Porto Ercole Italy
32
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Atlas Ocean Voyages (2 Cruises)
Emerald Waterways (11 Cruises)
Oceania Cruises (1 Cruises)
SeaDream Yacht Club (10 Cruises)
Seadream II
9 Cruises
Windstar Cruises (8 Cruises)
Star Legend
6 Cruises
Frequently Asked Questions
Ships, usually smaller ones, anchor in the bay and tender passengers ashore opposite the waterfront. Like any tendered call, it depends on sea conditions and can be cancelled.
Yes, entirely — but it climbs. The landing gives onto the fishing basin; from there a fortified gate and stepped lanes rise to the old borgo. The climb is short but steady: wear comfortable shoes.
The upper village and a fort in the morning, the Feniglia in the afternoon. Allow about thirty minutes on foot to reach the approaches of Forte Filippo, where the view takes in the Tyrrhenian Sea, the island of Giglio and the long green spit of the Feniglia.
Yes. In July 1610 the painter, on the run and ill, came ashore on this Tuscan Maremma coast and died there at 38, in circumstances historians still debate. The parish church of Sant'Erasmo keeps his memory, and searches for his burial have been carried out in the area. Do not expect a mausoleum: the village does not trade on it.
Remnants of the State of the Presidi, Spain's 16th-century foothold on the Tuscan coast. Three works crown the heights: the Rocca Aldobrandesca above the village, Forte Filippo built in 1558 on the orders of Philip II, and the perfectly star-shaped Forte Stella. For two centuries this coast was a frontier between empires.
A 6 km sand spit covered in umbrella pines that links the Argentario to the mainland, protected as a nature reserve. The shaded track can be walked or cycled, and fallow deer sometimes appear between the trunks. On one side the Orbetello lagoon and its flamingos, on the other an even beach.
Yes. The Feniglia beach is about twenty minutes' walk under the pines from the foot of the village. For a few hours ashore, a walk and a swim make a perfectly good day.
Maremma cooking, served without ceremony: spaghetti with clams, fried fish from the gulf, or caldaro, the local fishermen's fish soup. An Ansonica white grown on the slopes of the Argentario goes with it, and the gelaterias on the quay handle dessert.
The euro and Italian. Cards work in waterfront restaurants, but keep cash for gelato and small shops in the borgo. English is fine in season, rarer up in the lanes.
The waterfront, yes; the upper village, no. Stepped lanes and the paths to the forts rule out wheelchairs and make walking difficult for anyone unsteady. The harbour promenade and its terraces remain fully accessible, and the view from the quay is already fine.
