Giglio Island

Giglio Island is a municipality in the province of Grosseto, in Tuscany, with its town hall at Via Vittorio Emanuele 2, in Giglio Castello, telephone area code 0564. You can only get there by sea: the ferries leave from Porto Santo Stefano, on Monte Argentario, and dock at Giglio Porto after about an hour at sea. The companies serving the route are Toremar and Maregiglio, both with year-round connections and much more frequent runs in the summer months. The same companies also serve Giannutri, the municipality's second island. From Rome to Porto Santo Stefano it's about 160 kilometers: the Aurelia SS1 up to the exit for the Argentario, then the road that runs along the Orbetello lagoon. Those who don't drive can take the train to Orbetello Scalo and continue by bus. The island measures 23.80 square kilometers of municipal territory, with the island proper at around 21 square kilometers, 28 kilometers of coastline and just over 1,400 registered residents spread among Giglio Porto, Giglio Castello and Giglio Campese. The highest point is Poggio della Pagana, 496 meters. On the island public transport is handled by line IG1 of Autolinee Toscane, which connects Giglio Porto to Giglio Castello and Giglio Campese. Updated schedules and fares can be found on the operator's website and on the notice boards at the pier. Between August 3 and 24, 2026 the municipality banned the landing of motor vehicles with Italian plates by non-residents, except with a self-declaration of a stay of at least five days (four in a campground): a restriction that repeats every summer and is worth checking on the municipality's website before booking the ferry.

Giglio is part of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, established in July 1996, together with Elba, Capraia, Pianosa, Montecristo, Gorgona and Giannutri. If the trip starts from Rome, the natural stop before boarding is the promontory of the Argentario, and the port is that of Porto Santo Stefano.

How to get to Giglio Island

The first thing to understand, even before choosing the beach, is that Giglio has no airport, no bridges and no alternatives: the ship is the only door. This simple fact governs everything else about the vacation, from the luggage you bring to the way you organize your arrival day and your departure day. Those who understand it beforehand set off relaxed. Those who discover it on the pier spend the first morning arguing with the ticket seller.

From Rome to Porto Santo Stefano

The most common route is the Aurelia. You leave the Grande Raccordo Anulare heading north, continue past Civitavecchia and Tarquinia, cross the regional border at Chiarone and descend toward Orbetello. It's about two and a half hours of driving without traffic, many more on an August Saturday morning, when the last stretch toward the port becomes a line. The operational advice is trivial and it works: take the early-afternoon weekday ferry instead of the weekend morning run. Alternatively there is the Tyrrhenian railway: stop at Orbetello Scalo, then the scheduled bus to Porto Santo Stefano. The regional train takes longer than the direct one, but avoids the parking problem, which on peak days is the real hidden cost of the trip.

The ferry to Giglio Island

Toremar and Maregiglio share the Porto Santo Stefano - Giglio Porto route. The crossing takes about an hour, a little less with the fast craft. Both companies have an online ticket office and a physical ticket office on the quay at Porto Santo Stefano. Both also connect Giannutri, with seasonal runs and much reduced frequency off season. In high season the departure must be booked, especially if you are boarding a vehicle, because the hold is small and fills up. Those traveling on foot have an easier time, but on August weekends even deck passage can sell out on the most convenient runs. Blunt opinion: the best run for enjoying the crossing is the late-morning one, when the light hits the Argentario from the side and you watch the island grow on the horizon for a good 20 minutes. The dawn run is for those in a hurry, not for those who want to look.

Bringing a car to Giglio Island: what the ordinance says

The Municipality of Giglio Island limits the landing of motor vehicles every summer. In 2026 the closed window ran from August 3 to 24 inclusive: in that period non-residents with Italian plates can land a car or a motorcycle only by presenting a self-declaration attesting a stay of at least five days, reduced to four for those staying in a campground, with the vehicle's details, personal details, tax code and the name of the accommodation. The document must be shown at boarding and kept on board for the whole stay. Vehicles with foreign plates, those of residents and commercial vehicles are excluded from the ban. The shipping companies publish the form on their websites. The rule changes its dates from year to year, but the substance doesn't, and it is designed for a road network that simply cannot handle the number of cars that would like to go up there.

Getting around Giglio Island without a car

It can be done, and it's often better. Line IG1 of Autolinee Toscane runs along the only interior road, the one that climbs from Giglio Porto to Giglio Castello and descends again to Giglio Campese, with intermediate stops at Monticello, the cemetery, the post office and the Torre del Campese. In summer the runs are frequent. In winter they become few and should be checked the day before. Alternatively, at Giglio Porto there are rentals of scooters, small cars and electric bicycles, as well as taxis and water taxis that take you to the coves not reachable by land. A clarification that spares disappointment: the island is steep, the elevation changes are serious and a non-electric bicycle is a choice for trained legs, not for a family outing.

Geography and geology of Giglio Island

Giglio is a block of intrusive rock that rose from the sea, not a piece of mainland that broke off from the coast. The dominant composition is granodiorite: what the quarrymen called granite and which you recognize by its light gray dotted with black, compact, taking a polish and resisting salt spray. This origin explains the shape of the island, a single relief elongated in a north-south direction, with ridges reaching the 496 meters of Poggio della Pagana and slopes that plunge into the sea with no plains in between. The coast alternates vertical walls, smooth cliffs shaped by the wind and a few sandy inlets, almost all on the eastern side. The 28 kilometers of coastline contain not a single estuary: there are no perennial streams on the island, and this, historically, shaped settlement more than war and pirates did.

The western side, exposed to the libeccio, is the wildest and the most marked by the wind. The eastern one, sheltered, faces the Argentario and has hosted the port, the quarries and the villas. In between, the dry-stone terraces built with granite blocks, which the Giglio people call greppe, climb for hundreds of meters of elevation. They are agricultural works, and they are also the greatest collective undertaking ever carried out on the island: kilometers of walls built by hand, generation after generation, to wrest a few square meters of vineyard from the slope.

Giglio Porto, the gateway to Giglio Island

Those arriving see the houses first: a row of ocher, pink, brick red and aqua green facades pressed around a small bay, with the pier stretching out to close the roadstead and the medieval tower watching over the south side. Giglio Porto today has around 700 inhabitants in the parish, after having passed 1,100 in the decades of the mines. It is the center of services: ticket offices, pharmacy, grocery stores, restaurants, the departure point for buses and boats.

The pier and the districts of Giglio Porto

The town is divided into three districts, Chiesa, Moletto and Saraceno, recognizable by their colors: white and green, yellow and light blue, red and black. It's not folklore invented for tourists. On August 10, for Saint Lawrence the patron, the three districts compete in the Palio Marinaro, a rowing regatta run in the stretch of water in front of the pier that at Giglio Porto counts as much as a derby. Those who happen to be on the island in those days find the town full, loud and absolutely alive, with the districts' flags hanging from the windows and the old men explaining to their grandchildren who won in 1974 and why.

