Portoferraio

Portoferraio is the main town on the island of Elba, off the Tuscan coast. Napoleon was exiled here in 1814 and spent ten months on the island before escaping back to France for the Hundred Days. His two residences, the Palazzina dei Mulini in town and the Villa San Martino outside it, are now museums. The town itself is built inside 16th-century Medici fortifications, with a harbour ringed by pastel-coloured buildings and small boats. The old town climbs steeply from the waterfront through narrow streets to the Forte Stella and Forte Falcone, both offering wide views over the harbour and the Tuscan archipelago. The beaches on Elba are scattered around the island, with Spiaggia di Sansone and Capo Bianco among the clearest water. Local wine, especially the sweet Aleatico dessert wine, is produced on the island. Seafood restaurants along the harbour serve catch of the day, and the pace is appropriately island-slow.