"Corsica" Top 5 Page for this destination Corsica by JanPeter74

Corsica Travel Guide: 433 reviews and 1,120 photos

Being a French Island, Corsica feels a bit like a country on itself. It is easy to spend a few weeks holiday on this great island, which is some 200 kilometres long and 85 kilometres wide. It is the greenest island of the Mediterranean with a wide variety of different landscapes. The center of the island is very mountainous, the eastcoast rather flat with great beaches for sunlovers, whereas the westcoast is very rugged with fantastic scenery, such as bays, idyllic beaches and the like.

Diana at Bonifacio

The island has two significant cities, Ajaccio (the capital) in the west and Bastia in the northeast. Most people coming by ferry from mainland Europe arrive at Bastia. Next to these two there are 5 major (but small) tourist towns. Calvi in the northwest, Corte in the centre, Bonifacio in the extreme south, Porto in the west and Porto Vecchio in the east. Although a car is needed if you want to reach all great areas of Corsica, the island is also a very nice holiday destination if you like hiking with lots of trails along the coast and in the mountains. As a result, Corsica is a perfect destination if you want to combine active hiking with lazy afternoons on one of the beaches.

Map of Corsica

The past 200 years Corsica has been French. Before that Corsica has been part of the Genua (and a shorter period Pisa) empire. As a result, especially the northeastern part of Corsica has a somewhat Italian atmosphere. Apart from these foreign influences, Corsica has a very nationalistic attitude and many Corsicans still want Corsica to become an independent state. Road signs are bilingual in both French and Corsican and many of them contain bullet holes or black paint in the French part. Next to these foreign influences, Corsican history dates back some 7,000 years with lots of prehistoric monuments such as dolmen and standing stones.

Pay attention to the fact that it generally takes quite some time to go from one place to another.

Last visit to Corsica: Aug 2005
Intro Updated Dec 28, 2005
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Reviews (20)

Chateau Fort in the Calanches de Piana - Corsica

Hiking at les Calanches de Piana Things to Do (20)

Lots of hiking trails exist to discover the beauty of the Calanches. Most start at the north exit of Piana. However, the... more travel advice

Les Calanches between Piana and Porto - Corsica

Les Calanches de Piana Things to Do (20)

The westcoast just north of the village of Piana is absolutely spectacular. In this area the rocky coast consists of all... more travel advice

Escalier du roi d’Aragon carved in the rocks - Corsica

Bonifacio – Escalier du roi d’Aragon and... Things to Do (20)

From the top of the cliffs a 187 steps stair leads down to the water. The story goes that it was built in 1 night by the... more travel advice

Grain de Sable seen from Bonifacio - Corsica

Bonifacio – Boat trips Things to Do (20)

It definitely is worthwhile to take a boattrip to view Bonifacio from the sea. So what we did was first take a boattrip... more travel advice

Comments (3)

goodie74 Sep 14, 2011 at 2:31 PM Report Abuse

Hello JanPeter74,
My husband and I are Canadians from Ottawa and will be travelling to Corsica from approximately October 28 - November 20. We will be selecting 3 destinations on the island to stay for a period of 7 days each. Calvi will be one of the locations as it allows for use of public transportation in visiting nearby towns. We like a sufficiently large centre in order to have a variety of things to do. Our main love is the ocean so will want to select a self-catering option which allows us to be near the sea.

Some questions: 1. where do you suggest we make our other two destinations which will allow us to take day trips. We do intend to rent a car for the other 1-2 destinations, if necessary. 2. do you have recommendations for car rental companies? 3. regarding our arrival and departure, we are not certain whether we should go from Nice to Corsica by ferry; return to Nice by ferry; take the train from Paris one-way, either coming or going. We would like to mix up our choice of transportation to and from the island in the way that makes the most sense and not duplicate our steps.

This will be our first visit. We speak Canadian French and hope to have little or no difficulty understanding the French spoken on the island. Corsican language is another thing!

We appreciate any guidance or advice which you can provide regarding our upcoming trip.

Regards,
Fran & Pierre
balhannah Jan 30, 2011 at 3:01 PM Report Abuse

Lovely, interesting page! The scenery looks fantastic, especially the cliff's, also views from the Castle.
icunme Feb 13, 2008 at 12:14 AM Report Abuse

Outstanding photos and detail - the cliff houses of Bonifacio are spectacular. Grazie, Carol