Italy is an ideal destination if you want to combine holidays with a good enduro ride. There are plenty of interesting places full of amazing trails. As a fan of exploring these slightly less known places, I became interested in Elba island. The dense network of trails that showed Trailforks and great weather already in May sounded promising. On the spot, it turned out that there are so much trails that I will divide my report from Elba into 2 articles. Today I invite you to the eastern part of the island, the Elba Trail Area.
Elba – Italy – Where? And how to get there?
Elba is a small Italian island, which hardly anyone in Poland has ever heard of. It is part of Tuscany region, and it is about 12 km from the mainland. Except the Trailforks, the only info for riding I found only on one polish blog 1enduro. His article does not put the Elba island as total “must see”. However, when I was looking for a place to go during the extended May weekend, looking through photos, videos and other materials, I decided that it might be worth going. We had to cover about 1700 km to Elba from Warsaw. On the one hand, it is far away, on the other, it is probably the closest island to us, which is slightly more “exotic” destination. We split the road over time and visited along the way Natisone Bike Arena which I also recomend for a good ride. After a long drive, we arrived in Piombino, where ferries leave for three ports on Elba. It was low season so we didn’t book the ferry tickets in advance, especially as these sail very often. The cruise to Portoferraio itself took an hour. For 2 people and a car we paid 68 EUR.
Elba MTB Experience – Cavo
Before we got to the island, I contacted the local guide Elba MTB Experience and it was he who chose the place for us and created the itinerary for almost the whole week. Alessio comes from the town of Cavo and has been a professional bike guide for several years. He was the one who booked us hotel Maristella, which is situated in the center of Cavo. Close to the port, restaurants and nice beach also. The charming little village is located on the north-eastern tip of the island. There are also direct ferries from Piombino to Cavo, but out of season they are only hydrofoils that do not take cars on board. However, if someone is thinking about a day trip to the island from mainland Tuscany, this is also a good option. Cavo is a typical, small, seaside town, which is said to be very crowded in the high Italian season (August). But it was relatively empty in May. There is a large shop on site, several good restaurants and cafes and, in general, everything you need to spend a nice time, without the big-resort bustle and shoddy attractions. . What’s more, there is a small bike park on the hill next to the village.
Elba Trail Area
I met my Elba MTB Experience guide for the first time in the morning at breakfast. It is worth mentioning that his choice of the Maristella hotel was very good because it is bike friendly and serves a good and filling continental breakfast in the morning, not just an Italian croissant and coffee (although of course there were also those). Alessio told me a bit about the island and his plans for the coming days. He offers both shuttle enduro and e-bike tours. As my wife planned a trail-running and on foot exploration of the island, so we went for the e-bike option. I used the test trail bike Marin Rift Zone E1. For the first days of riding, we focused on the East-North part of the island, the Elba Trail Area. An association with this name (to which my guide Alessio belongs) maintains trails in this region and is responsible for their marking. This small area of Elba alone offers a very large selection of natural enduro routes.
Buca del Bandito
For the first ride is the classic and one of the most frequently described trail on the island called Buca del Bandito. We reached it by a gentle asphalt transfer, and then a very scenic ridge ride. The trail starts from the top of Cima del Monte peak, which is the highest in this part of the island (515 m) and offers a spectacular panorama. At the beginning it is a classic, natural trail thru the rocks. The grip is good, so despite the steep slope, there are no great difficulties here. Then the trail turns towards the forest. Here you can already see some shaped elements that ensure good flow on a bike in a fairly tight forest. There are a few steep sections, there are also some short climbs. The whole thing is a really nice and varied trail. After such an introduction to the trails on Elba, I was just waiting for more.
Mezza Strega and Vignola
We climbed back to the pass where the Mezza Strega trail starts. Firstly, we went to another scenic peak, and then we set off on a very pleasant traverse of the Monte Strega mountain. At one part its slopes was so full of yellow flowers that I could hardly see the route, but the climate was really good. From the next pass we headed towards Cavo along the Vignola trail. It is a fast natural singletrail at the begining. It is worth mentioning that, as in other regions of Italy, practically all trails here are shared with hikers. Vignola is also a part of the famous GTE (Great Traverse of Elba) hiking trail, so we meet a few tourists here, but the Italians and of course my guide also know how to behave well and as soon as someone appeared on the horizon, we slowed down so that it was safe and nice for everyone. The Vignola route also has a few short climbs and is quite interval. It ends with a technical section thru the rocks. Then we returned to Cavo for a delicious lunch at the Mokambo restaurant, where we charged up the bikes a bit to later visit the trails closer to the town.
Forno alla Vecchia and Amandolo Trail Zone
After our meal, we set out from Cavo for a nearby hill. We took the easy Anello di Capo Vita route before going down a technical singletrack along the coast. Beatifull small coves and amazing rock formations make the ride even more enjoyable. It may not be a pure smooth descent, but in terms of views it was worth it. For dessert, we visited a small bikepark called Amandolo Trail Zone. The trails over here are not very long, but the lines are well thought out and flowy. There is also an interesting descent with nice jumps and berms. Such bike park-like variants are a nice change from natural paths and a nice complement to enduro riding on Elba.
Scalette, Serra and Lagetto Roso
The next day we started with the Scalette trail. Initially, a fast traversing singletrail in the lower part turns into a technical descent thru the rocks. Then we climbed the asphalt road to the pass from which the Serra trail loop starts. This is a great variant especially on an e-bike. There are several technical climbs waiting here, after which you can enjoy the views from the top, and then return to the pass with a really nice and long descent. Then we covered the Laghetto Rosso route, which leads to an interesting local attraction, the Red Lake. The quick and easy singletrail is a bit washed out at times, but it also has a nice, slightly more technical section.
