Porto Ercole – almost too beautiful to be real

Porto Ercole is one of the most attractive coastal towns in Tuscany. Over the past decades, it has even been one of the favorite travel destinations of the Italian high society. Today we learned why: The small harbor town with its picture-perfect panorama is almost too beautiful to be true.

When you sit – as we did – in one of the many small restaurants with a coffee in hand and gaze from the terrace at the white yachts and boats sparkling in the azure sea under the bright sunshine, a quiet wish arises that time could stand still in that very moment. It would be nice if it could stay like this forever…

Its beauty was probably not the reason why Porto Ercole – like the entire Monte Argentario peninsula – was the scene of numerous battles and wars over the centuries. The two magnificent fortresses that flank the bay on the hills are a legacy of the Spanish, who built Filippo and later La Rocca in the 16th century. Hard to believe, but both fortresses are now privately owned and no longer accessible to the public.

The charming little old town of Porto Ercole is about three kilometers from our campsite. We might not have visited it – but luckily, today was the weekly market, and my friend never shies away from a distance for that. We prefer to forgo the bicycles we could have rented at the campsite. On our trip to Orbetello, my ride got a flat tire, and we had to push all the way back. We don't want that to happen again.

Three kilometers there and three back – that can easily be done on foot in about an hour and a half. We briefly considered a taxi. But the manager of our campsite explained that there is not a single taxi on the entire island. “Here, you can only get a car with a driver,” he said dryly. “A taxi is just a car with a driver,” I retorted, asking what the difference was. He smiled broadly. “You’ll notice it in the bill.” At least it's nice that someone can laugh…