Location
Via Don Sebastiano Leone, 65, Pratoranieri, Follonica (GR) Italy
Follonica is the town on the Gulf that you can see from the resort’s beach: six kilometres of seafront with Elba and Punta Ala on the horizon, a centre that grew up around the Grand Duke’s foundries and two protected pine forests within the town itself. It is about 4 km from Golfo del Sole, ten minutes by car or a quarter of an hour by bike along the sea.
Follonica has no medieval village to visit: its history is more recent and more unusual. The town grew up in the 19th century around the Reali e Imperiali Fonderie (Royal and Imperial Foundries) founded by Leopold II of Tuscany, and the heart of the centre is still the former Ilva area, with the cast-iron museum, the theatre and the great monumental gate.
Everything else is about the sea, walks and outdoor living: the seafront with its cycle path, the Levante and Ponente pine forests, the Friday market and the Carnival parades in February.
In this guide you’ll find what to see in Follonica, what to do by day and in the evening, and how to plan your visit from Golfo del Sole Hotel & Holiday Resort.
Follonica looks out over the Gulf of Follonica, in the northernmost stretch of the Grosseto Maremma, on the border with the province of Livorno. On one side of the gulf lies the Piombino headland with Elba behind it, on the other the Punta Ala headland.
It is a young town: it became an independent municipality in 1923 and today has around twenty thousand inhabitants, a number that multiplies in summer. The coastline is mostly sandy, and its shallow waters have made it a classic destination for families.
Distance from Golfo del Sole: about 4 km – 10 minutes by car
Golfo del Sole Hotel & Holiday Resort is located in Pratoranieri, the northern district of Follonica, right on the sea. The centre is about 4 kilometres away: you can get there in around ten minutes by car, or by bike along the seafront cycle path, with no climbs.
The centre is easy to explore on foot. The main sights are all within a few minutes of each other: the seafront, the former Ilva area with the Cancello Magonale (the monumental cast-iron gate) and the MAGMA museum, the Church of San Leopoldo and the pine forests in town.
Follonica’s seafront runs for more than six kilometres along the gulf, and almost all of it can be covered on foot and by bike. From the squares on the sea, such as Piazza Guerrazzi and Piazza del Popolo, the view stretches as far as Punta Ala on one side and Elba Island on the other.
This is where everyone takes their evening stroll: bars, ice-cream parlours and restaurants alternate with beach clubs and stretches of free beach. To choose where to swim, you’ll find everything in our guide to the beaches of Follonica.
Follonica’s story is a story of iron. Ore from Elba was already being worked here in 1546, but it was under Leopold II of Tuscany, from 1834, that the foundries became one of Italy’s most important ironworking centres and the town grew up around them. Production stopped in 1960, when the works were moved to Piombino.
The entrance to the area is the Cancello Magonale, the great monumental gateway made entirely of cast iron, designed by Alessandro Manetti and Carlo Reishammer and completed in 1845, decorated with dolphins, cornucopias, laurel wreaths and a flame-shaped finial. It is the symbol of the town: it’s well worth seeing in the evening too, when it is lit up.
Beyond the gate lies the Parco ex Ilva, a green space among the restored old industrial buildings: the Torre dell’Orologio (Clock Tower), built as a chapel in the 17th century and transformed in 1839, the Palazzina del Direttore (Director’s House), the Biblioteca della Ghisa library and the Teatro Fonderia Leopolda, a theatre opened in 2014 in a former casting shed.
In the Parco ex Ilva, inside the Forno San Ferdinando, the oldest building in town, is the MAGMA – Museo delle Arti in Ghisa nella Maremma (Museum of Cast-Iron Art in the Maremma), opened in 2013.
The interactive tour, designed with children in mind too, explains how cast iron was produced and how a cast object came to life, from works of art to the street furniture that Follonica’s foundries shipped all over Italy. It’s the perfect visit for a windy morning or a day away from the beach.
Opening hours and prices change with the seasons: it’s best to check them on the museum’s website before you go.
Photo: Mongolo1984, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Alienautic, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A short walk from the former Ilva area stands the Church of San Leopoldo, built in 1838 at the Grand Duke’s behest. From the outside it looks like a neoclassical temple, but the portico, the openwork balustrade and the paired columns supporting the entablature are made of cast iron, cast in the town’s own foundries. Several of the interior furnishings are cast iron too, such as the altar candelabra.
It is the monument that best tells Follonica’s story: a church built from the very material that gave everyone work.
Photo: Fabior04, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Follonica has two pine forests right in town, the Pineta di Levante and the Pineta di Ponente. They are part of the Tomboli di Follonica State Nature Reserve, which protects the belt of dunes and stone pines that continues along the coast as far as the Puntone di Scarlino.
