Porticciolo di Rio beach in Rio, Island of Elba

Once past Ortano beach the coast is made up of high, sheer cliffs, and here you will see the pathmining town of Rio Marina: this path is known as the Porticciolo scenic route, also called the Sentiero dell'Amore; the air and the environment all around is full of the scents and colours that are typical of the Mediterranean bush, where the scenery of both the sky and the sea is truly suggestive and very romantic. 

You can get to all three tiny coves of Porticciolo di Rio, [page id=900"]Luisi d'Angelo[/page] and [page id="899]Marina di Gennaro[/page] by following this path that is surrounded by vegetation and is rich in holm oaks and pine trees . All three are usually very quiet and there are no facilities, so they are perfect if you wish to spend apeaceful day in close contact with nature.

Porticciolo beach is about 100 metres in length and is made up ofsand mixed with shingle. There are several, large and strangely shaped rocks at either end of the beach: the strangest is the one shaped like a giant mushroom to the left.

Interesting fact: The name Porticciolo probably comes from the fact that the beach is well sheltered by the Capo Ortano promontory, which means that the strong scirocco wind very rarely blows there.

There are beautiful holm oak woods offering a lot of shade at the back of the beach. If you walk along the rocks you can get to the two, tiny coves to the right of the beach.

Since both the wind from the north-west and the currents help to keep the water clean it is always crystal clear so it is perfect for snorkelling. The beach is also perfect if you like posidonia because there is a lot on the sand that has been washed up by the waves and has dried in the sun.

This beach is very popular among swimmers and sportsmen too.

On clear days you have a good view of Piombino and you can also see the tiny islands of Cerboli and Palmaiola.

How to get to Porticciolo di Rio beach

Just follow the Porticciolo scenic road between Rio Marina and Ortano. If you start off from Ortano you can only go on foot; from Rio Marina on the other hand you can get there by car, the first part is a main road while the second is only grit and all in all it is about 2,5 km long. Once you get to some open spaces where you can park you will see the path that leads to the beach, and here you will have to go down some steps, across the woods rich in holm oaks as well as Erica Scoparia bushes (scopa).