Parco Archeologico di Baratti e Populonia
Central Coast & Elba
The Etruscan sites on display here are some of Tuscany's finest. Four marked walking trails lead through a vast green park, revealing a ruined town and…
Must-see attractions in Central Coast & Elba
Museo Villa Napoleonica di San Martino
Elba
Napoleon personally supervised the transformation of what had been a large farmhouse in the hills 5km southwest of Portoferraio into an elegant villa…
Santuario della Madonna di Montenero
Livorno
The story goes like this: in 1345, the Virgin Mary appeared to a shepherd, who led her to monte nero (black mountain), a haven of brigands. Needless to…
Livorno
No trip to Livorno is complete without a stroll along this seafront terrace with its dramatic black-and-white chessboard-style pavement. When it was built…
Parco Nazionale dell'Arcipelago Toscano
Tuscan Archipelago
The Parco Nazionale dell'Arcipelago Toscano safeguards the delicate ecosystems of Elba's seven islands as well as the 600 sq km of sea that washes around…
Livorno
The highlight of a visit here is the 19th-century building. Known as Villa Mimbelli, it has an ornately decorated interior featuring an extraordinary…
Parco Archeominerario di San Silvestro
Central Coast & Elba
The area's 3000-year mining history is explored at this intriguing industrial site in Campiglia Marittima, approximately 10km inland from San Vincenzo…
Livorno
Piccola Venezia is a tangle of small canals built during the 17th century, using Venetian methods of reclaiming land from the sea. At its heart sits the…
Elba
Portoferraio's loftiest highest hill is crowned by this largely intact, 16th-century fort (1548) – a key point, together with Fort Stella and Torre del…
Livorno
Livorno's seafront aquarium swims with black-tip reef and zebra sharks, seahorses, Madagascan spider tortoises, moon jellyfish and impressive green sea…
Livorno
Laid out in 1854 to prettify the wasteland around the city's great water cistern (unveiled in 1842), this lush public park is a peaceful green oasis of…
Santuario della Madonna del Monte
Elba
To enjoy an invigorating 40-minute hike, head up through Marciana along Via della Madonna to reach this much-altered hilltop chapel with its 13th-century…
Livorno
Constructed between 1704 and 1714 but extensively damaged during WWII and subsequently rebuilt, this church was named after the King of Castile. Its…
Museo Nazionale della Residenze Napoleoniche
Elba
Villa dei Mulini was home to Napoleon during his stint in exile on this small isle. With its Empire-style furnishings, splendid library, fig-tree-studded…
Livorno
This early-18th-century Domenican church with its thick stone walls and prominent dome stands sentry on the western side of Piazza dei Domenicani as it…
Elba
About 5km out of Portoferraio town, wander through the ruins of this 1st-century-BC Roman villa overlooking the sea at Punta delle Grotte and you will be…
Museo dei Minerali e dell'Arte Mineraria
Elba
Rio's mining history dates from Etruscan times, with open-cast working continuing right up until 1982 when the mines closed. This museum charts that story…
Calamita: Miniere di Capoliveri
Elba
Guided tours take visitors from a small site museum in Vallone, 11km south of Capoliveri, to the Genevro mine where magnetite was extracted until the…
Central Coast & Elba
Made famous by Tuscan poet Giosuè Carducci in his 1874 poem Davanti a San Guido, this avenue of 2540 cypress trees is 5km long and dead straight,…
Elba
The shingle-sand beach at Cavoli, just 6km west of Marina di Campo, is particularly family-friendly, thanks to its beach cafe, sun loungers, pedalos and…
Central Coast & Elba
Crenellated Castello Pasquini was built in the late 19th century. Today it is surrounded by lovely tree-shaded grounds and a great play park.
Area Archeologica della Linguella
Elba
The 16th-century Torre del Martello was where Napoleon was 'imprisoned' at the start of his fleeting exile on Elba in 1814 and the russet-red, hexagonal…
Museo di Storia Naturale del Mediterraneo
Livorno
Livorno's Natural History Museum is beloved of school groups and families. The highlight of the permanent collection is a 20m-long whale skeleton called…
Elba
This 17th-century church-turned-theatre was one of the grandest, most elaborate churches in Portoferraio when it was constructed in 1618. The Chiesa del…
Elba
Just south of Poggio, the SP37 winds to a well-signed picnic site at the foot of Monte Perone (630m). To the left (east) you can wander up the mountain to…
Livorno
Built for the Medicis between 1590 and 1604, this hulk of a red-brick fort in Piccola Venezia is a pale shade of its 17th-century magnificent self…
Central Coast & Elba
A stroll from the main street, Via Giacomo Matteotti, uphill along Via del Crocifisso, brings you to these cloisters, all that remains of the 13th-century…
Central Coast & Elba
Suvereto's crowning glory is this part-15th-century rocca (castle), abandoned in the 1600s and slowly being restored. The climb to it up winding village…
Livorno
This Franciscan church, with notably plain and stark facade, was built in the 17th century by foreign communities of the Catholic faith living in Livorno…
Livorno
This Greek Orthodox church was built in 1607, acquired its magnificent baroque facade in the 18th century and became a Catholic church after WWII. The…
Livorno
Livorno's huge concrete synagogue, built between 1958 and 1962, occupies the site of a 17th-century predecessor that was badly damaged by Allied bombs in…
Elba
The salmon-pink Star Fort, so called due to its shape, is one of Portoferraio's defining hilltop forts. It was commissioned by Cosimo l de' Medici and…
Livorno
Pietro Tacca's 1626 statue of Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany and four chained African slaves was commissioned to commemorate Ferdinand's victories over…
Elba
More than 150 Mediterranean species inhabit this modest aquarium, making it a good grey-day option. It’s 2km northeast of town, signposted off the SP30 to…
Chiesa di San Gregorio degli Armeni
Livorno
All but destroyed in a WWII bombing, the once-graceful baroque-style facade – gated and chained today – is all that remains of the early 18th-century…
Livorno
This Neo-Gothic Protestant church was built in 1864 for the use of Livorno's Dutch-German community. It's now permanently closed.
Elba
The dimly lit, 17th-century Chiesa della Misericordia is home to Napoleon's death mask.
