Corsica: Ajaccio, Bonifacio, the Mountains and Calvi

Arrive in Ajaccio

Ajaccio airport or ferry port to your hotel, then the Pointe de la Parata

• Welcome dinner in Ajaccio; no lunch
• Nuit : Ajaccio
• Environ 45 min de route

Soir

Then we drive about 12 km west along the gulf to the Pointe de la Parata, where a short headland path leads towards a Genoese watchtower facing the Îles Sanguinaires, islands said to take their name from the red they turn at sunset. Back in town we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Corsican dishes: charcuterie, brocciu cheese and slow-cooked meats.

Compris

• Pick-up at Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport (AJA) or the Ajaccio ferry port
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Evening walk at the Pointe de la Parata, facing the Îles Sanguinaires
• Welcome dinner

Napoleon's Ajaccio, Filitosa and south to Bonifacio

Ajaccio to Filitosa, then via Propriano and Sartène to Bonifacio

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Bonifacio
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

We start early at the morning market on Place Campinchi by the harbour, where stalls sell sheep and goat cheeses, chestnut flour, honey and charcuterie. Your guide then walks you through the old town to the cathedral where Napoleon was baptised, and on to the Maison Bonaparte, the family house he was born in, now a national museum, which we visit when it opens. Late morning we head south, about an hour and a quarter, to Filitosa, a prehistoric site in an olive grove where standing stones carved with faces, swords and armour have stood for more than three thousand years.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal nearby, then we walk the site out of the worst of the midday sun. From there the road passes Propriano and climbs through Sartène, a granite town built like a fortress, before running south to Bonifacio, where we arrive around 5 pm and stay two nights.

Soir

The evening is free on the marina below the cliffs.

Compris

• Ajaccio morning market and old town walk with your guide
• The cathedral where Napoleon was baptised
• The Maison Bonaparte
• Sit-down lunch near Filitosa
• Filitosa prehistoric site and its carved standing stones

The Lavezzi islands and Bonifacio's cliffs

Bonifacio by boat to the Lavezzi islands and back, then the old town on foot

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Bonifacio
• En bateau

Matin

We take one of the first boats of the morning from the marina, before the day's crowds. The boat runs out of the long natural harbour, under the old town hanging over the water, past the stairway cut into the cliff and into the Sdragonato sea cave, then crosses to the Lavezzi islands, a protected nature reserve of smooth granite and clear water. We land on Lavezzu for about two hours: walk between the coves, swim if the water is warm enough, and see the small cemeteries for the crew of the Sémillante, a French frigate wrecked here in 1855.

Après-midi

Back in Bonifacio around 1:30 pm, lunch is a sit-down meal at the marina, then the afternoon is free. At about 5:30 pm your guide takes you up into the walled old town, down and back up the 187 steps of the Escalier du Roi d'Aragon, and out along the headland to the marine cemetery, with the cliffs warm in the late light.

Compris

• Boat trip along the Bonifacio cliffs and to the Lavezzi islands, with a landing on Lavezzu
• Sit-down lunch at the marina
• Bonifacio old town with your guide
• The Escalier du Roi d'Aragon
• The marine cemetery on the headland

Activités en option

• Sea kayaking under the Bonifacio cliffs in the free afternoon, booked and paid locally

Porto-Vecchio, the Bavella needles and up to Corte

Bonifacio to Porto-Vecchio, the Col de Bavella and Solenzara, then up the Tavignano to Corte

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Corte
• Environ 4.5 h de route

Après-midi

That is over our four-hour cap, because the roads from the south to the mountains all cross Bavella or run up the east coast, so we break it into four short stretches with a coffee stop, a walk and a sit-down lunch. First Porto-Vecchio, about 40 minutes north, for a walk on the Genoese ramparts above the salt pans. Then we climb through the pine forest of L'Ospedale to Zonza and the Col de Bavella, at about 1,218 m, where jagged granite needles rise above wind-bent pines. We walk to the Trou de la Bombe, a round hole through a granite ridge, about an hour and a half there and back, then sit down to lunch at the col. In the afternoon we wind down the Solenzara valley past river pools, cross the coastal plain at Aléria and follow the Tavignano up to Corte, about two and a half hours with a stop, arriving around 6 pm for two nights.

