villa tramontalba
a base for exploreres

If you’re a history and art buff, Elba is probably not for you. But if you love crystalline beaches and stunning landscapes, water sports and also want to vary your lazy beach days with a few mining museums or historic homes, Elba is perfect: it’s like the Caribbean but right here in Tuscany! Here’s a little history and an itinerary of things to see and what we love to do on a trip to Elba.

 

 

Elba is very rich in iron deposits, and was used as a mine from Etruscan times onward. The principal port city is in fact called Portoferraio, in which is buried the word ferro, or iron. It passed through various hands during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. The Medici changed the mining system from tunnel to open air. Since the second world war, the island’s economy has moved increasingly towards dependence on tourism. Elba may be best known for the fact that Napoleon was in exile there from May 3 1814 to February 26 1815.That’s also a reason why Elba has devoted statues and other acknowledgements to hum.

 

 

Portoferraio: Villa dei Mulini di Napoleone

This was Napoleon’s public residence and certainly the most important Napoleonic site in Elba. Following the defeat of the French army in Leipzig and the subsequent Treaty of Fontainebleau, Napoleon, now in enemy hands, was forced to abdicate April 4, 1814. The former emperor arrived at Portoferraio on the evening of May 3, 1814 aboard the English frigate Undaunted.

 

He devoted himself at once to establish an efficient organization on the island, based on the same formulas and techniques bureaucratic empire. The villa dei Mulini was purchased and adapted for use by Napoleon by architect Paolo Bargigli, who demolished some windmills in order to make a lovely Italian garden, and built the always-essential ballroom on the ground floor. A few months later, Napoleon, settled in the small palace, which decorated by Vincenzo Antonio Revelli, the court painter of Elba.

 

 

The Island of Elba has many beaches and shores that are perfectly suited to the most diverse needs hobbies, and preferences. There are beaches with fine sand and beaches with gravel and pebbles as well as stretches of coast with rocks.

 

For families with children there are several stretches of sea with sandy beaches and shallow waters such as in Fetovaia, Lacona, Marina di Campo and Procchio.

 

One of the most beautiful beaches is the Biodola beach which is located within a charming bay overlooking the Mediterranean scrub. This beach is suitable for snorkeling and diving. Capo d’Enfola beach is the only one with an isthmus that connects it to a very suggestive peninsula. There is a large parking area where you can rent pedal boats or jet skis. Here, you can also find an old tonnara which has now been renovated and has become the seat of the Parco Nazionale dell’Arcipelago Toscano (Tuscan Archipelago National Park).

 

If you love sheltered and slightly wild beaches, you can go to Chiessi, Patresi and Capo Sant’Andrea which, among cliffs and sea beds to explore, offer a breathtaking spectacle.