A characteristic of Viareggio is to have two very extensive green areas, giving an opportunity to enjoy a walk away from street noise or to practice outdoor sports without departing from the city center. The two beautiful pine woods make it even more pleasurable to stay in Viareggio. Thanks to their rich vegetation, are in fact a meeting place for pleasant walks and to shelter from summer heat spells. The two green spaces are called Pineta di Levante and Pineta di Ponente due to their location inside within the city.
The pine forest of the west (ponente) is the smaller of the two, but it is much loved by Viareggio and tourists because it is located at the center of the city. In passing by this green location one will find all is needed to relax and for fun: kiosks, restaurants, pet areas, bikes rentals, and children rides. Kiosks are comfortable and bike rentals also offer tandem hire and rickshaw, in addition to normal bikes. You can also rent a small cart led by a Pony. Inside there is a fabulous lake with swans, a daily destination for the wee ones. Tennis courts, mini golf, and boccie fields are also present.
The pine forest of the east (levante) offers two different realities. One is more mundane, along Viale dei Tigli for about 6 km., that goes from the dock of Viareggio to Torre del Lago Puccini, and is bordered by a long bike path and many kiosks, restaurants and pubs, all meeting points for young people that during the warm summer evenings spend several hours in fresh relax. Arcades, fair rides and toddlers spaces are available. Along the road one encounters the restored Villa Borbone, nowadays used as the location of exceptional exhibitions, where in the beautiful garden at sunset one can attend during meetings of great cultural interest.
The other reality is wilder. In the inside of this pine wood is the wildest part where you can play sports or just stroll to enjoy all the tranquility of this natural park. It presents multiple natural realities, including important environmental and natural hygrophilous forest areas and marshes that appear here and there in the forest. Proceeding from the sea towards the interior and leaving behind the beach dune environment one enters the area where during the migration periods some species of waterfowl such as teal or black heron can be observed. Proceeding towards the interior one enters a maritime pine woodland where it is possible to find shrubs like juniper. Going inwards there is an alternation of depressions called “blades” that during the period of greatest rainfall floods, and ancient dunes colonized by oaks and pines. The “blades” environment is particularly interesting for the presence of hygrophilous vegetation like the hornbeam, white poplar Rassina which climbs the Greek Periploca, a rare liana relict species of the Tertiary era.
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