The Castellare and the Roman villa of the Domitii Ahenobarbi

At the southern end of the bay, at the locality of Castellare, the remains of a large Roman-era residence emerge, attributed to the gens Domitia Ahenobarbus, a leading senatorial family in late Republican and imperial Rome. The complex included a seawater basin for fish farming, perimeter walls, cryptoporticoes, opus sectile floors, mosaics, traces of fresco, a panoramic terrace and structures along the shore with a series of arcades on which a long hanging terrace ran. Part of the structures is now below sea level: the phenomenon is common all along the Tyrrhenian and depends on the relative movement between land and sea level over the 20 centuries that have passed. In the story of the villa it's worth distinguishing the levels: the presence of a Roman residential and productive complex is documented by the structures. The attribution to the Domitii Ahenobarbi rests on scholarly tradition and on stamps, and is the current one in the archaeological literature of the archipelago.

The Torre del Saraceno and the Torre del Lazzaretto

The Torre del Saraceno, of medieval origin, closes the bay of Giglio Porto to the south, just above the Roman ruins. It's the image everyone takes home without knowing what it is called. On the height above it stood the Castellare del Giglio, a 16th-century fortification now lost, of which only traces of foundations remain. North of the port, along the eastern coast, is the Torre del Lazzaretto: born in the 16th century as a lookout tower at the will of Cosimo I de' Medici, it was later converted into a lazaretto for quarantines and today houses a private accommodation. The three surviving towers of the island, this one, the Saraceno and the Campese, are not isolated monuments: they were a system, and worked only together, with the fires passing the signal from one point to the next all the way to the Argentario.

The church of Saints Lawrence and Mamilian

The parish church of Giglio Porto is dedicated to Saints Lawrence and Mamilian. Construction opened in 1915 and the consecration came in 1958: 43 years for a village church tell by themselves of the two wars, the emigration and the economic hardship of the island in the 20th century. The facade is to a design by the engineer Ernesto Ganelli. Saint Mamilian, patron of the archipelago, is the figure that holds together the devotion of all these islands: his story, among Palermo, Africa and Montecristo, is the thread that explains why the people of Elba and Giglio ended up contending for his relics, a dispute that has left a trace even in the place names of the coves.

Giglio Castello, the medieval village of Giglio Island

At 400 meters of elevation, with intact walls, covered alleys, flying buttresses between one house and the next. Giglio Castello has joined the club of the Most Beautiful Villages of Italy and, unlike many other members, deserves it without discounts: the medieval fabric is legible in its entirety, and the reason it has come down to us is brutal. The inhabitants built high up and enclosed because on the coast you could not live. The corsairs came from the sea, and anyone not inside the walls at sunset risked their life or slavery.

The walls and the gate of Giglio Castello

The circuit of walls, of medieval origin and strengthened in the Pisan and grand-ducal eras, entirely encloses the settlement. The historic access was through the Porta della Rocca. Walking along the perimeter you can tell the oldest stretches of curtain wall from the reworked ones, and you understand the building principle: the houses leaning against the wall are part of the defense, with the openings toward the outside reduced to arrow slits. Inside, the village is a labyrinth of stairs and vaulted passages that stays cool in summer even at noon. Practical advice: you enter on foot and park outside, always, even in the low season.

The Aldobrandeschi Fortress

The Rocca dominates the highest point of the walls. It was built in the Pisan era and further fortified by the Aldobrandeschi, the family that controlled a large part of the Maremma between the 11th and 13th century. From its position the gaze covers the entire archipelago and the Maremma coast: on clear days you can make out without doubt the island of Elba, Montecristo and the outline of Corsica. It's not a postcard view, it's the view of a defensive system: whoever held the Rocca saw sails coming hours in advance, and those hours were the only thing separating the population from capture.

The church of San Pietro Apostolo in Giglio Castello

The church of San Pietro Apostolo, of 15th-century layout, is the real museum of the island and almost nobody knows it. It holds an ivory crucifix attributed to Giambologna, the relics of Saint Mamilian and a core of silverware and vestments tied to the memory of Pope Innocent XIII, of the Conti family, who had ties to the territory. Also kept inside are relics taken from the North African attackers during the islanders' last victorious clash, at the end of the 18th century. Opening hours are tied to services and the season: it's best to ask in town or at the parish the same day. Opinion: if you have only two hours in Giglio Castello, give one to the church and one to the alleys, and skip the panorama from the Rocca. The panorama comes back free from the road. The crucifix doesn't.

Giglio Campese, the western side of Giglio Island

On the western side, where the sun falls into the sea instead of rising from it, opens the bay of Campese, the widest on the island. It is Giglio's modern seaside resort: hotels, residences, beach clubs, a building fabric of the 1960s and 1970s that lacks the grace of Giglio Porto but solves the problem of sleeping near the beach. The bay is bounded to the south by the Faraglione, an isolated conical rock that has become the photographic symbol of the island, and to the north by the Torre del Campese.

The Torre del Campese

Built in the second half of the 16th century by Cosimo I de' Medici as an anti-corsair garrison, the tower closes the bay on the northern side. Restored, it is now a private residence and cannot be visited: you look at it from outside, and from outside is enough, because its value is in its position. It stands exactly where an enemy vessel would have had to pass to enter the roadstead.

The Campese beach and the color of the sand

The sand of Campese is coarse and dark red, almost rust. It's not an accident and it's not pollution: it depends on the ferrous minerals present in the area, the same ones that made mining activity possible. The beach is equipped along most of its front, with beach clubs, rentals and diving schools, and remains the only one on the island where you can spend a whole day with all the services within reach. The sunset over the Faraglione, in July and August, draws a small daily gathering of photographers on the pier. Worth it.

The Franco Mine

Above Campese, on the Franco Promontory, pyrite was extracted, the iron sulfide from which iron and sulfur were obtained. In different phases manganese, limonite and ocher were also extracted. The activity, present in artisanal forms since antiquity, became industrial in the 20th century: in 1938 the Miniera Tirrena reopened the site and the production cycle lasted until the end of 1962, when the tunnels were left to flood. The final dismantling of the plants came in 1976. At peak activity the mine employed up to 300 miners and workers. The 1950 registers count 243 employees, those of 1958 reach 235. For a community of a few thousand people it meant steady wages, and for the first time an economy that didn't depend on the catch and the year. Today what remains in the sea, in front of the bay, are the pylons of the loading platforms and the pylon of the cableway that lowered the ore onto the ships. The closure was not a local choice: the discovery of the natural gas field at Lacq, in France, changed the world sulfur market and made Giglio pyrite uncompetitive.

The beaches of Giglio Island

Those arriving thinking of kilometers of sand are thrown off: on Giglio the real beaches are four, and everything else is coves, rock slides and natural platforms where you lie on your towel on top of granite. Those who know in advance get organized and have an extraordinary vacation. Those who don't spend two days looking for sand.

Campese Beach

The largest on the island, on the western side, coarse dark red sand, all services, easy access from the road and the bus. It's the obvious choice for those traveling with small children or with people with mobility difficulties, because it's the only one you reach practically on the flat.

Cannelle Beach

Second in size, on the eastern side, south of Giglio Porto, it looks straight at the Argentario promontory. Very fine white sand, water that deepens gently, sun until mid-afternoon. You get there by car or shuttle and then a short descent on foot, or by water taxi from the pier. It's the most crowded beach in August: early in the morning it's another thing.

