Italian naval base. Ferry from Palau, 15 minutes. Observe a prize item for the stony menagerie snapshot collection: a huge polar bear, apparently transfixed by the enchanting view of sea, islands and rock pinnacles. From La Maddalena a 600-m bridge crosses to Caprera, a nature reserve and focus of visitor attention because here lies Garibaldi the Liberator, ‘a lion in his sepulchre whose breathing makes the ocean swell’ as an Italian poet wrote. His house and tomb are a museum. From La Maddalena, the metropolis of island hotels and restaurants, you can visit all the isles of the archipelago which bears its name.