Advice for Corsica needed

[Pauline]

We are planning a trip for the first three weeks of September and have various ideas. I had thought about the Lot and the southern Languedoc (to be in France, to explore more of that area). Then Steve mentioned Switzerland (for hiking). We have traveled there many times, hiked every valley in the Bernese Oberland, but have not been there since 2007. I was thinking Greece (to go swimming and to see some things).

Today we were out walking with Kevin and he recommended Corsica - swimming and hiking and a great place, and it is France. We have not been there. I know Marta has recommended it to me.

I am going to start going through my list of vacation rental resources for Corsica (I don't have many), but any advice would be appreciated. Kevin recommended the west coast from Ajaccio to Piana and up to Calvi (my internet connection is so lame here that I can't get Google Maps started, so those town names may be wrong).

 

[Dana]

Corsica is gorgeous, literally a mountain in the sea, with long wild beaches, granite villages, rugged walks and nature in spades. The roads are incredibly scenic but the scariest I've ever been on—so expect to spend a lot of time in 2nd and 3rd gear—and the GR20 path over the mountains is the toughest trail in Europe.

But it does have four airports so you can get pretty close to your destination. The west coast is indeed nice, but so too is the south and far southeast (around Sartène, Bonifacio and Porto Vecchio). One of the best sites for holiday homes is http://www.corsica.co.uk.

 

[Pauline]

We are not ready for the toughest trail in Europe! But, I like the sound of the beaches.

Vacation rental agencies:
http://www.corsica.co.uk/ (Dana mentioned above)
http://www.directcorsica.com/
http://www.cap-corse.com/ - Gites

Kevin will post with a link to a place he stayed.

Tourist Office
http://www.visit-corsica.com/

 

[Kevin Widrow]

Hi Pauline,

Here's the place we stayed at in Tiuccia: http://www.abritel.fr/location-vacances/p669369 - you can read my review which was posted on the abritel website.

Abritel and homlidays are the best vacation rental places we found for Corsica.

If you decide to go and want some specific ideas on beaches and hikes, just let me know.

- Kevin

 

[Marta]

We stayed in Calvi which is pretty touristy but the beach is great. We stayed about a mile out of town and loved that area of the beach. Sandy shallow lovely swimming. You can catch the ferry from Nice. There are ferries to several cities. We flew back to Amsterdam from Calvi. Also at the time Club Med cruises docked there. It probably isn't the best place to stay because of the tourism but we were off season late June.

Check out Doug Phillips trip report and blog. He went in October.