sharon212

My husband and I will be renting a car in Rome near our hotel in Campo di Fiori and driving up the coast to Piombino, where we have a ferry to Portoferraio on Elba booked for 3:00pm. Does anyone have an idea of how long the drive will take? We are not slow drivers, but on the other hand, we're not European either. thanks, Sharon

ellenem

You can use googlemaps, mappy.com, or viamichelin to estimate the drive time.oglemaps estimates 261 km, or about 3 hours 20 minutes.

sharon212

thank you....will we have to take traffic into consideration?

markrosy

Which day Sharon?

BTW - great choice, you are the only other person I have come across on this site to venture to Elba. It's beautiful, where are you staying?

sharon212

Thanks, markrosy for the thumbs up...we're staying at the Hotel Sant'Andrea in Marciano. We're spending 5 days in Rome before the three days on Elba, and then are meeting a group of people afterward to spend a week at a villa about 30 km south of Firenze. We like seacoast a lot, and as much as we might have liked to go south to the Amalfi coast, it seemed ridiculous to go in an opposite direction. After researching a bit, Elba sounded really interesting and a bit different and the Hotel Sant'Andrea looked and sounded wonderful. I hope we're not wrong.

zeppole

If you are traveling in summer, traffic along the coast is something you very much need to take into account, no matter which day you are traveling.

You should post your travel date.

zeppole

PS: On a recent thread, markrosy posted about driving in Italy in August:

"The WHOLE of Italy closes in August - I do business with them and it is a nightmare if deliveries don't leave the country by mid-July then you are not going to get them by early September.

"This total holiday leaves the roads absolutely full - we have spent 6 hours in August on trips that would have been 1 hour in May. We once queued from Florence to Livorno - look at google maps on size that one up. What people are syaing is that Italy in August is a nightmare of biblical proportions."


I disagree with markrosy about that (I live in Italy), so if it turns out your travel date is in August, you might want to search wider for advice and not get hysterical. I would e-mail your Elba hotel and ask them.

sharon212

Sorry about not posting the departure date - I know it makes a difference but now I'm getting nervous. We are picking up our car as early as possible on Wednesday, July 28. I understand the concept of folks leaving for vacation and clogging roads (we live in Manhattan), so we're hoping to leave Rome by 9 - 10am. Hopefully, that will give us ample time - what do you think? The hotel on Elba has been very helpful and responsive, so emailing them is a good idea. Of course, no one can guarantee traffic, but the one place we're really concerned about is getting to the ferry on time. Zeppole, thanks for your input, as well. Makes me feel a bit better. Sharon

markrosy

sharon

I would set off early from Rome, there are at least two good stop offs on the way and if you do get stuck in traffic at least you will not be under pressure. When we crossed to Elba in May it was fairly easy to miss one ferry and bump onto the next. In late July that may be more difficult. Clearly it is obvious that Wednesday morning at any time of the year should be a good time to travel.

I wouldn't aim to use Piombino as a stop, it is pretty dire - one scruffy town surrounded by a huge industrial estate. The Alberese national park, to the south, is beautiful with beach walks (pine trees falling into the sea used for many postcard shots).

http://www.exuviaphoto.it/Articolo/O...ogo/Un0702.jpg

Monte Argentario is lovely and its two towns are a throw back to the 1950s (used for filming the Talented Mr Ripley) and a base for many of the areas older sailing yachts.

http://www.isolarossa.co.uk/images/p...-picheader.jpg

Elba :

Be careful when driving around the island particularly in the towns - there are a lot of hidden speed cameras. The locals seem to speed around but they probably know where they are!

Portoferraio is a great place to land as unlike your point of departure (Piombino) it has a lot going for it. There are lots of cafes, decent shops and restaurants. The prices were all reasonable when we were last there 2 years ago. Panelba the chain of bakeries on Elba offer really good value and quality. We paid 5 euros for 3 pain au chocolat and 2 cappucinos - this after just having left Sardinia where we were charged 9 euros for ONE cappucino in Porto Cervo.

Three days is a perfect time to be on the island as clearly it isn't that large. The coast is different to the mainland which in this area is made up of mainly sweeping bays. On Elba hills plunge straight down into the sea. Your hotel is in a lovely area indeed the whole coast from Portoferraio to Marciana is pretty stunning. The coast further west to the end of the island becomes a little boring.

For a day trip try Capoliveri which has a large of art galleries and incredible views over the sea.

I have been selling this trip to others for some time. We have stayed in Lucca/Pienza and been over to Elba to get some coast. It is a great combination.

ps keep your eyes open whilst on the ferry - the seas in the area have abundant sealife - we saw whales and the last reported incident with a Great White in Europe was.... off Piombino.

sharon212

markrosy, your messages are making me very happy that we chose the way we did. thank you so much for your input and suggestions. The 2nd link you added showed a picture of Port Ercole, where in 1984, I stopped with a friend for a lovely lunch - maybe if, by some fortune, we arrive early enough, we'll be able to do that again. I will keep your suggestions in mind, and will certainly keep my eyes open for sealife on the ferry. BTW, sorry - Marciana, not Marciano.