Planning a trip to Elba
Visitor Information
Elba's tourist office (www.aptelba.it) has helpful, up-to-date info on its site. For information about outdoor activities in western Elba, also contact the Casa del Parco, Fortezza Pisana, Marciana (www.elbapromotion.it). It's also worth consulting private website www.elba.org. Note, too, that all opening hours in Elba are subject to frequent changes from season to season, and year to year.
Festivals & Markets
Elba puts on a wine festival in September or October at Le Ghiaie beach behind Portoferraio. During the July and August high season, every town puts on some sort of small festa; in Marciana Alta, it's an August medieval pageant that robes the locals in costume and fills the streets with artisans offering old-fashioned crafts. Portoferraio's weekly Friday market is held on Viale Zambelli.
Getting There
The easiest way to get to the island is by ferry from Piombino to Portoferraio, Elba's capital. Throughout the high season, it's best to reserve, especially if you're taking a car over. There are two major ferry companies, Toremar (tel. 0565-31-100 in Piombino, 0565-960-131 in Portoferraio; www.toremar.it) and Moby (tel. 0565-221-212 in Piombino, 0565-914-133 in Portoferraio; www.moby.it). Both run regular ferries (traghetto or nave) that take about an hour. Toremar also offers slightly faster (40 min.) but almost twice-as-expensive hydrofoils (aliscafo) on which you can't take a car. Toremar has the most ferry runs daily, especially off season, with hourly runs April through August and eight daily in winter. Year-round, there are three to six hydrofoils daily to Cavo, on Elba's northeast coast, plus three or four direct to Portoferraio, as well as three to eight daily ferries (fewer on Mon) linking Piombino and Rio Marina, also on the northeast coast. You can compare both companies' schedules quickly and easily at www.traghetti.com.
You'll find uncrowded ticket offices by the road as you approach Piombino and inside the port building itself (all well sign-posted). Prices for ferry tickets vary by season, starting from 15€ each way per foot passenger including tax. Cars with one person in them cost from about 40€ each way. Hydrofoils cost from about 14€ per passenger to Portoferraio or 10€ to Cavo. Hydrofoils cost about 50€ per passenger to Portoferraio or about 40€ to Cavo. You can park at well-signed lots by Piombino docks for 10€ to 15€ per day.
Getting Around
Drivers will have no problem, as the island's road system is reasonable, if a bit rutted. If you want to rent a car on Elba, the tourist office has a list of ten or so rental companies in Portoferraio. Happy Rent, for example, is at Viale Elba 5 (tel. 0565-914-665; www.renthappy.it). To rent a scooter or bike -- a slightly hair-raising way to tool around -- try Two Wheels Network, Viale Elba 32 (tel. 0565-914-666; www.twn-rent.it). Rates vary widely depending on season, but expect midpowered scooters to run about 35€ to 50€ per day and road or mountain bikes to start at 15€.
Elba is also blessed with an excellent bus network run by ATL (tel. 0565-914-392; www.atl.livorno.it). Buses leave Portoferraio from the main terminal at Viale Elba 22 (opposite the Toremar dock), with three lines servicing the west, east, and south of the island. (If you know the name of a beach between villages where you want to be let off, tell the driver.)