Caldane Beach

Immediately south of the Cannelle, reachable only by sea or on foot along the path that crosses the promontory. Coarse golden sand mixed with granite blocks, almost no services, transparent water. Those who go bring water, shade and lunch. It's the beach the Giglio people point to when they want to get rid of a hurried tourist, and for once the advice is sincere.

Arenella Beach

Third in size, a little north of Giglio Porto, coarse golden grains, seabed alternating between sand and rock. It's the most convenient for those staying at the port who don't want to take the bus: you get there on foot on a stroll along the seafront, and on libeccio days it is sheltered while Campese is unmanageable.

The coves of Giglio Island

The rest of the coast is a list of inlets that the Giglio people know by heart and that most visitors never see: Cala degli Alberi, Cala dell'Allume, Cala Calbugina, Cala delle Caldane, Cala delle Cannelle, Cala del Corvo, Cala Cupa, Cala dei Giudicelli, Cala del Lazzaretto, Cala di Pietrabona, Cala Saracinesca, Cala dello Schizzatoio, Cala degli Sparvieri, Cala Tamburata, la Caletta, Fonte del Prete. The name Cala Calbugina is a toponymic corruption of Cala Elbigina, documented since the 17th century, and recalls the clash between the people of Elba and Giglio to seize the relics of Saint Mamilian: a place name that tells of a religious quarrel centuries old.

The headlands, the reliefs and the islets

Along the coast follow one another Punta dell'Arenella, Punta della Calbugina, Punta della Campana, Punta del Capel Rosso, Punta di Capo Marino, Punta di Castellare, Punta Corbaia, Punta delle Cote, Punta del Faraglione, Punta del Fenaio, Punta Gabbianara, Punta del Gesso, Punta del Lazzaretto, Punta di Mezzo Franco, Punta del Morto, Punta della Penna, Punta Pietralta, Punta di Radice, Punta della Rota, Punta dei Sabbielli, Punta delle Secche, Punta del Serrone, Punta della Smeralda, Punta Torricella and the Puntale dei Greci. Inland the main reliefs are Poggio della Chiusa, Poggio Falcone, Poggio Giannello, Poggio della Pagana, Poggio del Sasso Ritto, Poggio delle Serre, Poggio del Serrone, Poggio Terneti, Poggio Zuffolone and the Castellucci. In the sea, the islets and shoals: Le Scole, the Isola della Cappa, the Scoglio del Corvo, the Faraglione and the Secca di Mezzo Franco. Le Scole, off the eastern coast, are the group of rocks that in 2012 tore open the side of a 114,000-ton ship.

The lighthouses of Giglio Island

Three lighthouses guard the island: the Faro del Fenaio at the northern end, the Faro di Capel Rosso at the southern one and the Faro delle Vaccarecce. They can be reached on foot along the trail network and offer the two extreme viewpoints of the island. The stretch toward Capel Rosso, in particular, crosses the most deserted part of Giglio, the one where you meet nobody even on August 15.

The trails of Giglio Island

The trail network covers the whole island and runs for about 60 kilometers, largely on ancient paths that connected the vineyards, the quarries and the towers. It is the real reason Giglio deserves a week and not a day. The routes climb from sea level to the ridge, cross abandoned terraces and low scrub, and almost everywhere keep the view of the open sea. The most frequented route connects Giglio Castello to Poggio della Pagana and continues north to the Faro del Fenaio. The most demanding one descends south along the ridge to the Faro di Capel Rosso, with serious elevation changes and no water point.

When to hike on Giglio Island

April, May, the second half of September and October. In July and August the Mediterranean scrub gives no shade, the granite reflects and temperatures on exposed slopes become a real problem, not an annoyance. Those who hike in summer start at dawn and are back by 10:30. Closed shoes, a hat, at least a liter and a half of water each: on the Giglio trails there are no drinking fountains, and it's not a joke.

Fire risk and the Park rules

The island is inside the Tuscan Archipelago National Park. The ordinary rules of protected areas apply: no fires, no picking of plants, no leaving trash, dogs on a leash, and in periods of maximum risk bans on passage on some trails may come into force. The seasonal ordinances can be found on the Park's website and on that of the Municipality. The Giglio scrub has burned before: what grows back after a fire is not the original holm oak forest, it is rockrose and helichrysum, and it takes decades.

The granite quarries of Giglio Island

Before the mines and before tourism, Giglio exported stone. The quarries were concentrated on the eastern side, in particular between Punta dell'Arenella and Cala delle Caldane, where the rock was better and where ships could load. Extraction begins in the Caesarian age and continues throughout the imperial period: Giglio granite, white and compact, traveled to Rome in the form of monolithic columns, the export product par excellence. The documentation ties it to the great Roman building sites and, in a later age, to the Baptistery and the Cathedral of Pisa, the Baptistery of Florence and the Royal Palace of Naples. In 1796 the port was rebuilt precisely to reactivate the stone trade. In 1875 the quarries resumed with an extraction of 500 cubic meters. In 1943 they closed. Between 1948 and 1970 a single quarry returned to activity, then the final silence.

The locality Alle Colonne

Above Giglio Porto, at the locality Alle Colonne, roughed-out columns that were never shipped still lie on the spot, broken in the quarry or abandoned because of a flaw in the stone. It is one of the most eloquent places on the island and has no sign, no ticket booth, no guard: a Roman building site interrupted 2,000 years ago and left where it was. Go in the morning, when the raking light makes the chisel marks legible.

History of Giglio Island

The history of Giglio is the history of an outpost: a fixed point in the middle of a route, contested by anyone with an interest in controlling the northern Tyrrhenian. The masters change, the reason doesn't.

The name of the island and the ancient origins

The name has nothing to do with the flower. It derives from the Greek Aigylion, from the root that indicates goats, aighes: the island of goats. From Greek it passes to Latin Igilium and in the Middle Ages contracts to Gilio, from which the current form. Human settlement dates back at least to the Iron Age. In the Etruscan age the island served as a maritime support point along the route between the coast and Corsica.

Giglio Island in the Roman age

Under Rome Giglio knew its first golden age. It became a transit hub, a support base and a production site: the granite quarries on one side, the fishponds of the villa at Castellare on the other. Julius Caesar mentions the island in the De bello civili, and it's a political detail before a geographic one, because in Caesar's account Giglio appears as a gathering point for naval forces. In the 5th century the poet Claudius Rutilius Namatianus names it in the De reditu suo, the verse diary of the journey from Rome to Gaul: in his pages the islands of the archipelago are already a refuge, no longer a commercial hub, and you glimpse the end of a world.

From the Middle Ages to the Aldobrandeschi

In 805 Charlemagne donated the island to the Abbey of Tre Fontane in Rome, which held it as a monastic possession for over four centuries. In 1241, off Giglio, the Pisan fleet defeated the Genoese one in one of the naval episodes of the long war between the two republics. In 1269 the island passed to the Aldobrandeschi, the lords of the Maremma, and through the marriage of Margherita Aldobrandeschi to Nello Pannocchieschi ended up with the latter family. Margherita's second marriage, contracted with a member of her own house, offered the legal pretext for Pope Boniface VIII to take the fief from her in 1303 and assign it to Goffredo Caetani, that is, to his own family. From the Caetani, by marriage, the island passed to the Orsini of Perugia. Between 1264 and 1406, in parallel, Pisa exercised effective control over the island and its quarries for a long time.

