Three small towns make up the life of the island: Giglio Porto with the traditional little wharf, where ferries dock; Giglio Castello, in the highest place on the island enclosed within the medieval wall circle and Campese, with the beautiful sandy beach.

Inhabited by the Greeks who had given it the name of «Isola delle capre» (Island of the goats) because of the mostly rocky terrain: on one side the granite cliffs, on the other the enormous calcareous masses which make up the promontory of Franco to the west, and finally the wide sheets of granite which make up the area known as the «Aie» (barnyards).

In Cala Maestra Roman civilisation left a tangible sign of its presence with the Villa Romana, built around the I century BC; in Castellare Campese there are remains of the Etruscan civilisation, in fact following the track called Vicolo dell'Ortana you reach the seat of the excavations.

And again the presence of the great de'Medici family that ad built around the 700’s in Campese, when still in the Tyrrhenian there was ominous shadow of the assaults of the pirate Red Beard, the defensive tower, Torre del Campese, with enormous mouths of fire to defend the docking bay.

The National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago extends into the provinces of Grosseto and Livorno and includes the seven islands of the Tyrrhenian. A diversified environment which varies from the cliffs and the sea of the coast until the more internal areas of the islands, such as the territory of the Island of Elba.

Isola del Giglio can be reached by ferry from Porto Santo Stefano where you need to leave your car and you can have the use of attended parking lots .

April.2002

Tuscan Archipelago
National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago
Province of Grosseto
Toremar (Booking and timetables)