We explored the Italians' favourite island by bike and found out: In autumn, the holiday island is a true cyclist's paradise.
Arrival:
By car: Take the Brenner motorway to Livorno. Then continue on the S1 motorway (Via Aurelia) to Piombino. It is approx. 800 kilometres from Munich to Piombino. By train: The cheapest option is via Austria/Brennero. The journey time is approx. 13-15 hours (also by car train).
Info: http://www.bahn.de, http://www.dbautozug.de . If you would like to transport your bike on the train, you can contact the cyclists' hotline. Tel. 01805/151415.
Best time to travel:
May/June and September/October. It is too hot and too crowded on the island in high summer.
Overnight stay:
There are a large number of hotels, holiday flats and campsites on Elba, but they are relatively expensive. A directory is available free of charge from the APT, the tourist office in Portoferraio. The Italy Bike Hotel "Aviotel Residence" is located directly at the airport. Cycle tourists have access to a storage room for bikes including a small workshop, washing machine and tumble dryer. Tel. 0039-0565/97961, http://www.aviotel.it, http://www.italybikehotels.it
Literature/Maps:
"Elba", Michael Müller Verlag, 256 p., 15.90 euros Allianz leisure guide "Elba" with map 1:30,000, MairDumont, 5.95 euros
Information/Internet:
Italian Tourist Office, Tel. 069/237434, http://www.enit.it
Elba-Portal, http://www.elba-online.com, http://www.elbalink.it
Moby Line, http://www.mobylines.de
Tour tips:
1 medium-difficulty tour through the western part of the island, 52 km
2 Easy to medium-difficulty half-day tour around the Calamita peninsula, 21 km
3 easy to moderate tour through the north-east of the island, 28 km
The full-length article from issue 2/2006 is available as a free PDF download.
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Barbara Merz-Weigandt
Editor-in-Chief
