Long weekend on a mountain bike on Elba + Pianosa

Four days on Elba (from Thursday to Sunday), with mountain bike excursions on paths and roads on Elba and Pianosa

Possible excursion programme:

Excursion n° 2: Pianosa. Departure on the Domizia motor boat from Marina di Campo port; we get to Pianosa after about 40 minutes of sailing. Arrival on Pianosa, we begin our guided mountain bike excursion on the splendid dirt track roads of the Island. During the excursion we can admire breathtaking views and appreciate perfumes of this now uninhabited island. The excursion takes between 3 – 5 hours depending on choice.  Difficulty: easy. Departure from Pianosa at about 16.30. Dinner and overnight stay. We leave from Marina di Campo at 08.00 and after 35 minutes disembark on Pianosa with the bicycles. Surrounded by an incredibly transparent sea, rich in marine life. We start to pedal on the brightest Island of the Tuscan Archipelago. We visit the small harbour which in its simplicity is elegant and we also visit the abandoned town, with its buildings eroded by salt making it an even more striking and mysterious place. After passing in front of the agronomist’s aristocratic villa we enter through the prison gate and visit the buildings and now abandoned farms of the ex agricultural settlement. In this area we see a lot of red legged partridges, pheasants and hares introduced onto the island over two centuries ago when it was a private hunting reserve of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Pedalling along easy paths we can admire the fine dry stone walls which are typical of the Island as we head to the Marchese castle, an elegant building built at the northernmost point of the Island, it has had multiple uses during its romantic history.  Below us is the beautiful Porto Romano bay, its crystal clear waters are exalted by the white crumbly rocks that delimit its border. Returning south along the west coast we reach the Botte gulf and visit the ancient washhouses and the Roman aqueduct. Our excursion continues along the beautiful Pianosa coast (where we can see many seabirds, for example Cory’s Shearwater) and then in the interior, surrounded by the intense perfumes of the Mediterranean vegetation. As we continue we can see the guard towers built when there was a extra secure prison, then we return to the interior where Pianosa gives us the sensation of being able to reach both Elba and Corsica on a bike because as the land is flat and only slightly above sea level we can’t see the coast. After pedalling between spectacular rocks that have been eroded by the sea (which tells us about the crumbly geological structure of the Island) and through thick pine groves, passing in front of the famous “Agrippa section” (high security prison), we return towards the town.  After visiting the remains of the Roman Villa of Agrippa we finish our trip on Cala Giovanna beach, the only place on Pianosa where bathing is permitted.

The distance and duration of the excursions can be agreed on the basis of the  participants requests and abilities.

Info: +39 0565 978005 - info@ilviottolo.com