Just the Facts

Location: East central Italy
Nearest town: Portoferraio, Piombino, Grossetto
Favorite activities: Hiking, rockhounding, beach combing, bird watching

The South Side: Discover Italy's Bottom Half

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"Able was I ere I saw Elba." So runs the old palindrome, commemorating Napoleon's first exile. Elba, the best known of the seven volcanic islands that make up the Parco Nazionale d'Arcipelago Toscano, is a major draw for rockhounds—but also for tourists, more than a million of whom come to Elba in summer.If you're looking to avoid crowds, head for Capraia, a rugged lava cone whose interior holds a semitropical jungle and a crystalline lake. Montecristo, the home of Alexandre Dumas's fictional count, is similarly spectacular but hard to reach when the sea is choppy. Look for the Corsican seagull, a must-see addition to a birder's life list.

"Able was I ere I saw Elba." So runs the old palindrome, commemorating Napoleon's first exile. Elba, the best known of the seven volcanic islands that make up the Parco Nazionale d'Arcipelago Toscano, is a major draw for rockhounds—but also for tourists, more than a million of whom come to Elba in summer.