Corsica is wonderful – scenic, not crowded, wonderful food, friendly people. It’s a dream summer destination straight out of a 1960s French film. Four days would work if you’re a quick flight away and focused on a single location, but it deserves 10 days at least. Choose your hotels and locations carefully. We read that the food is “Italian prepared with French precision” – does it get better than that?

Heading South on the main (eastern) road is a bland experience, nothing to compare with the other roads on the island. There are many beaches, many campgrounds, I’m sure plenty of excellent options for breaks, but in general it’s flat, gradually transitioning towards the ‘hills of Santa Barbara’ look. The West side of the island is much more dramatic, and makes for better driving.

Ajaccio

Ajaccio is the capital of Corsica, a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. A port city since antiquity, it was the birthplace of Napoléon Bonaparte in 1769. We missed Ajaccio on our first trip to Corsica, and returned via direct ferry from Toulon, France in summer 2024. 

How is it? Rather charming, a small city overlooking a huge bay. There are a lot of high rises of an unfortunate 1960s variety, but look past that and appreciate the clean streets, flowering trees, and vista in every direction. We liked that you can figure out the layout in an hour, and you see the same people throughout the day – there just isn’t a lot of area to cover. For the same reason, a day is plenty, or a few days with a car to explore a bit further out.

Sites:

• **Maison Bonaparte is a big draw – we saw lines waiting to get in. It’s interesting in a low-key way, mostly about the history of the house ownership. If you’re pressed for time, Musee Fesch is better.
• The ***Musée Fesch is the central museum of fine arts. We were very impressed – an extremely high quality collection, including scenes of the region and a large set of family and state paintings for the Bonaparte family. It was established by Napoleon I’s uncle, cardinal Joseph Fesch.
• *Le Petit Train d’Ajaccio is a skip, while Galen loves this sort of thing the town is just too small for this to have much value
• **CIAP (Centre d’Interprétation de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine) is a worthwhile, fairly hidden stop – look behind the market hall. There’s a 12 minute video and interactive map display of the history of the town.

Food and Lodging:

• **Hotel San Carlu Citadel was a good choice – the best we saw in the old town, in a perfect location. Rooms are small but modern and well designed, pretty bathrooms in particular. Rooftop terrace for breakfast and drinks. Parking available for $40/day (which is worth it if you need to go in and out; the street parking is complicated). Rather noisy at night. Great views over the bay and fortress.
• **Mile End Café serves American-style breakfasts (or I should say California-style, think avocado toast). 
• **O Mà Cantinetta is better than it needs to be – quite good in fact, with elaborately plated, fairly healthy food options. Lots of emphasis on “made in house.” A good lunch option.
• **Le Petit Restaurant is aiming for very high end/fancy, with 5 and 7 course options (wine pairings available). It’s a small space, rather elegantly designed. We had a mixed experience – Galen really liked the food, Alicia didn’t enjoy half of the dishes. Service was very slow, not bad, but they really needed more staff.
• **La Terrasse du Fesch (in Hotel Fesch) ran the risk of being very touristy, but it surprisingly wasn’t, good food, views overlooking the city, and a very local crowd. We particularly liked the table of retirees next to us having a fun ladies’ night out. The hotel itself didn’t look especially appealing.
• We were told next time don’t miss Le Bilboq “Chez jean-Jean”, the best restaurant in town according to the ladies above

North of Town:

After a stop at the weirdly unfriendly Paillotte du Scudo, we made our way to **Le Week End, which has beach chairs and umbrellas to rent. Drinks were good, water is lovely, didn’t try the food. A good option for beach time.

As an aside, the hotels and areas north of the old town didn’t look especially appealing; I’d prioritize staying in the city itself.

Alta Rocca

The Alta Rocca is a mid-mountain area bounded by the massifs of Bavella the Ospedale and the Cuscionu; the highest peak tops out at an altitude of 2134 meters. With 9,000 years of history (at least), this unique territory is one of the oldest inhabited places in Corsica. Named “the land of lords” dating back to the Middle Ages, the region is made up of 16 villages. Our route was fairly long (perhaps more so than necessary, selected for views and historical import) – the highlights were Carbini and the roads around Zonza. The roads for the most part are in gorgeous condition and not particularly crowded (even in mid-August).

Stop 1 – **Carbini and its 11th-century Romanesque church with an adjacent 7-story bell tower (rebuilt in the 19th century) – the church in particular is a fine example of the style (exterior access only).

Stop 2 – Santa Lucia di Tallà is a pretty town with a good overlook of the surrounding mountains. There are hot springs you can tour, though they’re about 5 km further on, outside the town itself.

As you approach Zoza and Quenza, there are quite a few swimming holes in the river (the easier to access ones are just past Quenza, heading into Zonza).

