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Corsicans say about their lively and vibrant island: Corsica was often conquered, but never subjugated. Previously ruled by Pisa, Genoa and France, today Corsica enjoys a special status. And it is special in everything: a mountain in the middle of the sea, an "island of beauty", Corsica is surprisingly diverse in terms of landscapes, and its relative freedom from hordes of tourists and industrial enterprises allows the island to still remain one of the most precious pearls of the Mediterranean. The island has a lot of magnificent landscapes, beautiful bays, interesting sights, clean beaches and figures of Napoleon. But who is still few there - it's tourists from Russia.
The tourist attraction of Corsica is, first of all, the sea (beach, diving, sailing), and secondly, the mountains (hiking, in particular the famous GR 20 route network). Most of the guests arrive on the island in the summer, especially in August: in this month the number of tourists doubles and triples compared to July (when there are already a lot of them here). Therefore, if your vacation falls in August - book everything as far in advance as you can.
Car rental in Corsica with best price guarantee
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How to get there
Flight to Paris or Nice, then domestic flights to Ajaccio, Bastia, Figari and Calvi (about 1.5 hours) or by NGV ferry from Nice or Marseille (about three hours). It is also possible to fly bypassing France as a connection point: for example, with Lufthansa via Frankfurt.
Ferries connect Corsica with Nice, Marseille and Toulon, and from April to October - also with Italian ports: Genoa and Livorno. Small boats scurry across the channel between Bonifaccio and Sardinia from April to September.
Search for flights to Ajaccio (nearest airport to Corsica)
Weather in Corsica
The island has always warm and dry summers, moderate winters, a lot of sun and little rain. The average annual temperature is about +20 °C, and in summer the heat can reach +36 °C. The best month for a holiday is September, but confirming hotel rooms at this time is almost impossible.
Popular hotels in Corsica
Book popular hotels in Corsica at the best price
- Domaine Villas Mandarine from 18 180 rub.
- Hotel La Villa from 19 429 rub. Calvi Chemin de Notre Dame de la Serra
- Hotel Corsica from 13 184 rub. Calvi Route De Pietramaggiore
- Campo Di Fiori, Maisons de Charme from 8 813 rub. Calvi Route de Pietramaggiore
- Residence de Tourisme Ajaccio Amiraute from 10 755 rub.
- Hostellerie De L'Abbaye from 5 898 rub. Calvi Montee de l'Abbaye
- Best Western Plus Ajaccio Amiraute from 5 621 rub. Ajaccio 20 boulevard Georges Pompidou
- Best Western Hotel du Roy d'Aragon from 4 302 rub. Bonifacio 13 Quai Comparetti
- Hotel A Madonetta from 4,996 rubles Bonifacio Paul Nicolai
- Hotel Posta - Vecchia from 3 956 rub. Bastia 8 Rue Posta Vecchia - Quai des Martyrs de la Liberation
- La Pinede from 7 494 rub. Ajaccio Route des Iles Sanguinaires Barbicaja
- Hotel du Palais Bastia Center from 3 470 rub. Bastia 2 Boulevard Paoli
- Hotel Spunta Di Mare from 4,094 rubles Ajaccio Quartier St Joseph
- Motel Les Pins from 3 470 rub. Calvi Route De Porto
- Hotel Marengo from 3 609 rub. Ajaccio 2 rue Marengo BP 244
Cuisine of Corsica
A gastronomic journey through Corsica should start from the market in Ajaccio. You can thoroughly get acquainted with the freshest seafood at the morning fish market, the abundance of which many Mediterranean port cities can envy: stingray, tuna, gurnard, trout, sardines, swordfish, lobsters, anchovies, etc. On weekends, the port breaks their tents and the market of local delicacies. Due to the proximity of Sardinia, here you can taste both Corsican and Sardinian goodies. Traders will generously offer you to taste raw smoked sausages with pepper and spices, coppa and prizuttu hams, figatellu liver sausages, brocciu, soft fat cheese made from sheep's milk, numerous varieties of honey (floral, chestnut, summer fruit, citrus), strawberry and fig jams and, of course well, still warm sweet pastries and local hand-made bread. Corsican olive oil is best bought at the markets in Saint Lucie de Tallano in March and Montegrosso in July.
In the menu of a restaurant or a small cafe, you should look for chestnut soup with onion and garlic in meat broth, dishes with young goat meat, panzetta bacon with egg and baked potatoes, scrambled eggs with mint and brocciu cheese. The most popular delicacy among the Corsicans themselves is liver sausage, fried over an open fire.
The sweet chestnut takes pride of place in the Corsican culinary tradition. Soups, bread, all kinds of desserts and pastries, beer, liquor, side dishes are prepared from it. And the local mandarin is especially sweet and is an indispensable ingredient in Christmas pudding.
Corsica also boasts its own distinctive wines: light red wines with notes of flowers, fruits and coffee, made from the Sciaccarelli variety, rich red wines with aromas of fruits, licorice and violets (Niellucciu variety, Patrimonio region), dry white wines of a greenish-yellow hue, aromatic halftones of apples, almonds and flowers (variety Vermentinu). 8 regions of the island also produce fortified orange, tangerine, plum and nut wines, mint, myrtle, strawberry, chestnut liqueurs, Cap Corse cinchona aperitif and a local variety of vodka - aquavita ("Living Water").
Due to the long Genoese rule and proximity to Sardinia, a special Corsican dialect still exists on the island, the phonetic basis of which is Italian dialects, and the lexical content is modern French.
Entertainment and attractions of Corsica
In Corsica, there are many old pretty towns that can dispel the boredom of holidaymakers. For example, on the west coast, Saint-Florent stands out with a vibrant nightlife and many street cafes.
