portoferraio
 
PORTOFERRAIO is the hub of the island's transport system, has an atmospheric old quarter of stepped alleys and old churches, and lives a life quite separate from the hectic comings-and-goings of the huge ferries which dock nearby. All boats slide past the old quarter with its Medici-built harbour to dock at the main Calata Italia. The tallest building in town - an unmissable Fifties-style eyesore known as the Grattacielo (skyscraper) - rises ten storeys above the quay, and houses the island's main tourist office (tel 0565.914.671, www.arcipelago.turismo.toscana.it ): in summer, there's a desk up the first set of stairs (Mon-Sat 8am-8pm, Sun 8am-2pm), but in winter you must go up another flight (Mon-Sat 8am-1.30pm & 3.30-6pm). The Web sites www.elbalink.it and www.elbatuttanatura.com have a great deal of information. The Comunitŕ Montana, Viale Manzoni 4 (tel 0565.938.111), can provide a contour hiking map.

From the quayside, head up a short flight of steps to the old quarter's "back entrance", the Porta a Terra . From here, steep alleys fan out on different levels; follow Via del Carmine up to the picturesque little tree-shaded Piazza Gramsci , perched above the old port with a café and romantic views. Via Victor Hugo (the novelist spent his boyhood in Portoferraio) continues through another tunnelled gateway up to the highest point of the old quarter and Napoleon's residence-in-exile, the Villa dei Mulini (Mon & Wed-Sat 9am-7.30pm, Sun 9am-1pm; L9000/¬4.65; joint 3-day ticket with Villa di San Martino L15,000/¬7.75). The villa was purpose-built on a well-chosen site with grand views of the bay, and is a fair-sized old building - though undoubtedly not what the emperor was used to. Inside you'll find a gallery with Empire-style furniture, a Baroque bedroom with an absurdly over-gilded bed, a library of two thousand books sent over from Fontainebleau, and various items of memorabilia. The peaceful back garden looks down over the rocky headland.

Stepped alleys head down from the villa through the old quarter, passing the arts centre Pinacoteca Foresiana (Mon-Sat 9.30am-12.30pm; July & Aug also 6pm-midnight; L4000/¬2.06), with a small collection of paintings and Napoleonic ephemera. The heart of the old town is Piazza della Repubblica , lined with cafés. Adjacent is the rather drab Piazza Cavour, from where the old Medici gate, the Porta a Mare , heads through to the U-shaped port. In the shadow of the Martello tower on the farthest point of the U is the fascinating Museo Archeologico (Mon-Sat: July-Aug 9.30am-12.30pm & 6pm-midnight; rest of year 9.30am-12.30pm & 4-7pm; L4000/¬2.06), whose best displays are the various jars and amphorae salvaged from Roman shipwrecks, still full of preserved olives and fish.

From the bus station - round the side of the Grattacielo on Viale Elba - take bus #1 southwest into the hills for 5km to the Villa di San Martino (Tues-Sat 9am-7.30pm, Sun 9am-1pm; L9000/¬4.65; joint three-day ticket with Villa dei Mulini L15,000/¬7.75). The arrow-straight avenue leading up to the house is designed to impress, even if the villa itself - bought by Napoleon's sister Elise just before the emperor left the island for good - is a rather chilly affair, with a drab Neoclassical facade enlivened with "N" motifs. The monograms were the idea of Prince Demidoff, husband of Napoleon's niece, and it was he who created the Napoleonic museum. The interior halls of the Neoclassical palazzo are devoted to temporary art exhibitions. Instead, head left of the facade to the ticket office, and then up flights of stairs to the back of the site; here you'll find Napoleon's modest summer retreat. Of the handful of Empire-style rooms, the best is the Sala Egizio , decorated with Nilotic scenes to commemorate the Egyptian campaign.

West of Portoferraio, buses head 7km to ÉNFOLA , a headland flanked by sandy beaches, and then wind above the coast to the village at the end of the road, VITICCIO . From here a footpath covers ground inaccessible to vehicles for 2km south across a prominent headland to picturesque SCAGLIERI , fronted by a shop, a bar (which rents bikes and mopeds) and a pizzeria-restaurant. The beaches here are some of the best on the island. Just round the bay sits BIODOLA - little more than a road, a couple of hotels and a superb stretch of white sand. The main town of the area, PROCCHIO , lies around the next headland to the sout: with its traffic, buzzing bars and shops, it's not a place to get away from it all, but the sea is good and the white sand similarly excellent.