1544 and the sack by Barbarossa

1544 is the date every Giglio native knows. Khayr al-Din, called Barbarossa, admiral of the Ottoman fleet, landed on the island, killed those who resisted and deported more than 700 inhabitants as slaves. In a population of that size it was almost an annihilation. The Medici Grand Duchy repopulated the island with families from the Sienese territory: a good part of today's Giglio surnames come from there. The raids did not end in the 16th century: they continued in waves until 1799, when the islanders repelled an attack by North African corsairs. The relics taken from the attackers in that clash are kept in the church of San Pietro Apostolo in Giglio Castello.

The Medici, the Grand Duchy and the modern age

In 1559 the island was acquired by Eleonora of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I de' Medici, and entered the orbit of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It's the period when the coastal towers of Campese and Lazzaretto were built and when the defense of the island becomes part of a regional system that includes the garrisons of the Argentario, Porto Ercole, Orbetello and the fortifications of Ansedonia. In the following centuries the Giglio economy stands on three legs: terraced agriculture, fishing and stone extraction.

The 20th century, the mines and the birth of tourism

The Giglio 20th century is marked by the mine: industrial opening in 1938, maximum employment in the 1950s, closure at the end of 1962. From that moment the island changes trade. Tourism, previously marginal, becomes the main activity within two decades, with the building growth of Campese and the transformation of Giglio Porto into a passenger port. Viticulture, which had enjoyed a flourishing export, was almost abandoned in the 1980s and recovered only recently. Giglio is today certified with five sails in Legambiente's Guida Blu, a recognition that rewards the quality of the waters and the environmental management of the territory.

The flora of Giglio Island

As in the rest of the archipelago, the original cover was the holm oak forest, which once occupied almost the whole island. Agriculture, grazing and fires dismantled it over the centuries. The shift from an agricultural economy to a tourist economy has slowed the pressure, and today the woodland is slowly re-forming. The best-preserved patches of tall scrub of holm oak and cork oak, with heather and strawberry tree, Mediterranean honeysuckle (Lonicera implexa), rough bindweed (Smilax aspera), wild madder (Rubia peregrina) and cyclamens (Cyclamen repandum and Cyclamen hederifolium), survive on the Franco Promontory, along the western coast south of Giglio Campese, on the eastern slope of Poggio del Castello and in the Vallata del Molino.

In the 1950s the slopes of Poggio della Pagana were reforested with umbrella pine and maritime pine, a forestry choice typical of the era that today is judged with more caution. The dry-stone granite terraces, the greppe, covered almost the entire surface until a few decades ago: some are still cultivated as vineyards, most have been abandoned and are being colonized first by a low garrigue of helichrysum and then by rockrose. Those who hike in April find the slopes covered with the white and pink flowers of the rockrose: it's beautiful, and it's also the sign of an agricultural landscape that has retreated.

The fauna of Giglio Island

The land fauna is poor in species, as on all the minor islands: wild rabbit, lesser white-toothed shrew, wood mouse and mouflon, the latter introduced in recent times and not widespread. Bats, on the other hand, are well represented, with Cestoni's free-tailed bat, Schreiber's bat, the common pipistrelle, Kuhl's pipistrelle, the common noctule, Savi's pipistrelle, the serotine bat, the brown long-eared bat and the gray long-eared bat.

The nesting and wintering birdlife includes the European shag, the hen harrier, the common buzzard, the kestrel, the peregrine falcon, Audouin's gull, the yellow-legged gull, the sandwich tern, the rock dove, the turtle dove, the barn owl, the scops owl, the little owl, the nightjar, the pallid swift, the dunnock, the alpine accentor, the black redstart, the blue rock thrush, the black-eared wheatear, the Dartford warbler, the common raven and the cirl bunting. Audouin's gull, in particular, is a species of European conservation concern and the Tuscan archipelago hosts a significant share of it.

Underwater, the fish fauna is the typical one of the Tyrrhenian, with a still well-preserved population of Pinna nobilis, the large bivalve that the Giglio people call nacchera, and then groupers, dentex, sea breams, amberjacks and multicolored wrasses. The seabeds of Giglio are among the most frequented by divers in the whole central Tyrrhenian, for their transparency and for the vertical walls that drop quickly into the depths.

The cuisine of Giglio Island and the Ansonaco wine

Giglio cuisine is the cuisine of a poor island turned into the cuisine of a tourist island, with all the advantages and risks involved. The signature dish is not from the sea but from the pantry: the panficato, a compact sweet made of dried figs, walnuts, jam, orange peel and fresh fruit (apple or pear), bound with a handful of flour or bread. It was born as a winter preserve, it is made mostly around the holidays and every family claims to have the right recipe.

Ansonaco, the wine of Giglio Island

Ansonaco is the island's white wine, produced mainly from Ansonica grapes grown on terraces overlooking the sea. It falls under the Ansonica Costa dell'Argentario denomination, recognized by decree of April 28, 1995 and published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale on May 31 of the same year: the zone includes the municipalities of Manciano, Orbetello, Monte Argentario, Capalbio and Giglio Island, in the province of Grosseto. The production rules require a clear prevalence of Ansonica, with a maximum of 15 percent of other white grapes. In the glass it is straw yellow of variable intensity, with a slightly fruity profile and hints of Mediterranean scrub, and a dry, soft, lively taste. It is served between 8 and 10 degrees and was made for fish.

The production history tells of a collapse and a comeback. Once the export was abundant. With the arrival of tourism agriculture and viticulture were abandoned together, and in the 1980s very few people were left tending their own vineyards for family consumption. The recovery of the last 20 years has put historic terraces back into production and has brought high-end bottles to market, among them the ansonaco Perseo e Medusa, which has reached prices among the highest for an Italian white. Opinion, and I own it fully: drunk on the island, with a grilled fish, ansonaco is worth every euro. Bought to impress someone in Rome, much less. It's a wine of place, and outside its place it loses half the argument.

Where to eat on Giglio Island

The restaurants are concentrated at Giglio Porto along the pier front, at Giglio Castello inside the walls and at Campese along the beach. The practical advice holds everywhere on the minor islands: in July and August you book, even for lunch, even on a Tuesday. Off season many places close and only those at the port stay open. A detail few consider: the fish served at Giglio is not necessarily caught at Giglio, because the local fleet is tiny. Asking is not rude, it's normal.

Giannutri, the municipality's second island

Giannutri is administratively part of the Municipality of Giglio Island and lies a few kilometers to the southeast. It's the southernmost island of the Tuscan Archipelago: a crescent of limestone about three kilometers long and just over 900 meters wide, with an area of about 2.6 square kilometers. The permanent inhabitants are 27, in the locality officially named Spalmatoio-Ischiaiola. There are no hotels and camping is forbidden: it is visited in a day, and this completely changes the nature of the experience.

How to visit Giannutri

There are two landings: Cala Maestra to the northwest and Cala Spalmatoio to the southeast. Toremar and Maregiglio connect the island with Porto Santo Stefano, and Maregiglio also runs the direct Giglio - Giannutri connection, with summer frequencies and a much reduced service in winter. Access to the island requires a ticket of 2.50 euros per visitor, with exemptions provided. Those arriving by private boat must pay it online before landing, while those arriving on the scheduled lines can settle up at the bar restaurant at Cala Spalmatoio or with the Park Guides present on the island.

