Seven islands, not sixty
You will see La Maddalena described as “sixty islands.” It is truer, and more useful, to call it seven. The archipelago’s seven main islands — La Maddalena, Caprera, Santo Stefano, Spargi, Budelli, Santa Maria and Razzoli — are the ones you actually visit. The larger count folds in some fifty uninhabited islets and rocks scattered across the marine park.
Only La Maddalena is permanently inhabited, and the only island with a proper town; Caprera, joined to it by a causeway, keeps Garibaldi’s house and the archipelago’s highest point. Budelli holds the protected pink beach, Spargi and Santa Maria the quietest coves, Razzoli the lighthouse at the edge of the Strait of Bonifacio. The whole has been a national park since 1994.
So when we say La Maddalena, we mean seven islands and one sheltered sea — not a number on a map.