SO WHERE IS THE MAREMMA?

You’ve probably never heard of the Maremma. And if you have, it’s probably the big, fluffy lovable dog who looks after the penguins on Phillip Island, which is coincidentally a few hours’ drive from my hometown in Australia! 

But the Maremma I’m talking about is in Tuscany. At first mention of Tuscany, you automatically think, so it’s close to Florence, Pisa and Siena, right? Well actually, no. Tuscany is one of Italy’s biggest (if not the biggest (don’t fact check me on that)) regions in Italy. And the Maremma is snuggled up along its southern border, which means it’s more than 3 hours from Florence and 2 hours from Pisa and Siena. But on the plus side, only 1.5 hours from Rome! 

There is a lot of debate about where the Maremma starts and ends. The Maremma itself is a storybook name that conjures up images of malaria, brigands and marauding knights (read the history here), but it’s not the official name for this part of Tuscany. Instead, we’re known by the boring official name of Provincia di Grosseto. The Maremma starts and ends in this province. In fact, my website and guidebook only focuses on towns and attractions within this province. But there are some that argue the Maremma stretches beyond it into Siena and Viterbo. 

Our location isn’t just about the geography. When you think Tuscan countryside, you think chianti, cypress trees and salmon-coloured villas. But that is Northern Tuscany. The Maremma is vastly different from its northern neighbours, defined by a history, heritage and tradition that is completely foreign to anything you might have experienced in Northern Tuscany. 

The Maremma is, for all intents and purposes, a region all of its own. The people are as country as they come. Our biggest city and capital, Grosseto, only has 80,000 residents, compared to Florence’s 1.1 million! Everywhere is small and provincial with beautifully preserved Renaissance and medieval homes and gossiping nonni sitting outside in flower-filled piazzas. Our food is humble and poor, defined by generations of working the fields and eating only what was seasonal. And our stories and folksongs are retold at town feasts and festivals. 

But more importantly, the Maremma boasts an incredible array of natural wonders from Italy’s most celebrated beaches, to snow-capped slopes, nature parks and Roman and Etruscan archaeological sites.

In fact, there is so much to see and do in the Maremma, you’ll be visiting for years to come!