They are open to all and free of charge: shady paths, children’s play areas and the scent of resin just steps from the beach. In the centre there is also the Parco Centrale, a large green space created where the racecourse once stood.
Follonica is flat and easy to get around by bike. A stretch of about five kilometres of the Ciclovia Tirrenica (Tyrrhenian Cycle Route) runs along the seafront, also passing through Pratoranieri and reaching the border with Scarlino. From there the Follonica–Puntone cycle path continues, easy and flat, skirting the pine forest.
At the resort you can hire a bike from the Bike Station and set off straight from the beach.
Every Friday morning the Parco Centrale hosts the weekly market, with stalls selling clothing, household goods and local food, from cheeses to seasonal fruit.
In summer Follonica really comes alive after sunset: a stroll along the seafront, an aperitivo overlooking the gulf, an ice cream in the centre, events and shows in the squares. The most beautiful sunset is the one towards Punta Ala, with the sun going down behind the headland.
In February Follonica hosts its Carnival, a tradition dating back to 1949. The town’s eight rioni (districts), including Pratoranieri, the resort’s own, prepare allegorical floats, masked groups and their carnival queens, who parade on the Sundays of February along the seafront circuit.
Behind the town stretches the Parco Interprovinciale di Montioni (Montioni Interprovincial Park), around seven thousand hectares of holm oak woods between Follonica, Massa Marittima, Suvereto, Piombino and Campiglia Marittima, with about a hundred kilometres of trails for walking, mountain biking and horse riding. The park is also home to the Baciocca baths, built around 1809 by Elisa Bonaparte, Napoleon’s sister.
You don’t need the car for Follonica: pick up bikes at the Bike Station in the late afternoon and ride along the sea to the centre. Pass by the Cancello Magonale, take a stroll through the Parco ex Ilva and stop for dinner on the seafront. You’ll be back in a quarter of an hour, with the gulf lit up on your left.
From Golfo del Sole there are three ways to reach the centre:
There are parking spaces along the avenues and near the seafront. In high season and in the evening, parking near the sea may be paid and spaces fill up quickly: it’s better to arrive by bike, or to leave the car a little further away and continue on foot. Always follow the signs.
Start in the morning at the Parco ex Ilva: the Cancello Magonale, the Clock Tower and a visit to MAGMA. From there, a few minutes’ walk brings you to the Church of San Leopoldo.
Carry on towards the sea and walk along the seafront as far as Piazza del Popolo, stopping for a coffee overlooking the gulf. If it’s Friday, drop by the market in the Parco Centrale. For lunch choose a restaurant by the sea, then head back to Golfo del Sole for an afternoon on the beach.
Follonica is lively all year round. From June to September it is a seaside town in full swing, with events, bars open until late and busy beaches. In spring and early autumn the climate is mild, and the seafront and pine forests are perfect for walking and cycling.
In February there is the Carnival, the most festive time of the year outside the summer season.
Follonica is also an excellent starting point for exploring the rest of the Maremma and the Etruscan Coast:
You’ll find all the destinations in the section devoted to the surroundings of Follonica.
Yes, especially if you’re curious about towns with an unusual history. Follonica doesn’t have the towers of the medieval villages, but it has something you won’t find anywhere else in the Maremma: a town born around its foundries, with its cast-iron monuments, and a seafront where, in the evening, even the locals feel as if they’re on holiday.
From Golfo del Sole you can get there in a few minutes, even just for a stroll after dinner.
At Golfo del Sole you can choose between the hotel rooms, the bungalows in the pine forest and the apartments, all just a stone’s throw from the private beach at Pratoranieri.
Golfo del Sole is located in Pratoranieri, the northern district of Follonica. The centre is about 4 kilometres away: ten minutes by car, about a quarter of an hour by bike along the seafront cycle path.
The main sights are the seafront, the Cancello Magonale and the Parco ex Ilva, MAGMA – Museo delle Arti in Ghisa nella Maremma (the museum of cast-iron art), the Church of San Leopoldo with its cast-iron portico, and the Levante and Ponente pine forests.
Half a day is enough for the centre, the former Ilva area and the seafront. If you want to visit MAGMA at a leisurely pace, add about an hour.
Yes. The centre is flat and easy to get around even with a pushchair, the pine forests have children’s play areas and MAGMA offers an interactive tour suitable for younger children. With its shallow waters, the sea is one of the calmest on the coast.
The weekly market takes place every Friday morning in the Parco Centrale.
The parades of the districts’ allegorical floats are held on the Sundays of February along the seafront circuit. The exact dates change every year.
A stroll along the seafront, an aperitivo overlooking the gulf and dinner at one of the restaurants by the sea. In summer the squares host events and shows; the illuminated Cancello Magonale is well worth a stop.
Via Don Sebastiano Leone, 65, Pratoranieri, Follonica (GR) Italy
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