are not close in the way that a neighbourhood is close to a city centre. We do not describe Roc Villa Bay as a Florence villa.

What Florence is known for

Florence is the city of the Renaissance, and its historic centre contains an extraordinary concentration of art and architecture: the Duomo with Brunelleschi's dome, the Uffizi, the Ponte Vecchio, Santa Croce, Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens. The city was home to Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo, among many others.

It is also a living city, not a museum: markets, workshops, universities, restaurants and a busy street life. The centre is compact and best explored on foot, but it is crowded in high season and the major museums require planning. If art is the centre of your trip, Florence deserves several days, not a day trip.

Roc Villa Bay as a different base

Roc Villa Bay is a private seafront estate in Castiglioncello with four bedrooms, three private units, more than 4,000 m² of Mediterranean garden and two private accesses to the sea. It is a house for families and small groups, with a sandy beach reached by a private path and a rocky cove reached by stone steps.

A coastal base works if the sea is the centre of your holiday and Florence is an excursion. It works less well if you want to be at the Uffizi at opening time, dine in the city and walk home through the centre. We say that plainly because the alternative would be misleading.

Who should choose Florence

Choose Florence if art, architecture, food and city life are the point of the trip, and if you want to stay in the centre or near it. Choose Castiglioncello if you want a private house by the sea and are happy to visit Florence as a day out. The art cities guide explains how Florence relates to Siena, Pisa, Lucca and the smaller towns.

The villas near Tuscany index lists the other places we cover honestly.

Practicalities

We do not publish distances or drive times, because they depend on the route, the traffic and the season. If you are combining Florence with a coastal stay, write to us with your dates and starting point and we will confirm the practicalities. Start with the enquiry form.