Dragut, Calendiozo, Calcinaia and Monte Grosso
Slightly higher than the route to Red Lake is the Dragut trail. We started the descent from the castle, which is located on the top above. This trail, in my opinion, is one of the best in this part of the island. It leads through a dense forest, where there are a lot of well-used gullys. It’s interesting and technical. Later we headed to the short Calendiozo loop, which makes good use of the former mine terrains. From there we came back with a quick Calcinaia single. The last variant for me in this area is the Monte Grosso trail. It’s a more technical, winding natural-style descent. There is definitely no place for boredom there.
Elba Trail Area z Elba MTB Experience
Of course, the trails described above are not all options in this area. There are so many of them that you can easily explore them for a few more days. During the first three days on the island, on these above-mentioned trails, we covered distance of more than 100 km and about 4000 m of elevation gain. I believe that Alessio showed me the best of the area, especially since he comes from Cavo, knows the area like the back of his hand and participates in maintaining the trails himself. It is worth mentioning that these routes of Elba Trail Area are well marked. Such enduro tours are a great way to get to know Elba. The great advantage of the island is its diversity. The terrain ranges from very rocky, through densely overgrown forests, to scenic traverses. The type of rocks we ride on is completely different on the eastern and on the western part of the island. Lovers of natural style trails can really find a good ride here. In total, there are over 300 km of marked routes throughout Elba. For my next days of riding, Alessio planned trips to other cycling regions of the island. You can read about other trails: Elba Ovest, Portoferraio and Lacona trails in the second part of article. The big absent from this itinerary was Capoliveri trails, which is mostly known to XC fans. Michał from 1enduro blog also “warned” me that there are more easy trails in XC style than enduro ones, so we visited this part of the island only on foot.
Enduro on Elba – what bike?
I was aiming for enduro trails from the very beginning and my guide Alessio also feels this vibe well, so we rode the most downhill and technical trails on the island. We both used e-bikes. I had a trail 140/140 Marin Rift Zone E1 with 29″ wheels and despite my initial concerns, its character fit perfectly for most of trails on Elba. A little more front fork travel would be useful in a few moments, but most of the time a more playful and agile trail character suited me very well. Despite the typical weight of an full power e-bike, it managed to fit in very nicely on sometimes tight and technical corners. It was also nice to jump on it sometimes. I had also my “analog” enduro bike to choose from, but it stayed in the room for my entire stay on Elba. By far the most effective bike to explore such a network of trails is an E-bike. You can have fun both on descents and also on some technical climbs. With a larger team of riders, of course, there is also the option for a shuttle bus, but you still have to take into account that that sometimes you will have to pedal up. I think that the best option for a good ride on Elba will be trail or enduro bikes. it is necessary to have the bike equiped with good tires, resistant to deal with rocks of various sizes and shapes.
Elbas tourism attractions and when to visit the island?
Every day in the afternoon, after a good dose of riding, we explored Elba together with my wife on foot and by car. You can read about what we saw on our polish travel blog. We went for a ride in the most characteristic gondola, climbe the highest peak of the island and of course had good chillout times on the beach and cooling down in the sea. Our whole stay was complemented by places recommended by Alessio, delicious Italian cuisine and local wines. In general, we liked island so much that we extended our stay twice and out of the planned 7 days, we spent a total of 10 days on Elba. We came here at the beginning of May. We had good and mostly sunny weather, although there was also one rainy day, one with a huge storm in the afternoon and one cloudy one. In general it was sunny, warm and dry. The temperatures were pretty high, but it was still good to ride without overheating. According to Alessio from Elba MTB Experience, the best time to ride on Elba is May-June and September-October. An interesting fact is also the fact that you can ride the bike in the winter here as well. Snow stays here longer only on the highest peak of the island. During whole winter time the temperature rarely drops below 10 degrees. Of course, then it can rain more often but some of the more rocky trails retain good riding conditions. The month in which you must avoid going to Elba is August, when most Italians have their summer vacations, and it is they who mainly love to relax here.
Elba MTB Experience – Summary of first part
I personally liked the island very much. Lots of cool trails that are really fun to ride. Of course, this is not a ride like in a bikepark and you have to take into account the natural nature of most trails. Sometimes there are loose stones or deeply rinsed fragments. However, the ride is mostly smooth and all variants marked as routes are 100% rideable. If someone prefers to ride on natural style mountain trails than on smooth flow lines and bike parks, he will have a great time here. The eastern part of the island, the Elba Trail Area, is mainly a kingdom of such natural lines, of which my top 3 will be: Buca del Bandito, Dragut and Serra. The central and western parts of the island have a slightly different character and a completely different terrain, which You can read about in the second trail report from Elba. An amazing ride was guaranteed by Alessio from Elba MTB Experience, who selected the trails to create most interesting loops. He was always able to point out the best and most interesting places on the island, advise where to eat well and also what to avoid. It is locals who create such places who know the most about them, not visiting companies that have previously made 1 or 2 reconnaissance trips. My tip: #RidewithLocals
About Elba MTB Experience
Elba MTB Experience is a small project run by a true biking enthusiast – Alessio, who was born and raised on the island. He knows not only every corner of his hometown region of Cavo, but also all the trails from other regions of Elba. He not only ride the trails, but also actively participates in the building and shaping of new variants or in the maintenance of existing tracks. He offers guided e-bike tours, a shuttle bus service, and if necessary, he will also organize bike rental, good accommodation and can arrange a whole plan for exploring Elba. Alessio specializes in enduro tours and can guide you through the most difficult trails on the island.
Oficial website: elbamtbexperience.it
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