The Arcipelago Toscano (pronounced Ar-key-pel-a-go Tos-ka-no) is seven islands off the Tuscan coast, five of them minor. Three are worth planning around: Elba (Isola d’Elba) the largest and busiest, Giglio the granite family island, Capraia the volcanic outlier closer to Corsica than to Livorno. May, June and September are the sweet spots.
Three ferry routes to know.
Piombino → Portoferraio (Elba)
1h 10min · hourly summer · Moby / Toremar / Blu Navy traghetto · from €15 foot / €55 car
The Tuscan archipelago’s main artery. Piombino Marittima connects by branch train from Campiglia Marittima (Rome to Livorno line). Book cars two weeks ahead for Ferragosto week; foot passengers walk on.
Porto Santo Stefano → Giglio
1h · 5/day summer · Toremar / Maregiglio traghetto · from €14 foot / €70 car
The Giglio route from the Monte Argentario peninsula (2 hours’ drive from Rome). Winter frequency drops to two boats a day. Costa Concordia hulk lay off Giglio Porto until 2014; the ferry crew still know the story.
Livorno → Capraia
2h 45min · 1/day summer · Toremar traghetto · from €24
The long haul out to Capraia, which is why it stays quiet. Winter: three sailings a week. Capraia has one village of 400 residents and the walking is the reason to come, not the beaches.
Three practicalities that catch first-timers.
- Take a car to Elba, not to Giglio, never to Capraia. Elba is 224 square kilometres; beaches are scattered and public transport thin. Giglio is 21 square kilometres and buses connect Porto, Castello and Campese well. Capraia bans private cars from tourists; you walk or you take the one taxi.
- Elba has 150 beaches. Sansone and Padulella beat the guidebook picks. Fetovaia and Cavoli are the classic guidebook shots and jam up in July and August. Sansone (white pebble, north of Portoferraio) and Padulella next door are quieter, clearer and closer to town.
- The wines are the underrated slice. Aleatico Passito on Elba (Arrighi and Cecilia are the two go-to producers), Ansonaco on Giglio (Altura is the name to know). Both are DOC, both are small production, neither travels well beyond the region.