Our last stop on Windstar’s Star Pride Mediterranean Cruise was to Portoferraio, Italy on the Island of Elba. I woke up early and was able to watch us dock right next to town. I had a quick breakfast and then asked the nice tourism people who set up a stand just outside of the ship where to find the closest ATM since I was running low on euros. The sun was quickly rising and it was getting warm. The temperature was only around 69 which is perfect but I’m not so sure I would want to be here when it’s hot.
This side of the island didn’t have any beaches nearby that I could see. But according to the all the post card photos there are some unreal looking beaches. This place is famous for Napoleon and according to Wikipedia “In the Treaty of Fontainebleau, the victors exiled him to Elba, an island of 12,000 inhabitants in the Mediterranean, 20 km (12 mi) off the Tuscan coast. They gave him sovereignty over the island and allowed him to retain his title of emperor.”
Every shop or place wall I looked at had a reference or graffiti art of the exiled leader.
The highlight for us was finding some really good and inexpensive Italian food. We split a pizza and pasta and it cost around $20USD. Afterwards we treated ourselves to delicious gelato.
I liked Elba so much better than Portofino. Not only is it cheaper but the locals are much friendlier. I highly recommend it.