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Corsica

Visit Corsica

Great weather, some of the world's finest beaches, spectacular mountain scenery and fascinating towns and marinas - are just some of the reasons why the sun-kissed 'Isle of Beauty', as Corsica is known, is such a popular destination...

Selected places to visit in Corsica

Corsica, France: introduction and highlights

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean off the south-east of France, with perfect coastlines and a dramatically mountainous interior. The departments in Corsica are Haute Corse and Corse du Sud.

Why visit corsica? Apart from the coast and beaches (Corsica has 1,000km of coastline and more than 200 beaches), hill villages and bustling port towns, and some of the must stunning coastal and mountain scenery to be found in Europe Corsica is also blessed with great weather for most of the year.

It is also rich in historic monuments, from prehistoric times, through the Greeks and Romans, and more recently as birthplace to Napoleon. Many of the harbour towns feature fortifications (especially citadels) as a result of Corsica's colourful history.

Places to visit in Corsica

A small selection of the many highlights to be found on Corsica include fishing villages such as Erbalunga; the port at Porto, from where you can explore the Gorges de la Spelunca and the Aitone Forest.

The natural park on Corsica - the Parc Naturel Régional de Corse - covers almost a third of the island and is home to hundreds of protected species of plants and animals: to explore the amazing landscapes in the dramatic mountainous heart of the island, start from Corte.

Perhaps the most dramatic Corsican scenery is in the region long the west coast, with the Calanches de Piana, the Scandola nature reserve, the Gorges de Spelunca and the Isles sanguinaires all in the region and exceptionally attractive.

Apart from the beaches, the scenery and the glamorous ports filled with luxury yachts that we all associate with Corsica, there is also a less known attraction - there are numerous megalithic sites, dolmens and menhirs eg at Filitosa, showing the long prehistoric occupation of the island.

Eating out in Corsica

You visit Corsica to relax so don't miss the chance to visit some of the restaurants and sample the local corsican food, perhaps one of those serving fresh fish around a bustling harbour. Other local specialities? On Corsica you will find an abundance of goats, sheep and pigs...hence great cured meats, sausage, bacon, and ham.  With the sea all around the seafood here is also always fresh and delicious.  Chestnuts, nectarines, clementines and figs also grow on the island.

Towns to visit in Corsica

• in the west: Ajaccio and Calvi
• in the north: Bastia and Saint Florent
• in the south: Sartene, Porto Vecchio and Bonifacio
• in the mountains in the centre of the island: Corte

Most Beautiful villages in Corsica: There are two villages in Corsica classified among the 'most beautiful villages of France': Piana, south of Porto and Sant'Antonino, north-east of Calvi.

See more travel ideas at Corsica tourist information, with more towns, national monuments, national parks, towns in bloom etc across the island, and also visit the dedicated Corsica site that provided much of the travel information for the Corsica section of the 'france this way' travel guide.

Page in French? See Corsica (Francais)