Where you can walk on Giannutri

This is the rule that ruins the day for anyone who doesn't know it. The road network connecting Cala Maestra to Cala Spalmatoio, with its adjoining areas, corresponding to trails 505 and 502, is open to everyone. The rest of the island, outside the two coves and that connection, can only be visited accompanied by a Park Guide, for environmental and safety reasons. Daily excursions, nature-focused or historical, are organized through the Tuscan Archipelago National Park and its authorized operators, by reservation: the official contacts are the number 0565 908231 and the Park's email address. Anyone who lands hoping to get around the island on their own goes back disappointed.

The Roman villa on Giannutri

Near Cala Maestra stand the remains of a maritime villa from the 2nd century AD, built by the Domitii Ahenobarbi, the same senatorial family linked to the Castellare complex on Giglio. The peristyle, the nymphaeum and the thermal area are still legible, along with the structures of the Roman port, one of the best preserved in the central Tyrrhenian. At the southern tip of the island the lighthouse, built in the second half of the 19th century, marks the night passage. The island also had the Forte della Scoperta, a 19th-century defensive structure now lost.

The Costa Concordia shipwreck at Giglio Island

On January 13, 2012, shortly after 21:40, the cruise ship Costa Concordia struck the group of rocks called Le Scole, off the eastern coast of Giglio Island. The ship, which entered service after being launched on September 2, 2005 at the Fincantieri shipyards, measured 247.40 meters in length, with a gross tonnage of about 114,500 tons and a capacity of 3,780 passengers. It was on a Mediterranean cruise with scheduled stops at Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari, Palermo and Civitavecchia.

The night of January 13, 2012

The impact opened a gash tens of meters long in the port side. The ship listed, lost propulsion and ended up lying on its starboard side on the rocky step of the shallows north of Giglio Porto. There were more than 4,000 people on board, passengers and crew. The confirmed victims were 32. The next morning the chunk of rock lodged in the hull was visible to the naked eye from shore, and that image went around the world. Captain Francesco Schettino received a final sentence of 16 years in prison, with a ban from the maritime profession.

The role of the islanders

That night, in January, an island of just over a thousand residents took in thousands of shipwreck survivors. Private homes were opened, the church and the school were turned into shelters, the fishermen's boats went out in the dark. For this reason the community of Giglio Island received the Gold Medal for Civil Merit, with a citation that is worth reading in full: on the occasion of the tragic shipwreck of a cruise ship, which occurred at night near Giglio Island, citizens, administrators and local institutions offered, with spontaneous immediacy, their decisive contribution and unconditional commitment to rescuing the shipwrecked. The whole community, giving of itself with generous self-sacrifice in welcoming and assisting a great many people in conditions of absolute need, offered the Nation a marvelous example of high civic spirit and admirable solidarity.

The parbuckling and the removal of the wreck

The wreck stayed half-sunk in front of Giglio Porto for two and a half years. Between September 16 and 17, 2013, the parbuckling operation took place: rotating the hull into an upright position, carried out in about 19 hours and followed live by the whole world. It was the largest operation of its kind ever attempted on a passenger ship. Refloating began on July 14, 2014. On July 23, 2014, the wreck left Giglio Island under tow to Genoa, where it arrived on July 27. Demolition and recycling recovered about 50,000 tons of steel, plus aluminum, copper and other materials, for a total cost of the operation on the order of a billion euros, higher than the cost of building the ship. During the salvage work, on February 2, 2014, a diver working on the operations died.

What you see today at the site of the shipwreck

Nothing, and that's the right answer. Le Scole are rocks again as before, the seabed has been cleaned up and monitored, the Posidonia meadow has regrown in the damaged areas. On land there is no tourist route dedicated to the shipwreck, and the islanders don't want one. On the pier at Giglio Porto there is a sober memorial to the victims. The professional advice is blunt: if you go to Giglio, don't ask an islander to tell you about that night as if it were an anecdote. 32 people never came home.

When to go to Giglio Island

The full beach season runs from mid-June to mid-September, with the absolute peak in the two central weeks of August, when the island's population multiplies by 10 and the limit on landing vehicles goes into force. May and the second half of September are the two best periods of all: the sea is already or still warm enough for swimming, trails are passable, restaurants are open, prices are reasonable. April and October are wonderful for walking and disappointing for swimming. In winter the island shuts down: few ferry runs, most businesses closed, and a silence that some people like very much.

Wind and sea at Giglio Island

The libeccio is the wind that decides the day. When it blows, Campese bay becomes unusable and people move to the eastern side, to Le Cannelle or Arenella. With the scirocco the opposite happens. Before choosing the beach, in the morning, you check which way the wind is blowing: it's the gesture that separates people who know the island from people visiting for the first time. On days of very rough seas ferry runs can be canceled, and this mostly concerns anyone with a flight to catch on the day of the return. Safety margin: one more night on the mainland, always, in low season.

Giglio Island with kids

It works, on two conditions. The first is the choice of base: with small children Campese solves the problem of a beach reachable without stairs, while Giglio Porto forces daily transfers. The second is managing the sun: on the island natural shade on the beach is almost absent and the equipped beach clubs are few. On the fun side, a boat tour around the island with stops at the coves is the activity that works best with kids from age 8 up, along with an intro dive with the diving centers of Campese. Giglio Castello, with its covered alleys and stairs, is more popular than you'd expect: it's a real labyrinth, and kids get it right away.

Diving and snorkeling at Giglio Island

The Giglio seabed is among the most appreciated in the northern Tyrrhenian: walls that drop steeply, visibility often over 25 meters, red coral at technical depths and a biodiversity supported by the Park's protection. The diving centers operate mostly at Campese and Giglio Porto. For snorkeling you need nothing more than a mask and fins: the coves of the eastern coast, with their mixed bottom of sand and granite, already at three meters deep offer a complete sampler of wrasses, sea breams and fan mussels. Non-negotiable rule: Pinna nobilis is a protected species and you don't touch it, don't dislodge it and don't take it home.

Accessibility and services at Giglio Island

It has to be said honestly: the island is steep and largely not accessible to anyone with serious mobility difficulties. Giglio Castello is a village of stairs and cobblestones. Many coves can only be reached by trail. Campese beach is the only one with essentially flat access and equipped beach clubs. On the island there are a pharmacy, a seasonal on-call doctor and basic health facilities. For hospital care, the reference is the mainland, with the crossing times that come with it. Anyone with particular medical needs should plan the vacation taking this fact into account, not the postcard.

How much a vacation at Giglio Island costs

There are four items: ferry, lodging, getting around the island, dining. The ferry has different fares for passenger and vehicle, and the vehicle weighs heavily: giving it up, on an island served by a bus line and by rentals, is the most economically sensible choice for a short stay. Lodging follows the extreme seasonality typical of the smaller islands, with notable price differences between June and August. Water-taxi rides to the coves are a recurring cost that has to go in the budget if you want to see the coast. Up-to-date fares for ferries, buses and Giannutri access tickets can be found on the official websites of the companies, of Autolinee Toscane and of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park.

Frequently asked questions about Giglio Island

How do you get to Giglio Island from Rome?

