Camping Village Oasi

To see peak Tuscany, it’s a 20-minute drive to Magliano, a pretty walled citadel surrounded by olive groves and vineyards, with 13th-century churches, Etruscan ruins and world-class views to the sea from its ramparts. Equally worth a wander is the Tarquinia Necropolis (50 minutes), with tomb frescos showing the ancients’ views of life and death. Walk up the beach from the site (an hour and a half on foot, or a 10-minute drive) to reach the Parco Naturale di Maremma, a protected little paradise of pines, low hills and Mediterranean maquis, full of trails that lead to wild beaches and rocky coves ideal for snorkelling. Head in the other direction and you’ll hit the Oasi Naturale di Orbetello (five minutes' drive) and the Duna di Feniglia (25 minutes), an area of lagoons and dunes home to flamingos, clouds of butterflies, fallow deer and wild boar. If it’s thrills under or upon the water you seek, drive half an hour to Porto San Stefano, where a multitude of surf shacks and diving schools ply their trade. The town makes for nice cool wanders in the late afternoon, especially if topped off by ice-creams; it’s also where you catch boats out to the islands of Giglio and Gianutri. On this pair of Tuscan outcrops, wildlife, ruins, clear seas and shipwrecks are matched with secluded beaches and lush green hills to make for a cracking excursion; even the ferry ride’s a joy.