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During the last week of August and over the holiday in September, the S.O. and I traveled to the island of Corsica, or Haute Corse, as the French refer to it. We had wanted to go someplace different and we wanted to be on the Mediterranean Sea. Corsica delivered for us and was a wonderful surprise. Really, the only downside was our inability to speak French-and much as I would like to- I can’t blame that on the Corsicans.
Corsica is worth a visit if you love the outdoors and want to get away from the touristy crowds. If hiking, water sports, motorcycling, rappelling, mountain climbing, and other activities are your thing- do go. If you just want a party by the beach, then skip it and go to Palma instead.
If you are a biker who likes twisty, mountain roads, Corsica would be heaven for you. I’m not one, but I can see the attraction:
We stayed in Calvi which is a beach town on the Northwest side of the Island. It was beautiful, and like most of the coastal towns in Corsica, has a citadel to defend its harbor. This is a throwback to the days when Genoa ruled the island.
On our second day in, we drove down to Ajaccio, now the capital of Corsica and the birthplace of Napoleon. It’s only 84 miles as the crow flies, but it takes about three hours to get there because you cannot drive straight due to the mountains. We drove back along the coast from Ajaccio to Calvi on the highway known as D-81. Its narrow, curvy, more than a bit dangerous, and has beautiful scenery.
Demanding, but worth the time to drive. It took us about 4 hours to get back from Ajaccio. Not because there was lots of traffic, but because I had a distinct aversion to dying in a fiery crash, rolling down a mountain.
Ajaccio was pretty too:
We also took a day to hike up to the old ruins of the town of Occi. It is accessible only on foot, above the town of Lumio.
Our last day we visited the town of Corte, which used to be the Corsican capital before the French took over. It was the home of Corsican resistance to Genoa rule and where Pascale Paoli made his mark for Corsican independence. It’s up in the mountains near the Restonica River valley.
For bicycle riders who are dedicated, the Cap du Corse circuit is very popular. It makes the circuit of the finger part of the island that runs north from Bastia.
Finally here are some shots of the Restonica River:
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All in all, a great place to visit, if you want to enjoy some great food and enjoy the outdoors. I’d like to go back.
