Marina di Pietrasanta

After a week of aggressive sightseeing, we were all excited for a little R&R by the sea. We left Pisa and caught the train to the Tuscan seaside town of Marina di Pietrasanta. We had another rental house for the week, this one through VRBO.

As soon as we got to the house, we dropped our bags and walked to the nearest alimentari (little grocery store). We had 4 cranky adults and 5 cranky kids. We bought wine, water, potato chips and fruit… probably some other stuff too, but everyone needed an immediate pick me up. Much to our delight, the alimentari offered to drive our purchase up to our house for us – thank goodness, because we had a lot of water that would have been difficult to carry.

The next morning, we all woke up very excited to hit the beach. We had not packed beach towels in our luggage to save space, and I was very confident that we would have no trouble finding beach towels in a beach town. Wrong. We ended up buying the ONLY beach towels we could find – at a Quicksilver store in town. They were massively overpriced, but while in the shop, we learned that there were surfing lessons there a few times a day. Our friends’ oldest son ended up signing up for some for the week, and it was one of his favorite parts of the trip.

A few weeks/months prior to our trip, I reached out via Facebook Messenger to Bagno Roma Garden, one of the local beach clubs. I wanted to reserve a beach spot for our families for the week. Debora, the owner, didn’t have a way to accept an international payment for the necessary reservation deposit, so she just told me not to worry – we could pay when we arrived.

I wish I had taken more pictures of Roma Garden. Debora and her family were so kind and welcoming, the pool was loved by the kids, and the onsite bar and restaurant never ran out of Gelato or Aperol Spritz 🙂 The food was amazing too.

Every day, we would walk the 0.8 miles from our VRBO house to Bagno Roma Garden. Our beach spot for the week was a large tent which included a few lounge chairs, a table with chairs, and a few sling chairs – ample space for 9 people. We spent our days relaxing in the sun, swimming in the pool, playing in the sand, and eating countless gelatos.

We usually left the beach around 4pm. We all would take turns getting ourselves and the kids ready for the evening whilst simultaneously indulging in a lengthy aperitivo hour a casa. Even though we had a full kitchen, we ate out every night because – vacation.

I love an organized Italian beach. Having an assigned spot with chairs, clean bathrooms, a nearby bar for drinks and snacks, sometimes a pool, and a cared for beach usually with an accompanying Salvataggio (beach lifeguard) feels indulgent every time. Often, on a Family Adventure, it is hard for me to relax since I am in charge of all the plans and logistics, but sunbathing. on a beach. in Italy….. it soothes my soul every time.

After a lovely week of sun tans and relaxation, our friends departed on the train to Rome and the airport and their flight home. We had another 2 days in Italy – a quick train ride to Bologna to spend some time with our Zio Stefano.

What We Say About Marina di Pietrasanta