Explore the Gulf of Baratti, Populonia, and Buca Delle Fate

  A circular gulf with a very long narrow beach with maritime pines and green meadows behind it.

We will drive along the Viale della Principessa that runs along the Rimigliano Park, in the direction of Piombino. For today there is no need to linger, having reached almost its limit in the area called "La Torraccia" we will continue for about 2, 5 Km until we reach the fork on the right that indicates Golfo di Baratti, an not-to-bemissed trio just south of Villa Ari.

• Explore the Golfo di Baratti | Populonia | Buca delle Fate itinerary.

• 1st Step 

We don't feel like recommending a stop for sunbathing on holidays and pre-holidays in August, unless you then have to complain about overcrowding.

Then again, the place is beautiful, the sea on certain days of flat calm is spectacular, even at this juncture worth at least a dip. Baratti is totally devoid of tourist settlements except for a few small houses, a few small restaurants, a small bathing establishment, a tourist landing for small boats, and of course the Etruscan necropolis. Those interested in wind surfing can find a well-equipped spot with a related school for apprentices. In the peak summer period it would be advisable to go there in the early morning or late afternoon, when the daily commuters will be more or less displaced, the really special atmosphere will remind us of places with more exotic names.

• 2nd Step

 From the end of the gulf the road climbs toward Populonia Alta and after a short stretch at a hairpin bend there is a small parking lot the "Piazzale del Reciso," if you have time stop the car and follow the signs, a steep well marked path leads to a wild bay protected from the winds, it is " Buca delle Fate." The magical name was given by the woodsmen who lived on the headland, they thought the hollows were home to supernatural beings. The effort will be rewarded by a crystal-clear sea with turquoise and deep blue features that reminds us in some ways of the more pristine Sardinia, where possible.

 As a variant we can take the path that leads from Reciso to the small church of San Quirico and then to the ruins of the monastery, continuing further we will arrive first at Cala San Quirico and then at Buca delle Fate.

 The coastal path continues to Spiaggia Lunga and Fosso delle Canne until Cala Moresca in a succession of solitary bays and spectacular views where at one point we will seem to "touch" the Island of Elba, strange to say, yet we are in Tuscany.