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FORTIFIED PORTO ERCOLE
Seaside Village secret on Tuscany Coast

I can’t say I’ve been in a more humid spot in Northern Europe than Porto Ercole in the late summer. At nine in the evening sweat was pouring down my face just standing still. But it was a good sweat. That distinction of a unique place in the world. “the high season” had just ended, and I had the quant small village all to myself and the friendly locals. A fishing village in earlier times Porto Ercole has become a yacht harbor destination on Italy’s southern Tuscany Coast, about two hours north of Rome and an hour south of Grossetto. (See UNIQUE ITALIAN FLAVORS - ITALT CUISINE & CULTURE TOURS)

The port itself is a spectacular deep cove of clear Mediterranian blue watched over by the ancient old town perched on a rock cliff and guarded by four stone forts on the hills surrounding. The peninsula is more like an island formed by Mount Argentario and tied to the coast by narrow ribbons of land. The narrow hilly streets begin in the morning to rattle with old men on beat-up Vespas with broken boat parts or blank-eyed fish balanced on the floorboards between their feet. There are a variety of villas around the coastline for the more luxurious of taste with beaches and fishing yacht charters and in the village itself, several smaller bed and breakfasts and privately owned pension style hotels for the frugal like the "Villa Azzurra" that are in the apartment buildings around the town square or just up the narrows village streets. However, if you're looking for hopping nightspots many of the hipper bars and restaurants are only open during summer tourist season. The rest of the year, plan on a relaxed birra with a local, talking about his dreams of coming to America to ride a "Fat Boy" Harley-Davidson instead of a Vespa. © Bargain Travel Europe

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SEE ALSO:

WARM NIGHTS ON THE BAY OF THE SUN
Laigueglia - Romantic Hideway on the Italian Riviera

SEASIDE SILENCIO
Villa Hotel on Italy's Liguria Coast

ROME IN RUINS - A Walking Tour

LAGO d'ISEO - HOTEL VILLA KINZICA

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