In this blog I will give you tips and inspirations for the Northwest of Corsica. Starting in the Northern part Bastia all the way to Propriano, following the coastline and will describe all the beautiful highlights in between like Calvi, Piana and a lot more. In a second blog I will describe the Southeast side of the island, from Propriano to Bastia, including the Bonifacio, Porto Vecchio and Corte.
From Bastia to Calvi
The Corsica Ferry arrived early in the morning in Basta from Nice. Book here your ticket for the ferry. For me Bastia was the start and departure city, I haven’t visited the city itself. The morning of arrival I drove the D81 directly to the wine area, Patrimonio. The road is stunning through the mountains and wine yards and you are realizing you are on Corsica! Check the blog on wine-tasking here.
Driving along the D81 passing Saint Florent, during lunchtime, I couldn’t find a parking spot so I drove further and stopped at Hôtel u Santu Petru, this was a perfect stop for a delicious salad and stunning view over the valley.
Next stop, after a couple of times stopping to take pictures of course, was Calvi. The D81 changed to the T30 next to the coast; again beautiful!
About Calvi and surrounding
Hotel suggestion for Cali: Hôtel Revellata for two nights; nice spa hotel including parking across the street. The hotel is within walking distance of the citadel, port, cozy downtown and even Calvi’s beach. Calvi is the perfect base to see the area around in the mountains and at the coast.
From Calvi you can drive to Sant’Antonino which is one of the ‘Les Plus Beaux Villages de France,’ meaning ‘the most beautiful villages of France.’ Indeed a perfect located old town in the middle of the bay of mountains and sea. The village Piana is not far away, and this pottery crafts place is perfect to buy your next souvenirs. See blog here!
Check the next is the coastal village L’Île-Rousse; this is also a ferry location. Did you spot the mermaid in the water!? The town is nice but not spectacular, I liked Calvi more!
On the way back to Calvi or if you want to chill a stunning beach please stop a Plage de Ghjunchitu and have a drink at the nearby restaurant. Perfect after the mountains, the beach is so close by.
Calvi itself is one of the citadel cities on Corsica. The old fortress is an eyecatcher and perfect to see from the beach nearby. To get up in the citadel you have to climb some stairs and cobble stones paths, you go back in time! The view is lovely, perfect stroll before heading to have dinner in Rue Georges Clemenceau. This is the main street of Calvi, full of restaurants, shops and bars. Some restaurants are connected to the street below at the harbor. For dinner I recommend you to go to A Cantina di Delia; lovely Italian restaurant with a nice atmosphere and delicious food with good service.
For souvenirs and posters I recommend the shop : D’une Ile à l’autre.
From Calvi you can do several boat tours as well; one of them is to the Scandola Natural Reserve, the red rocks near the Northern coast of Corsica.
Walk all the way to the beach of Calvi from here you have a nice view of the town and citadel and chill at one of the nice beach houses.
From Calvi to Southwest Corsica, Coggia
From Calvi you drive back to the D81 which goes to the South of Corsica, a long but beautiful day ahead. The scenery changes, with mountains with more rocks then through trees and then the blue Mediterranean sea in the back with the red rocks of the Scandola National Reserve.
Stop at the Bocca Di Palmarella, a viewpoint over the mountains.
It it’s still a long and winding drive over de D81 to Porto, breathtaking views along the coast alternate with rock formations.
Drive carefully and not too fast, if I see to many cars behind me, I stop and let them pass; time for a photo and enjoy the view.
Your next stop is Porto; which has a unique location at the river mouth. You can book boat tours to the Scandella National Reserve. A great parking spot is on the south side of the river and you can cross the river with a nice bridge to the centre of the village. I arrived here around lunchtime so perfect to find a nice restaurant.
I found restaurant Le Palmier; I had a delicious healthy salad here for lunch, I totally liked the atmosphere with all the reeds, wood and bamboo!
