The Malaspina castle watches from above — the fortress that was court to the dukes of Massa and Carrara: below, Piazza Aranci, the only great Italian square edged on three sides by a double row of orange trees, and the red Ducal Palace recall the small capital this was. Behind rise the marble Apuan Alps; ahead, Marina di Massa stretches sandy beaches toward Versilia.
The combination is the point: morning in a quarry or on Apuan trails, afternoon on the beach, evening of seafood and Colonnata lard. Vertical Tuscany and seaside Tuscany, in a single town.
Near Massa
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
