Massa-Carrara, Italy, emerges as a top recommendation from Ingrid K. Williams of The New York Times for 2024. This region boasts a rich artistic heritage, including marble quarries, Renaissance masterpieces, and modern galleries. As part of the Uffizi Diffusi program, the renowned Uffizi museum relocates masterpieces to alleviate overcrowding, making Massa-Carrara a prime destination for exploring Tuscany’s cultural heritage.

A collection of works from the studio of the Italian Baroque painter Carlo Dolci will be exhibited this spring in the town of Massa, at the Palazzo Ducale, which also houses the government offices of the Massa-Carrara province in northwestern Tuscany. Art enthusiasts can also explore the surrounding Apuan Alps from which the marble for so many masterpieces—including Michelangelo’s David—was sourced, tour marble quarries, and maybe even meet a working sculptor carving on the side of the road.