Italy · Tuscan Archipelago
Yacht Charter Tuscany
Charter from Cala de' Medici — Elba, Capraia, Giglio and Giannutri, in a marine park most boats sail straight past.
Almost everyone chartering in Italy points south. That is why the Tuscan Archipelago still works: seven islands inside a national marine park, an hour or two off a coast people mainly drive along, and anchorages that in August hold a fraction of the boats you would find off Capri on the same afternoon.
Seven islands, and one of them is not Elba
Elba is the one everyone names, and it earns it — Cavoli and the south-coast beaches, the old iron mines at Rio Marina, a proper town at Portoferraio to walk off the boat into. It is also the busiest, and a week that only does Elba is a week that misses the point.
Capraia is volcanic, half an hour of water from nothing, and has one village. Giglio has a walled medieval town above the harbour and water clear enough to see the anchor set. Giannutri has ten permanent dwellings and a Roman villa falling into the sea, and you will often have the bay to yourself.
The archipelago sits inside the Parco Nazionale dell'Arcipelago Toscano, which is the reason the seabeds still hold grouper and coral. It also means anchoring is regulated in places. Your skipper knows where; it is not a restriction you will notice unless you are looking for it.
Where the fleet actually is
Two yachts are based at Cala de' Medici, on the coast below Livorno. That is a small base and we say so — it is not the Amalfi Coast, where a dozen boats sit within sight of each other.
Everything else that sails here is positioned: a yacht brought up from another base for your dates. That is ordinary in charter and it is how most Tuscan weeks are put together, but it changes the booking. Positioning takes days and it is planned, not improvised, so Tuscany rewards deciding early far more than the Campanian coast does.
The mainland is closer than the islands
This is the one cruising ground where going ashore competes seriously with staying aboard. Pisa, Lucca, Volterra and the Maremma are all within an hour of the water, and the Val d'Orcia within two.
Be honest with the week, though. Every inland day is a day the boat sits still, and seven days do not stretch. Two days ashore and five on the water is a good Tuscan week. Five ashore is a driving holiday with a berth attached, and there are better ways to buy that.
Practical notes
- Base: Cala de' Medici, below Livorno — two yachts on it, everything else positioned for your dates
- Elba is roughly half a day's sail; Giglio and Giannutri sit further south, toward the Argentario
- Pisa airport is under an hour by road; Florence about ninety minutes
- The whole archipelago is a national marine park — anchoring is regulated in parts, and your skipper will know where
- June and September give the same water as August with a fraction of the boats
Reached from: Cala de' Medici
Where to dine
A table by the water
Publius
Poggio, ElbaViews over the bay of Marina di Campo; Elban cooking from local produce.
Osteria del Noce
Marciana, ElbaIn a medieval village — Maremma-style boar, pappardelle with hare ragù.
La Pergola
Giglio PortoFresh fish cooked simply — ideal after a day on the water.
Canapino
Porto AzzurroA wine bar with a kitchen on the port — Tuscan wines and dusk aperitivi.
Il Frantoio
Saturnia, MaremmaPair with a Maremma stop — boar and Maremma pecorino.
What to do
Anchorages & excursions
Grotta del Tuono, Giannutri
Sea only — a marine cave of stalactite formations. Very warm water in summer.
Forte Stella, Portoferraio
A Medici fortress with 360° views over Elba — Napoleon's home in exile.
Giannutri seabeds
Roman wrecks, red coral and giant grouper — among the best dive sites in the Tyrrhenian.
Giglio trail
Cross the island north to south — three hours of wild Maremma panoramas.
Mining Park, Rio Marina
Extraordinary geology — Elba's mines yielded iron from Etruscan times.
The fleet
Yachts available for Tuscany
Vessels that operate here, from flagship motor yachts to smaller crewed boats. Every rate is quoted on enquiry.
Itineraries
Yacht charter itineraries in Tuscany
What a week here actually looks like, day by day.
Good to know
Questions we are asked about Tuscany
- Is a week enough for the Tuscan islands?
- Comfortably, if you pick three or four islands rather than all seven. Elba, Capraia and Giglio make an unhurried week from Cala de' Medici. Trying to add Montecristo and Pianosa turns a holiday into a delivery schedule, and both are restricted anyway.
- How many yachts do you keep in Tuscany?
- Two, at Cala de' Medici. The rest of the fleet is positioned here for your dates from other bases. We would rather tell you that than imply a fleet sitting waiting — it means Tuscan charters want deciding earlier than Campanian ones.
- Can we visit Montecristo?
- Not freely. It is a state nature reserve with a strict daily visitor cap and a permit list that runs years ahead. You can sail past it, and that is what most weeks do.
- Is the Tuscan Archipelago good for children?
- Unusually so. The passages are short, the anchorages are shallow and sheltered, and Elba has real towns rather than just harbours — which matters on the afternoon when nobody wants to be on a boat any more.
- What does a yacht charter in Tuscany cost?
- It depends on the yacht, the season, the crew, and whether the boat has to be positioned. We quote on enquiry rather than publish a figure that would be wrong for most weeks. Send us your dates and party size.
Destinations
Nearby destinations
Charter here
Enquire about a charter in Tuscany
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are, and we will come back with the right yacht and a full quotation.