Stop 3 – Zonza. We stayed at **Cantu di Fiumu, on the outskirts of Zonza: a really nice choice. They have perhaps a dozen rooms on the backside of the property, quite far back from the road, with lovely mountain views. It’s fairly basic, but for a mountain property no complaints! Breakfast was fine.

Zonza itself is cute in a backwoods way – a French version of Downieville. It claims to be Alta Rocca’s most visited village. Dinner at *Auberge du Sanglier was not excellent, I wouldn’t recommend. 

The ***Aiguilles de Bavella was the driving highlight of the trip – what a road! D268 specifically. What views! Aside from the crest itself, it was nearly empty, with remarkable views all around. Also pigs and goats for extra scenic points. Our last stop was *Lac de L’Ospedale – not the most scenic spot. We were curious about the “Cocoon Village” hotel, which looks rather neat architecturally, but isn’t in a place I’d want to spend much time in.

Bonifacio

Why is this not on every top 10 list? It’s staggeringly beautiful, with white cliffs, a major fortress, views to die for. I’d stay two nights at least to take advantage of the beaches, town, and food. Do visit the cemetery, and walk all over the town. 

On our second visit we made it down the hill to the port several times – it’s delightful! This is yachting central, and the people watching (a real mix of very casual day trippers and very fancy boat people) is a lot of fun. There’s also a wealth of restaurants to choose from.

On the bluff side, the **Escalier du Roy d’Aragon is very famous – a very steep set of stairs down to the water (almost). Worth it once for the views, and experience. There’s also a long walk to the east from town with great views of Bonifacio itself.

Lodging

***Hotel Le Genovese was a dream. The website doesn’t do it justice – it’s in a great location, with a large pool and recently renovated rooms built into the fortress walls (and there’s parking). There’s a cat. On our second, 2024 visit, we had a room on one of the upper floors with amazing views over the harbor and town.

Dining

• **L’an Faim is really, really tasty – it’s a fairly unassuming place, surrounded by more touristy options, but the food is top notch and the service very good. Seafood predominantly.
• We just had a drink at **L’assaghju, but it’s very cute and the menu looked good. A newer spot in the old town.
• *Restaurant Le Voilier Bonifacio is a fine dining experience in the port. It was okay – good service, nice setting, decent food. It didn’t really stand out though, and given the wide variety of great options I wouldn’t prioritize it for a second trip.
• ***Stella D’Oro was a highly recommended, family run place in an old mill – it definitely lives up to the hype. One of the best meals we had, in a place where all the food is excellent.
• **Sushibar Bonifacio is perfectly fine. We were in the mood for sushi and it fit the bill, with a nice outdoor seating area in the port, and a wide variety of rolls. It’s not trying to be super high end, more of a casual spot.
• I read that *Glacier Rocca Serra has the best ice cream – ignore that. It was terrible. The good stuff is at **U Palazzu on Mnt Restallo.
• On the outskirts of town, we had a very nice lunch at **A Cheda, which looks like a rather elegant choice for a hotel if you want to be away from the hustle and bustle, and have a car.

Articles

• https://littleweekends.fr/guides-voyage-france/bonifacio/

Calvi

Calvi is a major summer destination, but many of its businesses are open year-round and the town is all the more delicious without the crowds. This is especially true of the citadel, Calvi’s pièce de résistance: a fortified labyrinth of cobblestone streets with impressive views of the city and the sea. We found it charming, with a great beach and many, many excellent restaurants. The views are fabulous. You don’t need a hotel with a pool here – the beach is enough. I’d stay two days.

Our hotel was a few notches short of a recommendation. I’d recommend staying somewhere within walking distance of the town/beach, perhaps a house rental. We didn’t see a ton of great options (there are many condos and run down hotels).

• ***Restaurant La Boheme was excellent, with a patio overlooking the harbor. Huge portions as usual.
• The **Manor B&B was just a bit odd. It has a great pool, most (but not all) rooms have bathrooms, it feels slightly like trespassing at someone’s house. The owner is somewhere between awesome and super weird – her recommendations, however, were all very good. Too far away from town to walk. Wouldn’t stay again.
• ***A Candella, up in the citadel, has a stunning view over the bay of Calvi. Food was amazing, service just slightly surly. Loved it.
• ***L’Ange des Mers was a random find I would recommend. It’s outside of town – way outside – but worth it for a glimpse of the very pretty interior valleys and hills. The restaurant is clearly the family’s house (though nicely set up) and they fish for the food themselves each day. Some of the best food we had.
• Hostellerie De L’Abbaye looked high end, potentially a place to stay in the center of town.

Cap Corse

After a 5 hour ferry ride to Corsica, we drove North to ***Brando, on Cap Corse. This was an inspired choice – after exploring the Cap Corse peninsula, we are fairly confident we chose the best town, and best hotel, to stay in. It’s not big, but there are plenty of restaurants in the area, some swimming, low key vibe. Two nights and a day was the right amount of time.

