Riva del Marchese Beach Club: Below a Fortress Where a Poet Won His Pulitzer

Italy | Tuscany | Grosseto | Monte Argentario

La Rocca, the fortress overlooking Riva del Marchese from the hill above, began as a square tower built in the thirteenth century by Margherita Aldobrandeschi, Countess of Sovana, later passing to the Orsini family before Sienese and then Spanish rule expanded it into a genuine citadel of streets, squares, and courtyards. Its more recent history took a considerably different turn: during the Second World War, the fortress served as a prison for political prisoners, and afterward it became, of all things, a holiday home for the American poet Robert Penn Warren, who reportedly wrote some of his Pulitzer Prize-winning work within its walls. I found that detail genuinely striking, a fortress built and rebuilt across seven centuries for purely military purposes eventually hosting nothing more dramatic than an American writer working quietly by the sea.

Forte Stella, the star-shaped Spanish fortification flanking the beach club’s other side, remains the most accessible of Porto Ercole’s three Spanish forts today, its unusual six-pointed plan designed specifically to cover every possible angle of attack, now hosting cultural exhibitions and, somewhat incongruously, a genuinely popular wedding venue.

Grass Instead of Sand, a Genuine Rarity on This Coast

Riva del Marchese offers something I hadn’t encountered anywhere else on Monte Argentario, tiered terraces of manicured English lawn stepping down toward the water rather than sand or gravel, cool and comfortable underfoot even at the height of summer. Below the grass, a narrow shore of dark pebbles and rock ledges leads to the water, wooden boardwalks and step ladders making the transition into the sea genuinely effortless.

Water Clear Enough to Swim to Your Own Private Island

Facing L’Isolotto, a tiny uninhabited island roughly a hundred meters offshore, I found the water here exceptionally transparent, pale emerald near the boardwalks deepening into cobalt further out, and swimming the narrow channel across to the islet’s rocky shore became something of a ritual during my stay. Snorkeling around the rocks turned up genuinely active marine life, sea bream and octopuses settled into crevices in remarkably clear water.

A Full-Service Club Built for Comfort

Given how organized this establishment is, catering delivering directly to lawn gazebos and sunbeds, I’d expect dogs to need explicit permission here, consistent with managed Italian beach clubs generally, and I found the overall atmosphere suited a genuinely relaxed, country-club style day rather than anything resembling a public beach.

Handmade Pasta With a View of the Islet

The open-air restaurant served genuinely good clam spaghetti and octopus salad, and I found lingering over lunch with a direct view toward L’Isolotto one of the more memorable parts of the whole visit, the evening aperitivo hour carrying the same relaxed, music-filled atmosphere through to sunset.

Getting There and Settling In

Riva del Marchese sits in the Le Viste locality near Porto Ercole, reached from the Orbetello causeway or SS1 Aurelia via Viale Caravaggio toward Monte Argentario, then uphill along Via Panoramica toward the historic Spanish fortress before turning onto Strada del Forte La Rocca to the club’s private parking; a shuttle van covers the steep final descent to the lawn terraces, or a short scenic footpath offers a walking alternative. Anyone touring this stretch of Monte Argentario will find Feniglia Orbetello and Cala Mar Morto Argentario both within reasonable reach, each offering a genuinely different texture of this same peninsula.

Standing Where a Fortress Traded War for Poetry

By the time I left Riva del Marchese on my last evening, La Rocca above had settled into silhouette against the darkening sky, and I thought about how strange it is that a structure built across centuries specifically to withstand attack eventually became, of all things, a quiet retreat for an American poet’s most celebrated work, the beach below it now simply hosting an ordinary, elegant evening among the grass and the sea.