Viareggio with its lustrous sea on one side and the white peaks of the Apuan Alps on the other is famous worldwide for its fantastic Carnival. It is named after the Via Regis, the road that in the Middle Ages connected the town to Florence. Its foundation dates back to 1172, when the Lucchese and Genoese people, allied against Pisa, built the fortified fortress. The transformation from a simple port to a city was long and difficult. In 1822, Napoleon's sister decided to spend her holidays there laying the foundations of the modern day Viareggio with its seaside, coloured beach umbrellas, its restaurants and nightclubs. The splendid seafront promenade measuring more than 3 Km, with all its shops and Liberty-style buildings, the famous Bagno Balena, Caffé Margherita (where Giacomo Puccini loved to sit) are an integral part of a holiday in Viareggio. However, above all, Viareggio means Carnival. For four weeks the city becomes a mass of colours, masks and music abandoning therefore its traditional aspect substituting it with a more playful and joking appearance.
A few kilometres from Viareggio you can find Torre del Lago Puccini or rather "sunny beaches, fresh pine forests as well as the "lake which is always calm", as Giacomo Puccini defined it during a hunting trip with his friends near to Lake Massaciucoli. Immersed between the wonderful lake, the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Apuan Alps, this town is truly a corner of paradise that represents the ideal starting point in order to discover the most famous cities of art in Tuscany, but it is, above all, the right place to spend a relaxing and regenerating holiday. The composer Giacomo Puccini arrived there at the end of the 19th century, to find a picturesque, quiet location where he could allow his creative genius to develop. Upon his arrival, he was welcomed by such enthusiasm on behalf of the residents and artists that lived here that he decided to settle down here, firstly renting rooms and afterwards, with the money that he obtained from the success of his operas, he bought the house of his life, an ancient tower, from which the village takes its name. From his garden you can arrive directly to the landing-stage, from which Giacomo left for his hunting trips. The house can still be visited and it tells of the greatest operas that were composed here such as Tosca, Madame Butterfly, La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West), La Rondine (the Swallow).
Every summer, since 1930 an open air opera season is performer and which takes advantage of the suggestive atmosphere of the location and leaves an unforgettable memory in your heart. It is possible to listen to the music and to see the opera directly from the lake on board one of the boats that sail upon it.