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Viareggio: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Lucca, Toscana. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Viareggio

The report looks at the exact point: landslide and flood risk, seismic zone, price per square metre for the area, services and nearby stops.

For example: Via Aurelia Sud 1, Viareggio.

Viareggio, Carnival, the Passeggiata and the yacht yards

Viareggio is the largest town in Versilia, the strip of beaches backed by the Apuan Alps. Its Carnival, with papier-mâché floats parading along the seafront avenues, is what makes it famous; the Passeggiata, lined with Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings, is the promenade where summer life happens. In the harbour basin, shipyards build yachts for clients all over the world.

The market is split between people who live here all year and those looking for a summer home. Between the centre and the sea there are period villas, apartment blocks and terraced houses; further south, Torre del Lago Puccini, on Lake Massaciuccoli, is quieter, and the pinewood between the two is part of a nature park. If you buy near the Passeggiata or the Carnival route, expect crowds and noise at certain times of year.

It is an older town: the average age is 48.6 and over-65s make up 27.4%. Istat, the national statistics office, counted 60,755 residents in 2023, down 1.8% on 2011, and households are small (2.09 people on average). Tourism shows in the services: 528 cafés and restaurants, 8.69 per 1,000 residents against 7.19 in the province, and 103 sports facilities.

Viareggio is one of 11 municipalities in the province of Lucca in seismic zone 3, while 22 inland municipalities are in the more hazardous zone 2; expected ground acceleration is about 0.121 g. In Art Nouveau villas and houses near the coast, look for rising damp and salt damage as well as the state of the structure.

The land is low, just a few metres above sea level, and behind the town lie the reclaimed fields around Massaciuccoli, drained by ditches and pumping plants. Flood hazard should be read for the address, especially towards the lake and along the canals.

Key points

  • Carnival, the Art Nouveau Passeggiata and the yacht yards.
  • Average age 48.6, over-65s at 27.4%.
  • 528 cafés and restaurants: a seaside tourist town.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration about 0.121 g.

Overview

Viareggio is a municipality in the province of Lucca, in Toscana. At the end of 2023 it had 60,755 residents, the second most populous in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Viareggio is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Only 11 of 33 municipalities in the province are in zone 3.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.121 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

Even in zone 3, seismic standards apply to new buildings: for an older building, ask about the design year and any structural work.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 1.8%. The estimated average age is 49 years, in line with the province. 27% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 26%). Foreign residents make up 8.1% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Viareggio declared an average taxable income of 25,539 euros, in line with the province (24,903 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Viareggio is in climate zone D, with 1,416 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 November to 15 April, for up to 12 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 2 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Viareggio has 43 schools and 20 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 37 grocery shops and supermarkets, 67 healthcare facilities, 103 sports facilities and 22 parks and green areas.

There are 1.1 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.8).

Public transport

We do not yet have open public transport timetables for this municipality: the report says so explicitly, without inventing distances.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 38.5% of the land in Viareggio, compared with 9.2% in the province and 6.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.6 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Viareggio is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Toscana in 2025. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list 10 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Viareggio, and 6 more have been cleaned up or closed. The report tells you whether one is close to the address.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Viareggio: the report checks the address against the ISPRA maps.

House prices

The Revenue Agency's price ranges per square metre (OMI) apply to zones, not to whole municipalities: the report gives the range for the address's zone.

Land registry

The cadastral maps for Viareggio are public: from the address the report finds the sheet and parcel number.

Liveability area by area

The Vicinalia liveability index runs from 0 to 100 and looks at the place, not the people who live there: services within walking distance, transport, green space, natural hazards, air, quiet, buildings and connection. Here it is worked out at the centre of each of the 226 inhabited census areas in Viareggio. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 76 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.3%
  • fair 14.2%
  • good 55.1%
  • very good 30.5%

Vicinalia index by census area, licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Data: IdroGEO ISPRA (2026), Istat, INGV, EEA, AGCOM, Overture Maps and OpenStreetMap.

The colour is the value at the centre of the area. For an exact address, search for it above: the free check looks at that exact point. How the index is worked out

Data sources

ISTAT code 046033. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.