Elba

Elba is the largest island in the Tuscan Archipelago and the center of gravity for any charter week in Tuscany. It is bigger and more varied than most guests expect, about 18 miles across, with a mountainous western half, a string of sheltered bays on the south coast, and a proper old harbor town at Portoferraio.

It is also the reason Tuscany works as a cruising ground at all. A Tuscany yacht charter built around Elba and the smaller islands nearby gets you clear water and short hops within reach of Florence and the mainland, which is a combination nowhere else in Italy offers.

What to see and do on Elba

Portoferraio is the main town and the best arrival, a Medici-built harbor ringed by fortifications with the old quarter climbing the hill behind. Napoleon spent his exile here in 1814 and 1815, and both his residences, the Villa dei Mulini in town and the Villa San Martino a few miles inland, are open and genuinely interesting.

The south coast is where the swimming is. Fetovaia, Cavoli and Sant’Andrea are the three bays most captains work into a week, all with clear water over sand and granite. Porto Azzurro on the east side is the second town, smaller and more relaxed than Portoferraio, with a good marina.

Inland, the cable car up Monte Capanne gives you the whole archipelago laid out below, and on a clear day Corsica as well. Elba also has a serious mining history, and the mineral museum at Rio Marina is better than it sounds.

Anchorages and mooring notes

Elba is well served for berthing by Italian standards, with marinas at Portoferraio, Porto Azzurro and Marciana Marina. Portoferraio takes the largest yachts and is the one to book first for August. None of it approaches Costa Smeralda pricing.

For anchoring, the south and southwest bays are the reliable ones in the prevailing summer northwesterly, and the north coast bays including Portoferraio’s outer roads work when the wind goes south. The island is small enough that switching sides takes an hour, which makes it forgiving in changeable weather.

The channel between Elba and the mainland at Piombino carries regular ferry traffic and deserves respect, particularly in poor visibility. Your captain will route around the crossing lanes rather than through them.

Fitting Elba into an itinerary

A Tuscan week normally boards at Portoferraio or on the mainland near Piombino, spends three or four nights working around Elba, and adds Capraia to the north or Giglio and Giannutri to the south depending on the forecast. Distances are short and the days are easy.

Elba also pairs naturally with Corsica, which is only about 30 miles west across the Corsica Channel, and with a run south toward the Amalfi Coast for a longer charter. For how the Tuscan option compares with the rest of the country, see our Italy yacht charter destinations guide.