Greetings
We have an option to stay in Elba for week. Is there enough to do and see there to cover a week?
Our interests are hiking, swimming,dining, exploring learning the history, culture and hopefully some language!
Anyone who has been on the island care to give some suggestions?
We (spouse and myself) prefer renting a cottage/ apt vs hotel. Is a car necessary or could we get by with public transportation?
Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions
Janellebc

Am going out for the afternoon will let you know later - been to most of the Med - Elba is the best IMO

Elba is not a big place and I would never stand in judgement on anybody who would like to spend time in small places. I know some people who could spend 4 weeks on a piece of sand in the Maldives - others get bored in the States after.

Elba is a warm and friendly corner of Tuscany - we have mixed welcomes when visited other parts of Tuscany - Elba is very low key and middle class friendly - its not rough and its doesn't have the snobbery of say Sardinia.

We stayed in Il Forno which is a small village on the beach around 5 miles out of Portoferraio. The villa we rented was two bedroom had steps onto the beach and was refurbished to a very high standard for Italy. (Ikea not 1950s kitchens as is the norm). The beach at Il Forno reminded me of those on Sardinia ie the best in Europe but not quite the Bahamas!

http://www.elba-vacanze.net/scheda.p...a=appartamenti

Strange I was clearing out the study yesterday and found the invoice for the villa!

There are 4 very good restaurants within an easy walk of the villa and one is literally on the beach.

Portoferraio is a great looking working port with good bakeries, cafes and higher end clothes shops. There are great walks round the castles and it never seemed to get too busy.

The other main towns are Porto Azzurro with its rnage of shops and good coastal walks and Capoliveri with it huge range of antique shops and galleries. It also has great views of the islands.

The only problem would be timing - in August the island goes totally crazy. It (for some reason) attracts every back packing, camping German around and the tone of the place totally changes. The island is totally overrun and by all accounts is not a great place to be. We stayed in mid September and the weather was 25oC - quietish but still everywhere open.

In summary we had one of our best holidays and combined the flight to Pisa with 3 nights in Lucca then the ferry over to Elba.

markrosy

Thank you so much for the info!
We will be traveling in late May early June so perhaps not so crowded?
Lucca is also one of our stops for a few days we didn't get enough on our last visit.
Just one more question.. car rental or could we manage with public transport?
Thanks
janellebc

We rented a car - I think public transport was pretty good.

The island is small enough to mean that you would not miss much if you used buses.

Be very very careful with the speed limits - there were no signs indicating what the limit was in any area. I generally followed the usual flow of traffic. ONE YEAR later I received two speeding tickets for a total of 200 euros - still haven't paid them but I'm going back to Italy this weekend for the first time since Elba.

As they say in Monopoly "Go straight to Jail".

I really think you could do a lot worse than the agency we used for a villa rental.

I think more than anywhere else in the Med the overall feeling was warmth of welcome. Greece and Spain seem to have been tainted by tourism other areas are plain snobby or flash or overpriced - Elba was really ....well warm.

Yikes!
That's a pricy set of tickets!
Thanks for the the warning. We will be careful.
Really looking forward to our visit, sounds like the perfect setting. We enjoyed Crete but the driving was INSANE!!
Thank you for your suggestions

There was a Fodorite (now deceased) with a travel web site and it had several pages about Elba. Some of the links are now defunct, but some will work.

http://wrtiii.net/www.twenj.com/elbamiglia.htm

http://wrtiii.net/www.twenj.com/elbakayak.htm

http://wrtiii.net/www.twenj.com/elbabackground.htm

http://wrtiii.net/www.twenj.com/elbahistory.htm

janellebc

I think what also made our stay more enjoyable were the very reasonable prices - this was two years ago but a typical breakfast of pain 3 au chocolat and 2 cappuccini cost about 5 euros. In Kefalonia this May we were struggling to get one cappuccino for 5 euros!

Try the chain of Pan-elba bakeries - you will put on stones in a week.

There are lovely walks around the headlands near Portoferraio which make their way through pine woods on the cliff tops.

One last word of guidance the last recorded attack by a Great White Shark .... no you don't want to know that but it was total freak and actually true! One fact that is totally shunned by the European press and most Europeans would be astounded to discover that they are out there.

markrosy

Can't say no to good bakeries! Hopefully all the hiking and walking (swimming dodging a shark or two) will help wear off the groceries!
Thanks so much for all the advice and direction. Our next assignment will be to find an apt near the sea!
Really looking forward to this adventure.