Every summer, when temperatures climb across southern France, I find myself thinking about Corsica. The island is often a little cooler than the mainland, and after spending a week exploring its beaches, mountains and villages, I understand why so many people head there when the canicule arrives.
If you’re looking for relief from the summer heat, here are a few reasons Corsica belongs on your travel list.
Want to know more about Corsica? …You have to travel to Corsica to believe how much the terrain of an island can change within a short drive. The contrast between Corsica’s coastline, with soft, curvy coves, and the island’s mountain region, with snow-capped peaks, is remarkable.
With a week to visit the French island, I thought it would be simple to drive to the major towns — Bastia, Ajaccio, Corte, Calvi, Saint Florent, Porto Vecchio, and Bonifacio. Not so. I quickly learned that in Corsica, you measure the distance between towns in hours, not kilometers. Many of Corsica’s roads are narrow and winding, passing through mountain villages and small towns. A journey of only 25 kilometers (15 miles) can easily take an hour or two. Traveling 15 miles (25km) can take you two hours. That’s why I ended up seeing only a portion of the island’s southern half.
Most of my week was spent exploring the southern part of the island around Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio. Between the beaches and the swimming pool, it was easy to understand why so many people return to this part of Corsica year after year.
My visit wasn’t entirely about beaches, however. One day, I drove through the Corsica Regional Nature Park to Corte. Another was spent exploring Sartène. The scenery in each region could not have been more different, and that’s what surprised me most about Corsica.
Continue the journey in: Travel Corsica: Beyond the Beaches
