FORTIFIED PORTO
ERCOLE
Seaside Village secret on Tuscany Coast
I
can’t
say I’ve been in a more humid spot in Northern Europe than Porto
Ercole in the late summer. At nine in the evening sweat was pouring
down my face just standing still. But it was a good sweat. That distinction
of a
unique
place in the world. “the
high season” had just ended, and I had the quant small village
all to myself and the friendly locals. A fishing village in earlier
times
Porto Ercole has become a yacht harbor destination on Italy’s
southern Tuscany Coast, about two hours north of Rome and an hour south
of Grossetto (see Italian
Flavors - Cuisine & Culture Tours).
The
port itself is a spectacular deep cove of clear Mediterranian blue
watched over by the ancient old
town perched on a rock cliff and
guarded by four stone forts on the hills surrounding. The peninsula
is more like an island formed by Mount Argentario and tied to the
coast by narrow ribbons of land. The narrow hilly streets begin in
the morning
to rattle with old men on beat-up Vespas with broken boat parts or
blank-eyed fish balanced on the floorboards between their feet. There
are a variety 
of villas around the coastline for the more luxurious
of taste with beaches and fishing yacht charters and in the village
itself, several smaller bed and breakfasts and privately owned pension
style hotels for the frugal like the "Villa Azzurra" that
are in the apartment buildings
around the town square or just up the narrows village streets. However,
if you're looking for hopping
nightspots many of the hipper bars
and restaurants
are
only
open during
summer tourist season. The rest of the year, plan on a relaxed birra
with a local, talking about his dreams of coming to America to ride
a "Fat Boy" Harley-Davidson instead of a Vespa. © Bargain
Travel Europe
Compare the best hotel deals in Porto Ercole Tuscany
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SEE ALSO:
LAIGUEGLIA - WARM
NIGHTS ON THE BAY OF THE SUN
SEASIDE
SILENCIO - VILLA BALBI HOTEL
WALKING TOUR - ROME
IN RUINS - A Walking Tour
LAGO
d'ISEO - HOTEL VILLA KINZICA
