Isola Elba and the Cities of Tuscany
Tuscany, Italy
April 23rd - 28th, 2026
Pisa
After six beautiful days in Liguria, we left La Spezia in the morning and drove south into Tuscany. Our first stop was one of the most iconic sites in all of Italy - the city of Pisa and its famous leaning tower.
Located just outside of the medieval city of Pisa, the Piazza del Duomo also known as the Campo dei Miracoli (the Field of Miracles) truly is a miraculous place. This ensemble of four gleaming white Romanesque buildings sitting on an immaculate green lawn (the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Cemetery and the Tower itself), is considered to be one of the great medieval architectural achievements in all of Europe. It became one of Italy's first UNESCO world heritage sites in 1987.
The Cathedral, which is the oldest of the four buildings, was begun in 1063. It is the masterpiece of the Pisan Romanesque style, with its white marble facade, inlaid colored stones and the iconic black and white stripes created by alternating white and dark marble. The central dome was one of the first of its kind in medieval Europe, predating the more famous dome of Florence Cathedral by nearly four centuries.
The cathedral's interior is equally impressive. The beautiful golden mosaic over the main altar was created in 1302 and survived a major fire in the 16th century. Some of the Corinthian columns lining the main nave actually came from the mosque of Palermo after the Pisans attacked the Muslims in Sicily in 1064.
In front of the main facade of the cathedral stands the perfect cylinder of the Baptistery, which was constructed between 1152 and 1363 and is the largest of its kind in Italy.
And then there is the Tower itself - the 56 meter high Campanile made of white marble and tilting at a very precarious looking angle of 4 degrees. The tower was begun in 1173, but it took nearly 200 years to complete, partly because construction had to be stopped several times as the tower began to lean almost immediately due to an unstable foundation.
It is possible to climb to the top of the tower for sweeping views across the city and the surrounding plain. Climbing up the spiral staircase inside is a slightly unsettling experience, and actually made me feel a bit nauseated, since the tilt feels even stronger inside.
The fourth and least famous of the great buildings of the piazza is the Camposanto, the monumental walled cemetery with its long elegant Gothic cloisters. Construction began in 1277 and was largely complete by the middle of the 14th century. There is a gallery of famous medieval Italian scholars, including one of my heroes - the great medieval mathematician Fibonacci, who was born in Pisa around 1170.
The Camposanto's interior walls are covered in beautiful medieval frescoes, which sadly were severely damaged when a shell struck the roof of the Camposanto during World War II.
During its medieval heyday the city of Pisa was one of the great maritime republics of Italy, rivaling Genoa and Venice for control of Mediterranean trade. It is the wealth created by Pisa's aggressive maritime expansion, that funded the construction of these magnificent monuments. We did not have enough time to visit the rest of the city, instead we drove 20 kilometers to a smaller, rather different but equally amazing city.
Lucca
The city of Lucca does not have world-famous landmarks like Pisa, but it has something even rarer - an almost perfectly intact medieval city that somehow has not been discovered by the hordes of tourists, that descend on places like Pisa, Florence and Siena. The whole city is still enclosed within enormous Renaissance city walls. Built between 1513 and 1645 the walls are so wide and solid that they have been converted into a tree-lined promenade, used by the locals for evening strolls and leisurely bike rides.
The medieval city inside the walls seems like it has been forgotten by time. The streets follow the grid of the original Roman settlement. This can be seen most clearly in the elliptical shape of the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro. The medieval piazza was built directly on the foundations of a Roman amphitheater, the curved shape of it was perfectly preserved by the surrounding buildings.
The best place to see the entire city from is the Torre Guinigi, a 14th century tower, which has trees growing on its roof.
The incredible views from up there probably haven't changed much in the last 500 years, as you cannot see a single modern building inside the city walls.
The Cathedral of San Martino is a beautiful example of Lucca's Romanesque architecture.
The cathedral also houses two extraordinary items. One is the famous Volto Santo, a dark wooden crucifix with a fully dressed Christ, that was carved in the late 8th century. The Volto Santo has been venerated by pilgrims from all across Europe since medieval times. The second item is considered to be one of the great masterpiece of 15th century sculpture. The sarcophagus of Ilaria del Carretto is an exquisite marble sculpture of the young noble lady, who was the wife of the Lord of Lucca and passed away at the tender age of 24.
Elba
After one night in Lucca we headed south again to the coastal town of Piombino, which is the port where the ferries to Elba leave from. Isola Elba lies only 15 kilometers off the Tuscan coast and the car ferry from Piombino takes about an hour. We enjoyed the beautiful views of the hilly island from the top deck of the ferry.
Isola Elba is the largest island in the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia, although much smaller than those two. Despite its beautiful and varied landscapes of high mountains, sandy beaches and dense forests, covered in vineyards and medieval hilltop villages, Elba is still not overrun by tourists and retains a relaxed and laid back vibe. The island has been inhabited and highly valued since antiquity, the main reason for which were its rich iron ore deposits, which have been mined continuously since the Etruscan period. The last iron mine on the island shut down only in 1984.
