Montecatini Terme

Montecatini Terme is Italy's grand spa — UNESCO-listed among the Great Spa Towns of Europe, and the only Italian member of that Belle Époque league. Its thermal parks unfold like a permanent exposition: the Tettuccio's monumental colonnades and painted ceramic fountains, where the waters are still ceremonially poured; the Excelsior and Tamerici pavilions among the planes and palms; the whole Liberty-style ensemble built for a Europe that took its health socially, orchestras included — café-concert music remains part of the morning ritual, as prescribed a century ago.

The guest book is operatic in the strict sense: Verdi returned summer after summer, Puccini worked here between premieres — the spa's leisure was the workshop of melodies — and Leoncavallo, Pagliacci's composer, made the town his home and died here in 1919; their busts and memories furnish the parks, and the town's concert seasons keep faith with its composers' patronage.

Above the pavilions, the funicular — one of Italy's oldest — climbs to Montecatini Alto, the medieval balcony village whose piazza serves aperitifs with the whole Valdinievole below; around, Tuscany does the rest, with Lucca, Pistoia and Florence in easy reach. Waters for the liver, Puccini for the soul, a hill village for sunset: Montecatini composed the cure as a complete work.