It has become a centre of international tourism and in 2014 it ranked 4th among the most visited destinations in Tuscany,[1] with approximately 1.3 million tourist arrivals, only preceded by Florence, Pisa and Montecatini Terme. It is interesting to notice how Castiglione is not only the first seaside destination in Maremma, but it is also the first in Tuscany. Strangely, although Castiglione is extremely popular among German, Dutch, Russian and French tourists, it is not particularly known by the British, so much that the British online newspaper The Telegraph described Castiglione's annexed fraction, Punta Ala, as a corner of Tuscany the British haven't found.[2] Due to its popularity, but also its cleanliness and high environmental standards, Castiglione is often referred to as the Switzerland of Maremma, diversifying itself from other seaside towns by a refusal to turn itself into an industrialised commercial destination, prioritising the nature and its wildness. These efforts were rewarded as Castiglione, as mentioned above, is the most popular seaside town in Tuscany.
