Tuscan Coast, Tuscany.

The Tuscan coast, the Costa degli Etruschi between Livorno and Piombino and the Versilia and Maremma extensions north and south, is where Tuscany meets the Tyrrhenian. The defining sub-region is the strip between Castiglioncello in the north and Castagneto Carducci in the south, where pine forest comes almost to the beach, the Bolgheri wine appellation produces some of the most ambitious wine in Italy, and the architecture leans paler and lower than further inland.

Bolgheri is the wine story. The DOC was created in 1994 specifically to accommodate the new wave of Cabernet-Sauvignon-led wines (Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Masseto, Guado al Tasso) that don't fit Sangiovese-based Tuscan tradition. The visit experience is rapid: tastings are short, cellars are modern, the producers are open. The avenue of cypresses that leads to the village of Bolgheri from the via Aurelia is one of the most photographed two-kilometre stretches of road in Italy.

Beach access varies. Castiglioncello has steep coves and clear water below pine cliffs, the most cinematic stretch, with the small luxury hotel Villa Godilonda as its centrepiece. Marina di Bibbona has long sand. Castagneto Carducci's seafront at Marina di Castagneto is broad and the family beach. Argentario, further south on the Maremman coast, is its own world of coves and small ports.

Inland from the coast, the hills rise quickly and the wineries sit on them, most coastal villas are fifteen minutes inland by design. The food gets fishier (the cacciucco stew at Livorno; the fritto misto at any beach club; the white pizza locally called cecìna made from chickpea flour) but the wine stays serious and red.