“My God, where have you been? Florence?” asks Stefano, the general manager of La Serena, a new hotel in the Tuscan resort of Forte dei Marmi (known locally as Forte).
It refers to my departure after breakfast on one of the hotel’s free electric bikes and it is already after 6 pm.
It’s time well spent. The terrain is flat, the roads quiet and a panoramic cycle path runs along the seafront to neighbouring Viareggio, with its Liberty-style architecture (the Italian answer to Art Nouveau). I’ve covered 32 kilometres.
When you mention Tuscany, images of medieval villages surrounded by cypress trees come to mind. Not so much of posh beach clubs, but Forte boasts a wide stretch of golden sand, lined with more than 80 private baths.
A 45-minute drive from Pisa, with the Apuan Alps as a spectacular backdrop, this fifteen-square-kilometre resort has always been a favourite among wealthy Italians.
Celebrity hot spot: Kate Wickers travels to the Italian resort town of Forte dei Marmi, which is set against the spectacular Apuan Alps.
Kate explores the resort’s pier (pictured), which stretches 275 metres out into the Ligurian Sea.
Tourism began here in the 19th century, but reached its peak in the 1960s, when celebrities such as Sophia Loren and Luchino Visconti visited.
More recently, famous faces to have visited the town include Giorgio Armani, Paul Smith and Andrea Bocelli, all of whom own villas. Naomi Campbell, Kate Hudson and Leonardo DiCaprio were all spotted holidaying there last summer. And Ukraine’s President Zelensky also owns a pink villa here.
With 28 rooms, La Serena is something of an anomaly among the elegant and somewhat stuffy hotels of Forte. Built in the 1960s, it has undergone extensive refurbishment. The small centre is packed with cafés (the terrace of the Prada-owned Caffe Principe is the place to be), restaurants and designer shops.
I walk along Il Pontile, a pier built in 1876 that extends 275m into the Ligurian Sea, to join the passeggiata (the Italian custom of walking while socialising) and then dine on spaghetti with seafood at the nearby Osteria del Mare.
Kate cycles along the seafront to neighbouring Viareggio, pictured above.
Kate checks into La Serena, above, a new hotel in Forte dei Marmi with 28 rooms
Actress Kate Hudson vacationed on the Tuscan coast last year
The next night at Gilda’s family restaurant, nonna is in the kitchen preparing desserts for the most modern of guests (try tiramisu “our way”), plus the best ravioli with sage butter you’ve ever eaten.
About five kilometres away, the hill town of Pietrasanta looks like an artistic extension of Forte.
“People go to the beach during the day and buy art here at night,” one gallery owner tells me. The town is packed with galleries and has been a mecca for sculptors for centuries.
Michelangelo worked here from 1515 to 1518, and Moor and Miró had studios, but it is the Colombian artist Botero who has left the greatest legacy. His huge bronze sculpture of a warrior in Piazza Matteotti is hard to miss, and in the church of Sant’Antonio Abate, his frescoes — Porta del Paradiso (Gate of Heaven) and Porta dell’Inferno (Hell), painted in 1993 — are a talking point. Among Botero’s signature plump figures, look out for Mother Teresa and Hitler.
Of Forte’s many beach clubs, Bocelli-owned Alpemare is the place to show off your Gucci bikini (though good luck getting a spot in peak season).
During the shoulder seasons of April, May and October, the atmosphere is wonderfully peaceful and I am invited to stay as long as I like to drink my Campari and soda. I take up the offer while enjoying the sunshine and glamour of the Tuscan Riviera.