Elba

Introducing Elba

Napoleon would think twice about fleeing from Elba were he exiled here today. Though it’s a bit more congested now than when he was charitably dumped here in 1814 (he engineered an escape in less than a year), the island is an ever-glorious setting of beaches, blue waters, mountain trekking and mind-bending views, all supplemented by some very fine cuisine.

While the dismal remains of the once prevailing iron-ore mining industry groan on, the inevitable dominance of tourism has motored ahead. Over a million visitors a year take the one-hour ferry cruise out here, and in Portoferraio, the primary arrival point, it sometimes feels like they’ve all decided to turn up on the same weekend. Elba is the largest, most visited and most heavily populated island of the Tuscan Archipelago – Parco Nazionale Arcipelago Toscano (www.islepark.it), Europe’s largest marine protected area – yet this 28km-long, 19km-wide island has plenty of quiet nooks, particularly if you time a visit for April, May or September. Avoid August at all costs.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009