Land: Italy 
Region: Tuscany 
Surface: 224 km² 
Capital: Portoferraio 
Inhabitants: +/- 30.000 
Highest point: Monte Capanne 1019m 

Elba is known for her green nature, impressive mountains and beautiful coastline. Along the coastline you will find many beautiful small beaches and impressive rock formations. Inside the mainland of the island you have many beautiful nature reserves and breath taking mountains with the Monte Capanne as the flagship with an altitude of 1019 meter. Many people heard about Elba because of the exile of Napoleon Bonaparte. Who has already been to Elba will agree to the question if it has really felt like a prison to Napoleon.
Veel mensen zullen Elba echter kennen van de periode dat Napoleon Bonaparte hier in ballingschap leefde. Wie al reeds op dit prachtige eiland geweest is, zal zich afvragen of Napoleons ballingschap wel zo’n straf voor hem was.

Elba is an Italian island in the Mediterean sea and is the biggest island of the Tuscan Archipel. Due to the amazing climate Elba is a perfect holiday island. Not only due to the temperatures that already in May reach above the 20 degrees but also because it is an island with a very divers landscape. The surface of the Island of Elba is 224 square kilometers and with a coastline of 147 kilometers long you can almost always hear the sound of the waves.

The island is best reachable from Piombino located on the mainland of Italy. In Piombino big ferry ships are leaving multiple times per day to Portoferaio Elba. The transfer by ferry will take about an hour. While Elba is coming closer you will be blown away by how beautiful the island is. The rough coastline, the green hills and the mountains in the distance will directly bring you in the holiday mindset.

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History of Elba

It takes us back tot he 5th century before Christ when the first inhabitants of Elba were discovered. The etrusks come over to make profit of the many iron that the island offered and made their way over the whole island. Later the Romans, Saracs and many big and powerful families have ruled of Elba, one of them was the famous family Medici from Florence, they all left multiple hsitory marks and places all over the island.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The France Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte has been exile at the island of Elba from may the 4th 1814 till february the 26th 1815. After Napoleon has lost many battles in Russia the English detroned him and relegated him to Elba. He was named Emperor of the Island and was left at the island with an army of 600 men under his command. He reorganised the island what made an amazing increase on the economy of the island. Napoleon always felt disrespected by the exile at the island of elba en after 10 months only he found a way to escape together with his 600 men strong army.

Now almost 200 years after the death of Napoleon in Sint Helena, you can find many history and monumental places for Napoleon on Elba, you can even find a copy of his Sarcofaag. At the island you can find 3 museums about Napoleon in one of them you can find a detailed mask of Napoleon. The other two are the 2 houses were Napoleon stayed during his period on the Island of Elba.

Elba now the days

Right now Elba is living of tourism and wineries. Most of the tourism is coming from Germany, the Netherlands and the last years we see more and more Northern European countries making their way here. The reasons are simple, Elba is an outstanding Island that offers so much from beautiful beaches, active hikes, days in the saddle, outstanding italian food & wine to beautiful little historic villages. You’ll feel the island vibe once you enter!

Climate Elba

Elba has a Mediterranean climate. The island has warm summers and chilly winters. In the image below you can see the average temperature of the air and the water per month: