Hotel Il Pellicano

In its own cove in Porto Ercole, Il Pellicano has long been the Tuscan hideaway of choice for those in the know, including Kirk Douglas, Britt Ekland and the photographer Slim Aarons, whose glamorous shots immortalised the hotel in the Sixties and Seventies. It has a pool above the sea, its own rocky beach and jetty, and a boat to whisk you over to other coves along the Argentario Coast, with a 1,700-bottle-strong wine list and more glimpses of the Med waiting for you back at basecamp.