The city of Corte is the "heart" of all Corsican history. It is a lively resort town with a large number of institutions of higher learning, with a total of over 4,000 students. Propriano is no less famous, where tourists can enjoy all types of recreation: boat trips, sports activities, restaurants, shopping, excursions. 15 km from it is the ancient city of Sartene, which gained fame thanks to the ancient Christian ceremony that takes place here annually - the catenacciu procession, when penitents, barefoot and in chains, carry a wooden cross through the Old Town to the local Calvary. Another pretty town of Porto-Vecchio lies northwest of Bonifacio. It is famous for its cozy bays and clean beaches.
Citadels and fortresses
The long Genoese rule left a memory of itself in the many fortifications of the island. The majestic citadels of Bastia, Calvi and Bonifacio have already acquired modern serenity with their leisurely coffee houses, antique shops and artistic studios, but from the sea they still amaze the imagination with their harsh stone power. The Nonza tower on Cape Corsica and the Capitello tower in the Gulf of Ajaccio are considered remarkable examples of the era. Bastion Corte is a particularly rare specimen: it was built by the squires of medieval Corsica.
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Attractions prehistoric
The historical site of Filitosa is a huge park of a prehistoric settlement discovered in 1975. Here you can see spherical stone cave houses - dolmens, defensive structures, blocks-statues of ancient warriors - menhirs and a park of "dinosaurs" (masses of darkened boulders, which, when viewed from different sides take the shape of fossil giants). The park is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and dates back to around 6000 BC. e.
Reserves and diving
Eastern Corsica is notable for chestnut groves stretching from Bastia in the north to Solenzar in the southeast. The beautiful Buguglia nature reserve is located here, and mussels and oysters are bred in the reservoirs of Aleria. Here you can dive wonderfully, but amateur marine hunting for crustaceans and coral mining is prohibited. In two natural reserves - Scandola between Calvi and Porto and on the Lavezzi Islands in the southernmost part of the island, absolutely everything under water is protected.
The island also has a number of special attractions - for diving enthusiasts. Off the east coast near the town of Campoloro, the ship ALCIONE, launched in 1915, sank (the length of the object is 54 m, the maximum depth is 35 m). In the Ajaccio area, not far from Cape Castagna, you can find the 60-meter La Meuliere ship built in 1918 (maximum depth - 11 m), the twin-engine Vickers Viking aircraft rests in the Mortoli Bay, and the citadel of the city of Calvi "warmed up" near the side of the "flying fortress" ( B-17) during the Second World War. The surroundings of Bonifacio near the islands of lle Cavallo, lles Perduto and lle Lavezzi offer many dive sites. Here you can find large groupers, flocks of barracudas and red corals. And the visibility of the order of 30 m gives the feeling of a real flight. For beginners, comfortable uncrowded beaches in Bonifacio Bay are suitable.
Leisure
Corsica is also an ideal landscape for lovers of mountain walks and extreme sports. The mountain range of the island, stretching from northwest to southeast, has 20 peaks over 2 thousand meters above sea level, the most majestic of which is Mount Sinto (2710 m). It is full of centuries-old trails adapted for hiking and horseback riding. The most famous GR20 leads from Calenzana to Conca (about 20 km) and takes about 10-15 days to pass, during which you can observe many magnificent landscapes: slopes strewn with strawberries, junipers, heather and myrtle, azure lakes and winding valleys river arms. Local equestrian centers have many programs of various formats: from one-hour walks and one-day routes to multi-day trips with overnight stops in cozy chalets.
From other active entertainments: sea kayaking around Cape Corsica, traveling through the Agriates desert, boat trips, fishing, scuba diving, mountain hiking around the island (on foot or on horseback), canoeing along mountain rivers.
Holidays and festivals
But you won’t recognize the real Corsica unless you visit one of the city or country festivals, during which the traditional entertainments of the Roman and Genoese courts return, melodic Corsican songs sound and, of course, moresque and quadrille are performed. On August 12, the inhabitants of the canton of Piogiolle compete for the title of the best bell ringer, on August 25, village violinists of the island gather in Sermano, whose traditional chansons are accompanied by folk costumed festivities with singing and street quadrille, and at the beginning of September, at the fair in Niolo, real ones are organized, as in the era of knightly tournaments, poetry competition.
The city of Corte is the "heart" of all Corsican history. It is a lively resort town with a large number of institutions of higher learning, with a total of over 4,000 students.
On August 12, people's hero and condottiere Francis I - Sampiero, who served as the prototype of Shakespeare's Othello, is honored in Bastelic. The streets of the city are filled with people in Renaissance costumes, they dance, sing, play musical instruments and of course serenades under the balconies of their lovers. And Festa Antica (“Ancient Festival”) in Aleria invites you to try on Roman togas, taste traditional antique dishes in local restaurants and look at the craft fair (August 8 and 9). Napoleon is honored in Ajaccio on 15 August.
Bastia hosts the Mediterranean Film Festival in November and the Musical Encounters in December, the June Jazz Festival and the July musical Polyphony are held in Calw. Among the major sporting events of the year are Corsica Car Driving, Canoe Around Corsica, Corsica Byke, Corsica Raid Aventure, etc.
Due to the long Genoese rule and proximity to Sardinia, a special Corsican dialect still exists on the island, the phonetic basis of which is the Italian dialects (Ligurian, Sassar, Gallurian), and the lexical content is the modern French language. And although it took more than 250 years to “Frenchize” the local speech, the local population is in no hurry to part with their historical “dialect” and is supported by the authorities in this: the dialect is studied in elementary school, at the University, used for administrative purposes - in particular, all road signs are also equipped with the Corsican version of the spelling of a particular locality.
