Viareggio

One travel book said Viareggio Italy was “seedy but worth a look.” I can say it is not worth the look. The beach was dirty. Dirty as in trash in the water washing up on the beach and trash lying all over the streets. There was graffiti everywhere, but not just that, it really wasn’t family friendly. The beach was open to public access for walking only – if you wanted to stop and sit you had to rent an umbrella and chair for ten euros for two hours. The travel book talked about walking along the boardwalk, but you really cannot see the ocean except for a few “peeks” here and there between the buildings that rent the umbrellas and/or restaurants.

The only saving grace was The Palace Hotel. The concierge upgraded our room to a very nice suite since the air conditioning was only available in the suites (it was rather warm that day). And what a suite! It had a beautiful veranda that overlooked the beach (you couldn’t tell from where we were how dirty it was) and was connected to the cappuccino bar.