The beautiful coast of the Argentario between Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole on the western Strada panoramica is dotted with beautiful villas overlooking the rocky coastline and out towards the islands of Giglio and Giannutri. There are numerous rocky little beaches and coves to explore along here, usually with a short, steep walk down to the water. The villas are lovely, but they still have to truck in their fresh water!

Argentario was settled by the Etruscans, then the Romans, and was for many years the personal property of the Domitii Ahenobarbi family, whose most notable member was the Emperor Nero. In the middle ages it was the possession of Monastery of San Paolo in Rome, then passed between the powerful Aldobrandeschi family, then the Kings of Naples, Siena, the Spanish, Napoleon, and then finally to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, when it was finally absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.