Livorno
Livorno is the lively port city of the Tuscan coast, founded as an "ideal city" by the Medici and grown into a great cosmopolitan...
Updated 19 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
What to do in Livorno now
The story
The story of Livorno
The Medici's ideal city
Livorno was founded in the late sixteenth century by the Medici, who made it Tuscany's port and a modern "ideal city" ringed with fortifications and crossed by canals. Thanks to the Livornine Laws, which guaranteed commercial and religious freedom, the city welcomed merchants and communities from all over the Mediterranean, becoming a cosmopolitan crossroads of languages, religions and cultures. This open, mercantile vocation, free from the monumental weight of the ancient art cities, gave Livorno the honest, lively and popular character that still distinguishes it today.
Venezia Nuova and the canals
The most characteristic district is Venezia Nuova, built in the seventeenth century and crossed by a network of navigable canals, the so-called "fossi", once used to move goods between the port and the warehouses. Today you discover it strolling among bridges, palaces and glimpses of water, or on an evocative boat tour that lets you see the city from an unusual perspective. Among workshops, cellars and eateries, the district comes alive especially in the evening and during the antiques market, keeping an authentic, slightly faded charm.
The seafront and the fortresses
Livorno's symbol is the Terrazza Mascagni, a wide balcony over the sea with its famous black-and-white chequered paving, a perfect place to stroll at sunset. The seafront continues among villas, historic bathing establishments and the picturesque fishing quarters of Ardenza and Antignano. Watching over the port are the Fortezza Vecchia, on the water, and the Fortezza Nuova, surrounded by the fossi: both tell of the city's defensive and seafaring soul. From the sea also emerge the silhouettes of the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago on the horizon.
Things to do in Livorno
Livorno is lived between sea, markets and culture. The large Central Market, in an elegant nineteenth-century building, is the realm of fresh fish and local produce. Not to be missed are a boat trip along the fossi and a visit to the places linked to the painter Amedeo Modigliani, born in the city. The coast offers historic bathing spots and rocky shores, while ferries depart from here to the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, such as Capraia, and to Corsica. Nearby, the hilltop villages and the Pisan hills complete a varied and surprising territory.
Livorno's flavours and traditions
Livorno's cuisine is among the tastiest on the coast: the king of the table is cacciucco, a rich fish and shellfish soup served over bread, but also famous are baccalà alla livornese, the cinque e cinque (chickpea flatbread in a bread roll) and ponce, a hot drink of coffee and rum inherited from the international port. This popular, sea-based gastronomy, together with the frank and ironic character of its people, makes Livorno an authentic and convivial stop, far from Tuscany's more touristy itineraries.
Not to be missed
- The seafront Terrazza Mascagni with its chequered paving
- The Venezia Nuova district and a boat tour along the fossi
- The Fortezza Vecchia and the Fortezza Nuova
- The Central Market and a dish of cacciucco
- Modigliani's places and the ferries to the Tuscan Archipelago
To see
What to see in Livorno
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Routes in Livorno
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