To get to Giglio Island from Rome you drive or take the train to Argentario and then take the ferry from Porto Santo Stefano. By car it's about 160 kilometers on the Aurelia, two and a half hours without traffic. By train, the Tyrrhenian line stops at Orbetello Scalo, with a bus continuing to the port, and the crossing by ship takes about an hour.

Is it worth bringing a car to Giglio Island?

No, bringing a car to Giglio Island is rarely worth it: the ferry for the vehicle costs a significant amount, in August landing is subject to self-certification with a minimum stay, and once on the island parking in Giglio Castello and Giglio Porto is very scarce. It makes more sense to leave the car at Porto Santo Stefano and get around with buses or local rentals.

What are the main beaches of Giglio Island?

On Giglio Island the real beaches are only four, while the rest of the coast is made up of coves, rock slides and natural platforms on the granite. Campese beach, on the western side, is the biggest on the island and is bounded to the south by the Faraglione, an isolated conical rock.

What is the best time to go to Giglio Island?

The full beach season on Giglio Island runs from mid-June to mid-September, with the absolute peak in the two central weeks of August. May and the second half of September are considered the two best periods of all, with the sea already or still warm enough for swimming, trails passable, restaurants open and more reasonable prices.

Is Giglio Island suitable for a vacation with kids?

Giglio Island works with kids on two conditions: the choice of base, because Campese offers a beach reachable without stairs while Giglio Porto requires daily transfers, and managing the sun, because natural shade on the beach is almost absent on the island. A boat tour around the island with stops at the coves is among the activities that younger kids like most.

Is Giglio Island accessible for people with mobility difficulties?

Giglio Island is steep and largely not accessible to anyone with serious mobility difficulties: Giglio Castello is a village of stairs and cobblestones, and many coves can only be reached by trail. Campese beach is the only one with essentially flat access and equipped beach clubs.

What is there to see in Giglio Castello?

Giglio Castello, one of the three inhabited settlements of Giglio Island at about 400 meters above sea level, joined the club of the Most Beautiful Villages of Italy fully deserving it, because it preserves intact walls, covered alleys and rampant arches between the houses. The inhabitants built it high up and enclosed because on the coast, exposed to attacks from the sea, it was not possible to live in safety.

What happened to the Costa Concordia near Giglio Island?

On January 13, 2012, shortly after 21:40, the cruise ship Costa Concordia struck the group of rocks called Le Scole, off the eastern coast of Giglio Island. The ship, 247.40 meters long and with a capacity of 3,780 passengers, was on a Mediterranean cruise when the accident happened that has remained tied to the recent history of the island.

What to see around Giglio Island

The island pairs naturally with the Argentario promontory and southern Maremma. At Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole the Spanish fortresses of the Presidio remain. At Orbetello, the lagoon and the cathedral. At Ansedonia, the ruins of Cosa and the Etruscan Tagliata. A little further inland, Capalbio and its walled village, and toward the tuff hinterland Pitigliano. Anyone coming from Rome with a week can build an itinerary that combines the island and the coast without ever repeating themselves. Anyone who loves the islands of the central Tyrrhenian will find an interesting comparison with the Pontine archipelago, in particular with Ponza and Ventotene: same size, opposite geology, completely different history.

For organized groups, multi-day trips between the island and the Maremma coast require coordination that goes beyond booking the ferries: anyone organizing group travel in Italy will find professional support for logistics and accompaniment at TourLeaderPro.

A curiosity about Giglio Island

The name of Giglio Island has never had anything to do with the lily. It is one of the most stubborn popular etymologies in Italy, fed by the fact that the island came into Florence's orbit, and Florence has the lily on its coat of arms: the short circuit seemed perfect and nobody felt like dismantling it. The linguistic reality is different and begins much earlier. The Greeks called the island Aigylion, from the root aighes, goats: the island of goats. Latin made it Igilium, a form attested in ancient sources, and the Middle Ages contracted Igilium into Gilio, from which the present form Giglio comes. The passage is regular and documented, and leaves no room for floral interpretations.

The fascinating thing is that the etymology tells of a vanished landscape. The goats that gave the island its name grazed on slopes that were then covered in holm oak woods and that today are low scrub and abandoned terraces: goat herding, together with fires and agriculture, is one of the causes of the environmental transformation of the island over the following 25 centuries. Put another way, the name doesn't describe a flower that isn't there: it describes an economic activity that changed the face of Giglio Island before anyone put it in writing.

I'll add a note that always amuses groups. On the island's municipal coat of arms there are no goats, and the tourist signs happily play on the floral assonance. It's a small, affectionate falsification, the kind that places allow themselves. But when someone in front of Giglio Castello explains to you that the name comes from the Medici, know that ancient Greek says the opposite, and has been saying it for 2,500 years.

Something nobody tells you about Giglio Island

No guidebook writes it for you on the cover, but on Giglio Island there are no perennial watercourses. Not a stream, not a spring of significant flow, nothing. 23 square kilometers of granite that don't hold water and that discharge it into the sea within a few hours after a storm. This apparently technical fact explains more things than any chapter of history. It explains why human settlement concentrated in only three centers and not in scattered houses. It explains why cisterns and wells appear everywhere in the historic architecture of the village. It explains why Giglio agriculture specialized in the vine and the olive tree, which tolerate aridity, and not in vegetable growing. And it explains, in a very concrete way, why in August the island experiences a serious water problem that the local news recounts every summer.

The practical consequence for anyone going: water on Giglio Island is a scarce resource and has to be treated as such. Short showers in lodgings, no waste at the beach clubs, and on the trails you carry your own water because you won't find fountains. It's not a generic environmentalist invitation: it's the operational translation of a geological condition. Anyone arriving from a city where the tap never stops has trouble believing it, then reads the sign in the hotel bathroom and understands.

There is a second element that almost nobody mentions, and it concerns the logistics of the return. In case of rough seas ferry runs can be canceled even in midsummer, and the island stays isolated for hours or for a whole day. Anyone with an intercontinental flight or a rigid commitment on the day of the return should allow a margin. On Giglio Island the weather is not a detail of the vacation: it is part of the contract.

The advice I give you for visiting Giglio Island

Leave the car at Porto Santo Stefano. It's advice almost nobody follows on the first trip, only to change their mind on the second. The ferry for the vehicle costs a significant sum, in August landing is subject to self-certification with a minimum stay, and once on the island the car becomes a problem: there is only one road, the parking spaces in Giglio Castello and Giglio Porto are very few and tight, and on peak days you circle for 20 minutes to park 500 meters from where you wanted to be. With the IG1 line of Autolinee Toscane, a scooter rented for two days and a few water-taxi rides, you cover everything you need, spending less and never hunting for a space.

Second piece of advice, on how to structure the day. On Giglio Island it pays to flip city hours upside down: sea early in the morning, when Le Cannelle are still almost empty and the light is best for photos. Return and rest during the middle hours. Climb to Giglio Castello in the late afternoon, when the village empties of day trippers and the stone gives back its heat. Late dinner. Watch the sunset from Campese, which is the only side exposed to the west. Many do exactly the opposite, going up to the Castello at noon at 40 degrees and going down to the beach at three: you go home cooked and without having seen anything.

