Livorno — Livorno, Italy
A belle époque palace on the seafront, with a historic lido and a year-round swim spot across the road.
A restored nineteenth-century palace on Viale Italia, looking out over the water and the Terrazza Mascagni. Across the seafront road are the Bagni Pancaldi, a historic bathing establishment with decks and loungers. The hotel has no arrangement with them, so entry is the standard fee, though there is now a marked free route to the sea through the Acquaviva entrance, the one nearest the hotel, for anyone who only wants to swim. A little further along is la striscia, the free public swimming spot beside the Naval Academy: a narrow concrete strip in the water where everyone changes in the open, with a cold shower, a bar, and the church of San Jacopo, from where pilgrims once set out by sea for Compostela. The cove is sheltered enough to feel like a vast saltwater pool, though you can swim out past it to the rocks. The bagni close in September, as they do across Italy, but people swim here all year: off the rocks below the Terrazza Mascagni, from la striscia, and from points all along the seafront. Livorno draws far fewer visitors than the rest of Tuscany, which is a good part of the appeal.
