How to visit Montecristo

Organised excursions to Montecristo from the Island of Elba

Since Montecristois both an Integral State Natural Reserve and a Biogenetic Nature Reserve, strict rules and regulations apply before you can visit the island, so if you do get the chance it will be a unique eperience .A maximum of up to 2000 visitors per year are granted permission to go there, and preference is given to researchers, nature groups and students.

The main aim is to protect the birdlife on the island, so only from April 16th to May 14th access is authorized but is strictly regulated and very limited.

Thanks to the connections set up by the Park, daily excursions to the Island of Montecristo leave from Porto Azzurro. but there is a calendar with the dates requested and if they have been authorized.

Please view the calendar of when visits to Montecristo from the Island of Elba are authorized >>

You can take part in anexcursion only if accompanied by authorized guides.Only up to 75 visitors can take part in a single, authorized excursion, and you can book on line on the form or, if they prefer, they can apply directly at the Infopark; they will need their identity card, and they will have to pay for their ticket directly at the Info Park in Portoferraio, via a money transfer paid to the IBAN number IT50F0503470740000000002312.

Up to a maximum of 300 resident students from any of the Tuscan islands are given a special, educational/environmental authorization.

The price of the excursion includes the return cost of the ferry ticket, the cost of the entrance fee ticket to the protected area and the service of the Park Guide. Visitors must be at least 12 years of age or over. In the event of bad weather the excursion will be postponed to another date.

Once there, bear in mind that due to the difference in the height above sea level, the heat of the sun, the fact that there are hardly any trees so there is practically no shade, the entire walk up to the top may prove to be rather tiring, so remember to bring a packed lunch with you and plenty of water, and above all, make sure you wear adequate clothes and footwear: shoes or boots suitable for trekking and loose, comfortable clothes.

Cala Maestra - Belvedere - Villa Reale
Length of hike 2031 metres - Level of Difficulty: Medium-easy - How long it takes: 2 hours

Cala Maestra - Grotta del Santo - Monastery - Villa Reale
Length of hike 3558 metres - Level of difficulty: challenging - How long it takes: 4 hours

Cala Maestra- Monastery - Villa Reale
Length of hike 3110 metres - Level of difficulty: challenging - How long it takes: 3 hours

On request, you may be granted authorization to sail to Montecristo with your own boat but in this case it will be the forestry and environmental police who will be your guides but you will only be allowed to land on the island, and once there, you will only be allowed to visit Cala Maestra and the museum.

In order to avoid too many boats at the same time, access must be paid for, only one boat on each authorized day will be granted permission to sail and land there, with a maximum 3 people on board, and only 3 boats per week will be allowed.

Further requests for access by boat, in the case of the owner being the same, will take 2 years, and the request must be made directly to the Reparto Carabinieri Biodiversità in Follonica.