The ferries arrive at Portoferrario, which is the largest city on the island. We stayed on the south side of Elba in a gorgeous hotel overlooking the small harbor town of Porto Azzurro. This was the view from my balcony:
After checking into the hotel, I wanted to head out for a short walk through town, but when I saw the beautiful mountain with the large cross on top behind town, I became a bit more ambitious and decided to climb it. The climb up took about an hour, but was well worth it for the incredible views from the top.
Throughout the centuries, Elba was held by many different powers, from the Etruscans and Romans to the Pisans, Genoese and the Spanish, who all left their mark on the island in the form of various fortifications and watch towers along the coast. An example of a Spanish fortress is the Fort San Giacomo sitting above Porto Azzurro, which was built in the 17th century and later used as a prison.
The next day we headed out to the peninsula on the southern end of the island and went on a beautiful hike along a wide path, that in 2021 was the course of the mountain biking world championships. Throughout the hike we had these gorgeous views over the Mediterranean and even saw the snow-covered peaks of Corsica in the distance.
After our hike we had a lovely lunch in the little town of Capoliveri. Even though I had never been here before, Capoliveri has a very special meaning in my life. In the late 1960s, when my recently married parents came on a holiday to Elba, they stayed here in Capoliveri and nine months later I was born. So, according to my mother, Capoliveri was likely the place of my origin, so to speak.
In the afternoon, I decided to take a drive around the western coast of the island. I started on the north coast, which took me past the small port of Marciana Marina and then steeply up into the mountains through the town of Marciana.
The west coast of the island is only sparsely populated and the coastline is much more rugged and dramatic.
The most famous chapter in Elba's history, was the period between May 1814 and February 1815, when Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled here following his first abdication as Emperor of France. The exile only lasted 10 months, before he managed to escape and sailed back to France, where he resumed power until his final defeat at Waterloo. We only had two nights on Elba, but before heading back onto the ferry we spent some time walking around Portoferrario, and saw Napoleon's residence, which is now a museum.
On the way out we had these amazing views over the city and castle above it.
Volterra
Back on the mainland our next destination was the ancient hilltop city of Volterra.
Far older than Rome, Volterra's history stretches back to the 8th century BCE. The city was founded by the Etruscans, and became one of the most important and powerful cities within the Etruscan world. The Romans made Volterra an important provincial city. You can still see the Roman presence in the well-preserved Roman theater located just outside the city walls.
The medieval city that grew on top of the Roman and Etruscan layers is centered by the Piazza dei Priori, which is dominated by the huge facade of the Palazzo dei Priori. Built in 1208 the Palazzo was the model for the larger and more famous Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.
The city's main source of wealth during ancient times was the mining and carving of the local alabaster, which is a trade that continues to this day. You can find many alabaster workshops lining the streets of the old town. One of the remarkably well preserved Etruscan structures in the city is the Porta all'Arco, which was built in the 4th century BCE and was the main gate into the Etruscan city.
If you are interested in learning more about Etruscan history, the Museo Etrusco Guarnacci, is an absolutely must-visit. It is one of the oldest public museums in Italy and contains an extensive collection of Etruscan art, including over 600 funerary urns carved from alabaster. The most famous piece in the collection is a bronze figurine known as La Ombra della Sera (the Shadow of the Evening). It is an extraordinarily elongated male figure that looks startlingly like a 20th century work by Alberto Giacometti, but it is indeed 2400 years old.
In the evening I went on another walk along the city walls to witness an amazing sunset over the rolling green hills of this quintessential Tuscan landscape.
Walking back to the hotel after dark, it seemed I had the city all to myself. Remarkably, despite Volterra being a stunningly beautiful and historically important place, it has not been discovered by the crowds of tourists, you would find in many other Tuscan cities.
San Gimignano
One of those famous towns, that receives hordes of tourist groups in high season, is the spectacular city of towers - San Gimignano. Sitting on top of a hill with its skyline of towers, it looks like a medieval Manhattan.
San Gimignano became a very prosperous town in the 13th and 14th centuries, owing to its position on the great pilgrimage route between Northern Europe and Rome, which brought a constant stream of travelers. Additional riches were created by the trade in saffron, which grew in the surrounding fields and was one of the most valuable commodities in medieval Europe. The wealthy families of the town wanted to display their wealth and power and tried to outdo each other by building higher and higher towers. At its peak San Gimignano had 72 towers, of which 14 survive today, which give the city its unique silhouette.
The tallest and most impressive of the towers is the 54 meter high Torre Grossa attached to the Palazzo Comunale. The climb up the Torre Grossa is an absolute must-do, as it gives you these unbelievable views of the city and across the Tuscan countryside.
San Gimignano has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. The historic old town within its medieval walls, is quite compact and can be explored by foot in a couple of hours. The center of the city is the beautiful Piazza della Cisterna overlooked by the Torre Grossa and the Collegiate Church. The interior of the church contains these amazing medieval frescoes, which cover every inch of the walls.
We only spent a few hours in San Gimignano and then continued our drive to Florence, where we spent the last night of the trip. We didn't leave much time for Florence, since we both had been here a couple of times. But I did go on a short afternoon walk, to take in some of the main sights.
The next morning, after dropping off the car at Florence airport, I got on a direct flight back to Munich.
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