E-bike Camp'n'Ride trip in Tuscany: 245 km of trails, from Carrara to the island of Elba

We meet on a well-placed site in the Carrara area, famous for the white marble quarries carved into the Apuan Alps since Roman times. You leave your camper there and set off on a first e-bike route in these mountains that drop almost straight into the sea.

The climb is a pleasant one, on a small mountain road through chestnut groves and traditional villages. Over a pass, then back down a mule track with a fine view, before a last section of flowing, playful trail brings us back to the campers.

Time for a beer or a glass of wine with antipasti on a village terrace, then a short transfer to the evening spot: an outstanding agriturismo, where dinner is a dry-aged rib of beef grilled over a wood fire, served with the best the region has to offer. Charcuterie from the valley, pecorino, olive oil and Tuscan wine: the evening alone is worth the trip.

We set off straight from the campers. The country road climbs through old hilltop villages, quiet and remote, up to the summits overlooking the plain of Lucca, the Tuscan city still enclosed in its Renaissance walls.

Lunch stop at a welcoming mountain hut with a sea view, then a long descent home, entirely on singletrack: fast sections and tight switchbacks through the forest, demanding at times but never dangerous.

At the end of the day the journey continues at the wheel: about an hour and a half along the Serchio valley, one of those Tuscan roads winding between river and stone villages, to the next spot. Getting there is part of the adventure.

We ride out from the spot for a long loop through a nature park on the slopes of the Lucca hinterland. The climb alternates singletrack, forest road and quiet back roads, with fine views and traditional villages along the way, punctuated by a ristretto on a terrace.

At midday, lunch at a charming address where the e-bikes recharge while we enjoy a home-made local speciality. Then the last kilometres of climbing to a magnificent ridge, before a rolling descent through pastures, forests and balcony mule tracks, finishing in a pine wood shaped specifically for riding.

Back to the campers by bike, and dinner at the local trattoria.

The only day with a shuttle: the van drops us at the foot of the range separating the Lucca hinterland from the Massa coast. A fine singletrack climb through the imposing marble quarries of the Apuan Alps, a white, mineral setting with no equivalent anywhere.

Over a pass, picnic at the top, then down a historic trail with a magnificent panorama over the Apuan Alps and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Shuttle back to the campers.

In the afternoon the road takes over: transfer to Piombino, then boarding the ferry with the campers for Elba. Italy's third-largest island is a concentrate of the Mediterranean: 147 kilometres of coastline, coves of white pebbles, and a mountainous interior rising to 1,019 m at Monte Capanne. Its iron-rich hills have been mined since the Etruscans, and this is where Napoleon was exiled in 1814, ruling for ten months before leaving for the Hundred Days.

Night in the wild, with a generator available to recharge bikes and campers.

Four pedal-powered loops on the eastern side of the island, on trails with a distinctly Mediterranean character and 360-degree views over the sea. They run through the maquis, that dense mix of tree heather, cistus, myrtle and mastic that fills the air as soon as the sun warms it, before reaching the pine woods and chestnut trees higher up.

The climbs are gradual and leave time to take in the old iron mines, the villages clinging to the slopes and the watchtowers left by the Barbary raids.

Lunch at a restaurant, recharging possible, then two more loops on trails typical of the island. Night in the wild.

Final laps on the western side, the wildest part, dominated by the granite massif of Monte Capanne, where the maquis gives way to rock and to plunging views towards Corsica on a clear day.

The day ends at the table, as it should: antipasti, primi piatti and a generous main course at a good local address.

Back to the campers, heading for Portoferraio, the capital founded by Cosimo de' Medici with its sixteenth-century fortifications, to take the ferry back to the mainland. End of the trip.