Third, on how much time to give it. A single day on Giglio Island doesn't make much sense, and I say that against the interest of those who sell day excursions. Between the crossing, ferry schedules and transfers on the island, the day trip leaves three actual hours on the island. The sensible minimum is three nights. With a week you can do the circuit of the trails, see Giannutri and go home with the impression of having understood something. For anyone preparing a wider trip to Tuscany, of which the island is one stop, the ItalyPlanner Tuscany guide helps fit the real distances together.

Another well-known fact, yet seldom mentioned

That Giglio is a granite island, everybody knows. That this granite left from here to build half of Italy, few say, and almost never with the names of the building sites. The quarries on the eastern side, between Punta dell'Arenella and Cala delle Caldane, worked from the age of Caesar to the height of the empire, exporting monolithic columns to Rome. Production resumed in the medieval and modern age: Giglio granite is documented at the building sites of the Baptistery and the Cathedral of Pisa, the Baptistery of Florence and the Royal Palace of Naples. In 1796 the island's port was rebuilt precisely to relaunch the stone trade, and in 1875 the quarries resumed with an extraction of 500 cubic meters. Closure came in 1943. A single quarry reopened between 1948 and 1970, then it was the end.

The rarely mentioned fact, though, is another: on the island the columns stayed. At the locality Alle Colonne, above Giglio Porto, roughed-out shafts that were never shipped still lie on the ground, broken during extraction or discarded because of a flaw in the stone. They are not in a museum, they have no ticket, they have no fence: they are right where the quarrymen left them. You get there on foot and walk among blocks that someone was working when an emperor governed in Rome. For a tour leader it is one of the most effective places in the whole Tyrrhenian, because it needs no explanation: just point out the chisel marks on the surface and the story tells itself.

I'll add the corollary that completes the picture. The same rock that provided work for two millennia is the reason Giglio Island has no water, no plains and no deep natural harbors. Granite was both the wealth and the limit of this community at the same time, and the landscape that tourists photograph today is the result of that double effect.

The right photo to take at Giglio Island

The photograph everyone tries is the Faraglione of Campese at sunset, and that's perfectly fine: it's the only coast of the island exposed to the west, the sun falls behind the conical rock and in July and August the alignment is almost perfect seen from the Campese pier. The problem is that everyone takes it, with the same lens and from the same spot. If you want that one, get on the pier 40 minutes early and wait: the best light comes after the disc has disappeared, when the sky turns orange and the faraglione stays backlit with the sea still bright.

The photo I actually recommend is another, and it's shot early in the morning from the road that climbs from Giglio Porto toward Giglio Castello, at the hairpin bends around Monticello. From there you frame the harbor bay from above, with the colorful houses pressed around the roadstead, the pier closing off on the right, the Torre del Saraceno on the promontory and, in the background, the silhouette of the Argentario closing the horizon. It's the photograph that explains the island in one frame: a town clinging to the only point where you could land. During daylight saving time, between 7 and 8 in the morning, the sun comes from the east and fully lights the facades. A moderate telephoto lens, around 80 millimeters equivalent, compresses the planes and improves the result a lot.

Third option, for walkers: the view from the Rocca Aldobrandesca of Giglio Castello on tramontana days, when the air is clear and Elba, Montecristo and the outline of Corsica appear together on the horizon. In those conditions a wide-angle gives little back, because the islands become dots. Better a long telephoto and a tight composition on the sea with the silhouettes overlapping. As for a photo at the site of the shipwreck, the answer is that there's nothing to photograph and that it isn't right to go looking for one.

Some important events that happened here in history

The first event is from 1241 and took place at sea, off the island: the Pisan fleet defeated the Genoese one in one of the clashes of the long war between the two maritime republics. Giglio, because of its position on the Tyrrhenian route, was a stage and not a spectator of that conflict, and in the following centuries Pisa long exercised effective control over the island, between 1264 and 1406.

The second event is from 1303 and is political. Pope Boniface VIII, exploiting the canonical irregularity of the second marriage of Margherita Aldobrandeschi, contracted with a member of her own house, took the island's fief from her and assigned it to Goffredo Caetani, that is, to a member of his own family. It's a textbook case of using marriage law as a tool of territorial acquisition, and it directly concerns Giglio.

The third event is from 1544 and is the most tragic of the modern age. Khayr al-Din Barbarossa, Ottoman admiral, landed on the island, killed those who resisted and deported more than 700 Giglio islanders as slaves. For a population of that size it was an erasure. Repopulation came on Medici initiative with Sienese families, and much of today's island family names descends from that. The corsair raids continued until 1799, when the islanders repelled a last North African assault: the relics taken from the attackers are in the church of San Pietro Apostolo.

The fourth event is industrial and social: the closing of the Miniera del Franco at the end of 1962, with the flooding of the tunnels and the dismantling of the plants in 1976. In a few years a community that lived on fixed wages found itself without its employer and had to reinvent itself around tourism. It's the break that created the contemporary island.

The fifth is the Costa Concordia shipwreck, on the night of January 13, 2012, with 32 victims, more than 4,000 people rescued and a community of a thousand residents that opened its homes. The Gold Medal for Civil Merit to the population of Giglio Island is not a formal recognition: it's the way the Republic registered that night. The parbuckling of September 2013 and the removal of the wreck on July 23, 2014 closed the material side of the affair. Memory, on the island, is another matter.

Who passed through Giglio Island

The first name is Julius Caesar, who mentions the island in the De bello civili: in Caesar's account Giglio appears as a gathering point for naval forces during the civil war, proof that the position of the island already had strategic value recognized in Rome. Shortly later, in the imperial age, the island enters the holdings of the Domitii Ahenobarbi, the senatorial family that built the maritime residence of Castellare at Giglio Porto and the villa of Cala Maestra on Giannutri: we are talking about the house that gave Rome consuls, admirals and, by adoption and descent, the emperor Nero.

In the 5th century Claudius Rutilius Namatianus passed through, prefect of Rome and poet, who in the De reditu suo recounts the sea voyage to Gaul and names the islands of the archipelago. It's a precious testimony because it catches the moment when these islands stop being commercial ports of call and become refuges: in his little poem the Tyrrhenian is already a dangerous sea and the empire is falling apart.

In 805 Giglio enters the acts of Charlemagne, who gives it to the Abbey of the Tre Fontane in Rome. There is no reason to believe the emperor ever landed there, but his signature is in the ownership history of the island for the following four centuries. Then, as lords, come the Aldobrandeschi, the Pannocchieschi, the Caetani by will of Boniface VIII and the Orsini of Perugia.

In 1544 the worst guest arrives: Khayr al-Din Barbarossa. In 1559 arrives instead Eleonora of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I de' Medici, who acquires the island and brings it into the Grand Duchy: it's the moment Giglio stops being a contested fief and becomes a piece of Tuscany. To Cosimo I are owed the coastal towers of Campese and Lazzaretto.

Among artistic presences, the most notable is indirect but concrete: in the church of San Pietro Apostolo in Giglio Castello is kept an ivory crucifix attributed to Giambologna, the great Flemish sculptor active at the Medici court, author of the Rape of the Sabine Women and the Mercury. The church also holds silverware and vestments linked to the memory of Pope Innocent XIII, of the Conti family. For an island of a thousand inhabitants, having in the parish an ivory attributed to Giambologna says a lot about the relations between Giglio and the court of Florence.

