Monte Argentario is a beachfront haven that has long been a popular summer destination for Romans and Tuscans alike The magnificent rock formation that juts skywards is off the coast of southern Tuscany. This region includes Porto Ercole, Orbetello, Porto Santo Stefano and, across the harbor on the mainland, Ansedonia. The high, rocky terrain of Monte Argentario, 37km south of Grosseto, is closest to wilderness in southern Tuscany. Its interior is mountainous; reaching 635m at its highest point, and the coast is divided into headlands, bays and shingle beaches. Much of the area is still uninhabited scrub and woodland. It is an excellent place for walking but is prone to forest fires.

Millions of years ago Monte Argentario was an island. Over several thousand years, inshore currents built up two narrow sand spits between the mountain and the mainland, creating a lagoon between them. The ancient town of Orbetello occupied a peninsula sticking out into the lagoon. The Romans built a causeway to link Orbetello to the Argentario, thereby forming a third spit of land and dividing the lagoon in two. Orbetello's strange location is about the most exciting thing about it, and on summer weekends the roads over the northern Tombolo della Giannella sandbar and through Orbetello become bottlenecks as tourists pile in to the resorts of Porto Ercole and Porto Santo Stefano.