The coast, in May and October

Tuscany's coast is, for most of the year, either empty or impossible. July and August are crowded and hot; December through March are beautiful and closed. There are two months that are neither — and they are not the ones the calendar suggests.

May, on the Maremma, is sharp and green. The macchia is in flower, the sea is cold but swimmable from the third week, and the small towns — Capalbio, Magliano, Pitigliano just inland — are open but quiet. You can have a long lunch at a place that, in August, you couldn't book in March.

October is the other one. The water is still warm — warmer, in fact, than in June. The light is low and long. The Argentario, in particular, is at its best: the road from Porto Santo Stefano around to Porto Ercole, in late afternoon, is one of the great drives in this part of Italy.

Two of our coastal houses, both with private sea access, take bookings in these windows that they would not take in summer. Worth asking.