In the 20th century and in the new one Giglio Island has been crossed by a different flow: the Italian miners who came for the Franco site, the divers who since the 1960s have made its seabed a destination, and the thousands of journalists, technicians and rescuers who in 2012 and in the following years lived on the island for the Concordia case. The community that hosted them all is the same one that received the Gold Medal for Civil Merit.

Quick questions about Giglio Island

How do you get to Giglio Island from Rome?

By car or by train to Argentario, then by ferry from Porto Santo Stefano. From Rome it's about 160 kilometers on the Aurelia, two and a half hours without traffic. The Tyrrhenian train stops at Orbetello Scalo, with a bus continuing to the port. The crossing takes about an hour.

Which companies run the ferry to Giglio Island?

Toremar and Maregiglio, both from Porto Santo Stefano, all year round, with much more frequent service in summer. The same companies serve Giannutri. Maregiglio also runs the direct Giglio - Giannutri link.

How long is the crossing to Giglio Island?

About an hour, a bit less on the fast vessels. In rough seas runs can be canceled, even in midsummer.

Can you bring a car to Giglio Island?

Yes, outside the restricted period. In 2026 the landing ban for motor vehicles with Italian plates belonging to non-residents ran from August 3 to 24 inclusive, with an exemption for those who self-certify a stay of at least five days, four in a campground. Dates change every year and should be checked on the website of the Comune and of the shipping companies.

How do you get around Giglio Island without a car?

With the IG1 bus line of Autolinee Toscane, which connects Giglio Porto, Giglio Castello and Giglio Campese, with rentals of scooters, small cars and electric bicycles, with taxis and with water taxis for the coves that can't be reached by land.

How many days do you need to visit Giglio Island?

Three nights is the sensible minimum, a week lets you walk the trails and add Giannutri. The day trip leaves few actual hours on the island and does not do the place justice.

What is the most beautiful beach on Giglio Island?

It depends on what you're looking for. Le Cannelle for fine sand and water that deepens gently, Le Caldane for solitude, Campese for the services and the sunset, Arenella for convenience from Giglio Porto. For a comparison with the rest of the peninsula, the ranking of ItalyPlanner's best Italian beaches helps calibrate expectations.

Is Giglio Island suitable for kids?

Yes, if you choose the base well. Campese solves the problem of a beach reachable without stairs. Giglio Porto forces daily transfers. Natural shade on the beach is almost absent and has to be organized.

When is the best time to go to Giglio Island?

May and the second half of September offer the best balance between sea, passable trails and crowding. August is the absolute peak, with the restriction on landing vehicles. April and October are great for walking, less so for swimming.

What is there to see in Giglio Castello?

The intact medieval city walls, the Rocca Aldobrandesca, the covered alleys and the church of San Pietro Apostolo, with the ivory crucifix attributed to Giambologna, the relics of San Mamiliano and the silverware linked to the memory of Pope Innocent XIII. The village is listed among the Most Beautiful Villages of Italy.

Can you visit the Rocca Aldobrandesca of Giglio Island?

The Rocca can be seen from the outside and from the circuit of the walls, which offers the view of Elba, Montecristo and Corsica on clear days. Access to the interior spaces varies over time and should be checked with the Comune or the tourist office on the island.

How do you get to Giannutri and how much does it cost?

With Toremar and Maregiglio from Porto Santo Stefano, and with the direct link from Giglio in season. Access to the island requires a ticket of €2.50 per visitor, with exemptions: those arriving on a private boat pay it online before landing, those arriving by regular service can pay at the bar-restaurant at Cala Spalmatoio or from the Park Guides.

Is a guide mandatory on Giannutri?

Outside the two coves, yes. The route that connects Cala Maestra to Cala Spalmatoio, corresponding to trails 505 and 502, can be walked freely. The rest of the island can only be visited accompanied by a Park Guide.

Can you sleep or camp on Giannutri?

No. There are no hotels on the island and camping is prohibited. The visit is a day trip.

What is the Ansonaco of Giglio Island?

It's the island's white wine, made mostly from Ansonica grapes grown on terraces hanging over the sea, within the Ansonica Costa dell'Argentario denomination recognized in 1995. Straw yellow, lightly fruity, with notes of Mediterranean scrub, dry and soft, it's served between 8 and 10 degrees.

What is panficato?

The island's typical dessert: dried figs, walnuts, jam, orange peel and fresh fruit bound together with a little flour or bread. It began as a winter preserve and is made mostly around the holidays.

Can you still see the wreck of the Costa Concordia at Giglio Island?

No. The wreck was righted with the parbuckling operation between September 16 and 17, 2013 and towed away on July 23, 2014 to Genoa, where it was demolished. Nothing has been left at the site and there are no tourist routes dedicated to the shipwreck.

How many victims were there in the Costa Concordia shipwreck?

32, on the night of January 13, 2012. More than 4,000 people were rescued. The community of Giglio Island was awarded the Gold Medal for Civil Merit for the welcome given that night.

Are there trails on Giglio Island?

Yes, a network of about 60 kilometers that covers the whole island, with routes to the Fenaio Lighthouse in the north and the Capel Rosso Lighthouse in the south. There are no fountains along the trails: you bring your water.

Is Giglio Island accessible for people with mobility difficulties?

Only partly. Campese beach is the only one with essentially flat access and equipped beach clubs. Giglio Castello is a village of stairs and cobblestones and many coves can only be reached by trail.

Is there diving on Giglio Island?

Yes, and it's one of the most frequented dive destinations of the northern Tyrrhenian, with vertical walls, excellent visibility and red coral at technical depths. The centers operate mostly at Campese and Giglio Porto.

How many inhabitants does Giglio Island have?

Just over 1,400 registered residents, spread between Giglio Porto, Giglio Castello and Giglio Campese, plus the 27 of Giannutri. In August the present population multiplies by 10.

What happens on Giglio Island on August 10?

The Palio Marinaro of Giglio Porto is held, the rowing regatta among the three districts Chiesa, Moletto and Saraceno, in honor of the patron saint Lawrence. At Campese the patron saint festival falls on August 16, with shows and fireworks.

Is it worth organizing Giglio Island with a group?

With large groups the logistics of ferries, buses and dining require coordination: the professional tour accompaniment service of TourLeaderPro is designed for this kind of itinerary.

What is there to see near Giglio Island?

The Argentario promontory with Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole, the Orbetello lagoon, the ruins of Cosa at Ansedonia, the walled village of Capalbio and, in the tuff hinterland, Pitigliano. It's the natural pairing for anyone arriving from Rome.

What strikes you on Giglio Island is not the sea, which is nonetheless among the clearest in the Tyrrhenian: it's the disproportion between the size of the place and the amount of history that has passed over it. 23 square kilometers of granite have supplied columns to imperial Rome, have changed hands eight times in five centuries, have lost 700 people in one night in 1544, have built and then closed a mine and finally have taken in 4,000 shipwreck survivors in January. If you go only once, go in September, sleep there at least three nights and climb to Giglio Castello at the hour when the day trippers go back to the pier. The rest you'll find on your own.

Article written by the editorial team of TourLeaderPro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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