Compris

• Porto-Vecchio old town and ramparts
• The Col de Bavella and the walk to the Trou de la Bombe with your guide
• Sit-down lunch at the Col de Bavella

The Restonica valley and the Lac de Melo

Corte up the Restonica valley to the Bergeries de Grotelle and the Lac de Melo, and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Corte
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

Starting early puts us on the path before the day walkers and the midday heat. We are back at the huts by early afternoon and stop for a sit-down lunch in the valley on the way down. The rest of the day is free in Corte, or at the river pools in the lower gorge.

Compris

• The Restonica valley to the Bergeries de Grotelle
• Guided walk to the Lac de Melo
• Sit-down lunch in the Restonica valley

Paoli's Corte, Saint-Florent and the Agriates to Calvi

Corte via Ponte-Leccia to Saint-Florent, then through the Désert des Agriates to L'Île-Rousse and Calvi

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Calvi
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

A morning in Corte, the capital of Pasquale Paoli's independent Corsica from 1755 to 1769, when the island wrote its own constitution and opened a university here. We climb through the old town past Place Gaffory, whose house fronts are said to still show bullet marks from the independence wars, to the belvedere for the view of the citadel on its rock above the Tavignano and Restonica rivers. At 10 am we visit the Musée de la Corse inside the citadel walls, the island's museum of its own people: shepherding, music, faith and the long story of revolt.

Après-midi

Late morning we drive north via Ponte-Leccia to Saint-Florent, about an hour and a half, for a sit-down lunch by its harbour and a short walk to the round Genoese citadel tower. After lunch the road runs west through the Désert des Agriates, an empty coast of maquis and rock with almost no houses, to L'Île-Rousse and Calvi, about an hour and a half more, arriving around 5 pm and stay two nights.

Compris

• Corte old town and the belvedere with your guide
• The Musée de la Corse
• Sit-down lunch in Saint-Florent
• Saint-Florent harbour and citadel
• The drive through the Désert des Agriates

Calvi's citadel and the Balagne villages

Calvi citadel, then Sant'Antonino and Pigna, and the coastal train from L'Île-Rousse back to Calvi

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Calvi
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in a village. In the late afternoon we ride the small coastal train of the Balagne from L'Île-Rousse back to Calvi along the beaches, about 45 minutes.

Soir

Farewell dinner tonight in Calvi.

Compris

• Calvi citadel with your guide
• Sant'Antonino and Pigna in the Balagne
• Sit-down lunch in a Balagne village
• The Balagne coastal train from L'Île-Rousse to Calvi
• Farewell dinner in Calvi

Across to Bastia and home

Calvi via L'Île-Rousse and Ponte-Leccia to Bastia, then Bastia-Poretta Airport or the ferry port

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we leave Calvi for Bastia, about two hours across the north of the island by L'Île-Rousse and Ponte-Leccia. Bastia is Corsica's busiest port and feels like an Italian town: tall shuttered houses around the old harbour and churches with baroque fronts. We start in Place Saint-Nicolas, the wide square facing the ferry quays, where a marble statue shows Napoleon dressed as a Roman emperor, then walk the lanes of the Terra Vecchia down to the old port, with time for a coffee and a last look at the fishing boats. Around 1 pm the van takes you to Bastia-Poretta Airport (BIA), about 25 minutes south, or to the ferry port for a sailing to Nice, Marseille or Toulon. Book a flight leaving after about 3:30 pm. If you fly from Calvi Sainte-Catherine Airport (CLY) instead, we drop you there after breakfast, about ten minutes from the hotel, and your guide says goodbye in Calvi.

Compris

• Drive from Calvi to Bastia with your guide
• Place Saint-Nicolas and the old port of Bastia
• Drop-off at Bastia-Poretta Airport (BIA), the Bastia ferry port or Calvi Sainte-Catherine Airport (CLY)