I couldn’t find a suitable hotel for tonight, so I decided to continue my journey southwards but if you like to stay in the Porto area it is a good option.
Just around the corner of Porto the rock formations of Calanques de Piana already started. These are stunning dramatic geologic formations where the high red-rock cliffs reach the Mediterranean sea. A breathtaking scenery; felt I landed on the moon!
Drive very carefully this part of the D81, the road get really small at some points and even low and people are crossing the roads here too!
There are a couple of parking and safe heavens beside the road where you can stop and take some pictures, be careful crossing the roads!
From the town of Piana you can drive down to the small beach Plage de Ficaghjola, this must be a stunning beach, but the road town was too much for me. I tried but turned around and headed more south again, but not without taking a picture of course! Also check my blog Why visit the French Mediterranean Island for beach suggestions!
Then the road gets more easier and I drove to my hotel that I booked online on the spot near Coggia at Plage du Santana, this is about 35 km before Ajaccio on the west side of Corsica. The Hôtel A Rena D’Oru is recently renovated from the inside, outside still needs some work, but all is ok. The location right in front of the beach is the best. Waking up with the sound of the sea and that view is worth the money and the drive!
In front of the hotel at beach club Le Santana is perfect for an afternoon aperitivo and some bites. This is a nice place and I was treated with a spectacular sunset. So big recommendation to have a look here. The whole beach and location was by coincidence a big hit. I don’t normally book thinks in advance and see how the journey will go, but I love when thinks turn out to be good!
From Southwest Corsica, Coggia to Propriano
The next morning drive further on the D81 to Ajaccio, the birth city of Napoleon! Again spectacular views during this morning drive. I love the turquoise waters where the mountains reach the sea.
Park your car at the Park du Diamant, under the Place de Gaulle (spot Napoleon statue on his horse), behind the old center of Ajaccio. From hier it’s only a couple of minutes’ walks to the citadel and old center of Ajaccio. The plage Saint-Francois is beautiful and perfect found in the center close to the church Santa Maria Assunta. I strolled further stranded on a local market with curiosa and a lot more. Love foreign markets! Everywhere you look you can find nice restaurants; the French love their cuisine!
When visiting Ajaccio go to the Napoleon museum; Maison Bonaparte, the ancestral home of Napoleon. The French emperor was born here in 1769 and lived here for nine years with its parents and sisters. In this museum you will find old props and oil paintings of the family. But Napolean is everywhere in the city, for example the marble statue of Napoleon with lions on Place Foch. Me and other tourist were wondering if this was the statue of Napoleon, because in our mind Napolean looked different, but we were guaranteed it was Napoleon.
After some take away sushi, I walked further to explore Ajaccio. I liked the town, but it’s not my favorite city of Corsica. You could see it is the capital of Corsica, its much bigger and busier than the rest the villages on the island. The roads are 4 lanes most of the time around this area too.
For me it was time to enjoy the sun a bit and relax on the beach after a lot of hours in the car. The former fisher town Propriano is perfect to spent the night. I really recommend Hôtel A Stretta; a brand-new hotel on the main street of the now touristic town including parking. The hotel has a hip and trendy atmosphere and is affordable! Well found of myself hope you like it too!
If you book accommodation in the less popular cities and towns, the value for money is much higher. You can visit the popular places during the day!
The beach is beautiful with white sand and turquoise waters and you can walk from the hotel or center of Propriano. I would recommend an Aperol Spritz at beach club Le Corsaire at Plage du Lido, perfect for a real holiday feeling! But to be honest, I save my beach time for the South of Corsica, I heard the beaches there are the best! Read in this blog if that is true.
The promenade at the harbor of Propriano is a nice stroll, on one side the boats and yachts on the other hand the restaurants. I went to the No Stress Café for mussels, but the restaurant felt like a factory. It was busy and popular but didn’t like the vibe here, down the road are a lot more restaurants that would have been a better choice.
Going further with your roadtrip Corsica check here my next blog post for the second part the Southeast part of Corsica!
