Corsica July 15, 2022

We had a few weeks spare to explore the island of Corsica before we would be meeting up with friends in Northern Sardinia. We hadn't done a great deal of research into Corsica and were very surprised at how incredibly mountainous the island is. So much so that there are numerous Ski resorts there. 30oC water in summer and ski resorts in winter. Corsica is a French territory however it's people are very proud of their own Corsican history and culture. We visited 5 individually unique towns, all beautiful in their own way.

Saint-Florent

A very remote resort town that is safe harbour to thousands upon thousands of boats in all shapes and sizes. We even saw a flying dinghy. It was difficult to fathom how incredibly remote this little town was in the bustling Mediterranean sea. We didn't capture many photo's here and we were on our way again early the next morning.

Calvi

Calvi has a fabulous harbour. It's marina is lined by the old town that, like may towns in Europe, it now has been converted into restaurants with shops in the streets behind. The town however is overshadowed by a spectacular medieval citadel that was great fun to explore. With the towering mountains as a backdrop, Calvi was one of our favourite stops in Corsica.

Ajaccio

The capital of Corsica and the birth place of Napoleon Bonaparte, Ajaccio its a busy city that is teeming with summer tourists as well as visitors from the docked cruise ship. Our anchorage was rather exposed and tight, so we were unable to let much anchor chain out. Because of this, going into town was a little nerve racking. Never the less, we did go ashore, did a little provisioning and even caught the tourists train.

Porto-Vecchio

On the South East coast of Corsica lies the protected harbour town of Porto-Vecchio. There was a lot to like about this town. It had a fantastic free electric bus service that took you from the harbour to the shopping district, to the old town citadel up on the hill behind and back to the marina. We had a great safe place to tie up our dinghy and an 8 Euro bus service that took us to Bonifacio. The anchorage however was putrid, muddy and very rough from the passing boats. A small price to pay for such a lovely town. The shopping was great (we did 3 large shopping trips), the electric bus was very convenient, but the citadel outshone all of this. We could have spent a whole week eating, drinking and exploring the beautiful citadel.

Bonifacio

The crown jewel of Corsica. This natural harbour is a favourite stop for yachties and mega yachts alike. It's very difficult and expensive to get into so we opted for the bus trip from Porto-Vecchio. High up on the cliffs is the medieval citadel containing the old town of Bonifacio. This lived in citadel as crammed with restaurants and shops, many of which boast breathtaking views of over the Mediterranean towards Sardinia (our next destination).