Tuscany has one of the longest coastlines in Italy and is blessed with a chain of offshore islands between the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas. The archipelago is made up of seven extremely different islands as well as the almost circular Argentario promontory, which was originally an island itself. The islands are off the coast of the provinces of Livorno and Grosseto with the French island of Corsica to their west. All are protected as part of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park. This is Europe’s biggest marine park, although the land is protected as well as the sea. Some of the smaller islands are ideal for day trips; some can only be viewed from afar unless you have special permission to land, while others merit longer stays in order to fully discover their many charms.

Elba is the third largest Italian island after Sicily and Sardinia and is extremely popular with visitors for its wines, its historical monuments, its sandy beaches, its rugged granite crags, and its natural beauty. It is also the most famous of the islands thanks to Napoleon who was exiled here in 1814. Elba is part of the province of Livorno and is located just 6 miles from Piombino.

In the province of Grosseto, the Argentario is a wild and mountainous promontory attached to the Tuscan mainland by 2 long sand bars and via the town of Orbetello located in the middle of the lagoon. It is also an exclusive holiday destination where the swish ports are filled with luxury yachts. Ferries leave from its main town of Porto Santo Stefano for Giglio and Giannutri. The granite island of Giglio offers delightful sandy beaches and excellent snorkelling and diving as well as a very Tuscan medieval hilltop village. The most southerly island of the archipelago is the nearby Giannutri, which is much smaller, very peaceful, and not at all built up: there is only one restaurant! It has beautiful water and wonderful small coves as well as the remains of an old Roman villa. It is the most southerly island of the archipelago.

Close to Corsica and of volcanic origin is the hilly island of Capraia, which is covered in Mediterranean macchia. Capraia is very pretty with some striking marine grottoes and is a great location for diving. There are some Pisan and Genoese towers as well as the ruins of a Roman villa. Unlike the rest of the Tuscan islands, Pianosa is flat. Unfortunately guests cannot visit Pianosa’s lovely beaches nor its substantial Roman ruins because a prison takes up most of the island and special permission must be obtained before you can land there. The very beautiful Gorgona is the smallest and mostly northerly island in the group, lying in the sea opposite Livorno. It has an old fishermen’s village and a coastline of mostly sheer cliffs. Tourists are not allowed to land on the island or even sail within 500 metres of it, as it too has a prison. Montecristo, a name made famous by Alexandre Dumas in his novel ‘The Count of Montecristo’ has been declared a nature reserve and visitors need a special permit in order to land. Island cruises booked in Porto Santo Stefano in the Argentario stop there if you want to visit this rugged island.

Ornithologists and bird lovers will enjoy these islands as the citril finch can sometimes be sighted and there are many seabirds to be seen such as shearwaters, black-headed gulls, and the rare Audouin’s Gull. In terms of land fauna there are some interesting endemic species like the Tyrrhenian painted frog, the Sardinian tree frog and the marbled gecko as well as more common species like rabbits and hares. The cuisine is mainly bases on fish and seafood and there are some excellent and unusual wines to try. The climate is typically Mediterranean and summers are usually dry and breezy. We invite you to discover this surprising and remarkable side of Tuscany, far from the rolling green hills and the fortified villages that holidaymakers have come to expect, but equally beautiful.