Cap Corse itself is rural, reminding me of Majorca without the crowds. It’s very hilly and scenic from just about every angle. Would be a great biking or motorcycling destination. Note that while you can swim just about everywhere the water is pretty rough, and there’s nothing that’s particularly beach like (despite many places called beaches). It’s more rocks and cliffs.

• ***Hotel Castel Brando was perfect – cozy and elegant rooms, good food, two swimming pools, charming staff, great location. The onsite restaurant is quite good, focused on local seafood and regional dishes.
• ***Le Pirate, 3 minutes walk away, has lost its Michelin star, but you wouldn’t know it. Elegant food and a waterside setting.

We drove over the mountains to **Marine de Scalo, which is a very pretty and isolated town with an abandoned convent. Worth a stop for the views.

The town of ***Centuri might be worth a night – it’s a little crowded and lovely harbor packed with restaurants. We had an excellent and overly large meal of lobster and shrimp at ***Le Vieux Moulin. 

We walked to *Plage de Tamarone, perhaps not worth it (no real place to relax once you’re there).

Conca

**La Siesta in Conca was a nice break for lunch, on a cute little beach (good salads and burgers). It’s almost not worth a mention, aside from the fact that this area is camping central and probably where you’d want to be parked.

Corte

On our way north again – the interior roads are beautiful, with the scenery changing quite a bit. The only surprise was *Corte, which the guidebooks hype a lot – it’s a rather grim little industrial town. Definitely don’t stay there.

L’ille-Rousse 

Nothing particular to say about this town; it feels like a lower rent version of Calvi. I’d just stick with Calvi. We had a good lunch at **Marinella on the beach.

Piana

Piana wasn’t on our original itinerary, but I’m so glad we made the effort. A day was enough for Ajaccio, and we opted for a drive two hours north to the remote Plage d’arone. 

Getting there – a lovely drive with ocean views on beautifully maintained roads.  We just drove through Piana (and didn’t make it the port to the north, which also has sites of interest). After saying hi to the local goats, we settled in at ***Restaurant le Casabianca – a very elegant restaurant with beach chairs for rent (reserve in advance!). 

I can’t say enough about how lovely this is – a perfect bay, not particularly crowded, with crystal clear water. The restaurant serves excellent food, very good wine and cocktails, extremely nice staff.Next time: stay the night, do a boat tour to explore the Calanques. There is limited lodging at the beach: www.marina-arone.com and a camping site, and more in Piana itself.

Porto-Vecchio

We drove through *Porto-Vecchio – I think it’s a skip (Galen thinks one night). It’s hard to make sense of this place – a big harbor, 1960s houses in every direction, basically a massive suburb. The small old town does look cute, a warren of restaurants, but I’m not sure it balances out of the inconvenience of having to drive to it.

Propriano & Surrounds

**Prehistoric station Filitosa: Inland from Porto-Pollo on Corsica’s west coast is Filitosa, an 8,000-year-old megalithic settlement of carved granite menhirs. The site, discovered in 1946, is famous for menhirs with carved faces, erected around 1500 BC (the site itself has other, other signs of habitation as well). In total, about twenty menhirs of various times were counted in Filitosa. They constitute approximately half of the total staff of these monuments in Corsica. It’s not a long stop, but it’s worthwhile going a bit out of your way to see.

Sartène

‘The most Corsican city,’ according to author Prosper Mérimée during his travels to Corsica in the 1800s. I won’t go on too much about this town, as it’s more interesting on paper than in experience: its history dates back to medieval times and granite buildings from the early 16th century still line some of the streets. One of the main incidents in the town’s history was an attack by pirates from Algiers in 1583, after which 400 people were taken away. Nearly all of the town looks in at itself – away from the hilltop views, but **Restaurant Le Jardin de L’Echauguette has a patio outdoors with a bit of one, unfortunately marred by a gas station a block away. My pasta was very good, but I wouldn’t return to this town.

Saint Florent

Galen and I have slightly different opinions about this place – it’s not a particularly notable location, with a big bay and not much of a beach. It’s probably a skip (he liked it more – perhaps one day). It’s pleasant, our hotel wasn’t bad, we had good food, the road in and out is amazing! Great views and winding perfect roads.

• **Hotel Dolce Notte was a good find – out of the main town, but still close enough to walk. It’s a bit 1960s, but in a fun beach way. Most rooms have private ocean-facing balconies and there’s direct water access (no pool). They had canoes and SUPs for the guests.
• *La Table de la Roya was a fancy option on the other side of town. It deserves more than 1 star – the food was good – but it was trying way too hard in a rather annoying way. The hotel it’s in (**Hotel La Roya) was another option for lodging, on the more premium side.