Corsica

The jewel of the Golfe de Porto World Heritage Site, the Réserve Naturelle de Scandola extends both above and below the water, from the russet-hued cliffs down to their submarine counterparts. With no road or trail access, you can only explore this majestic wilderness by boat.

Several Porto-based boat operators, including Via Mare, L'Eivissa and Corse Émotion, run half-day excursions into the reserve, in some cases combining it with Les Calanques de Piana.

Northeastern Corsica encapsulates the island at its very best. Historic Bastia, Corsica’s second city and largest ferry port, is not just a great point of arrival; with its maze of alleyways, bustling medieval harbour, and imposing citadel, it’s also a place where you could happily linger for several days. Immediately north, the enchanting Cap Corse peninsula boasts spectacular coastal scenery, as well as delightful villages like Nonza, Centuri and Erbalunga, while to the west St-Florent is an exquisite little port-cum-resort.

o amount of praise can do justice to the astonishing beauty of Les Calanques de Piana (E Calanche in Corsican). These sculpted cliffs rear above the Golfe de Porto in staggering scarlet pillars, teetering columns, and irregularly shaped outcrops of pink, ochre and ginger. Flaming red in the sunlight, they’re one of the great sights of Corsica. And as you sway around switchback after switchback along the rock-riddled 10km stretch of the D81 between Porto and the village of Piana, one mesmerising vista piggybacks on another.

There are two ways to discover the Calanques: by boat or on foot. Numerous operators offer boat trips from Porto; allow €25 for a 1½-hour excursion. For a land-based perspective, don your walking boots. Several trails start near the municipal stadium, 3km north of Piana on the D81. Piana’s tourist office sells a €1 leaflet detailing six walks.

Afterwards, flop on the sand on the idyllic beaches of Ficajola or Arone, 5km north and 12km southwest of Piana respectively. The Camping de la Plage d’Arone is as tranquil a campground as you’ll find in Corsica. Or splurge on lunch (mains €35, lunch menu €25) or sundowners with epic views at Corsica’s original luxury hotel, Les Roches Rouges, an eccentric vintage property that opened in 1912.

When it comes to longing for the archetypal 'idyllic beach', it's impossible to think past the immense Plage de Palombaggia, southeast of Porto-Vecchio. This is the Corsican paradise you've been daydreaming about: sparkling turquoise waters, long stretches of sand edged with pine trees and splendiferous views over the Îles Cerbicale.

Corsica's most important prehistoric site, 20km north of Propriano, preserves extraordinary granite menhirs (standing stones) that were originally erected as much as 6000 years ago. Many were re-carved during the Bronze Age, 2500 years later, to hold detailed faces and weaponry, and thus, uniquely, appear to commemorate specific individuals. It takes around an hour to explore this lovely open-air site, wandering across fields and hillsides that hold vestiges of ancient monumental enclosures, and finishing in the modern museum.

Commanding a lovely sweep of bay, the handsome city of Ajaccio has the self-confidence that comes with a starring role in world history. In summer, there’s more than a whiff of the Côte d’Azur to its pastel-toned, cafe-filled historic core and the trendy waterfront promenade that stretches west, buzzing with beachgoers by day and party people later on. But it’s in the tangled old-town lanes that the spectre of Napoléon Bonaparte looms largest, with the house where he was born in 1769 now serving as a museum to his memory. The headland alongside is dominated by a redoubtable citadel that’s sadly off limits to visitors, while a palace amid the newer boulevards to the north displays magnificent art collected by Napoléon’s uncle. With ferries from mainland France mooring right alongside, Ajaccio’s always bustling with activity.

Paradise! If you love to splash in tranquil lapis-lazuli waters, this protected clutch of uninhabited islets was made for you. The largest, the 65-hectare Île Lavezzi itself, is the most accessible. In summer, operators based at Bonifacio’s marina (and also in Porto-Vecchio) offer boat trips; bring a picnic lunch.

Thanks to its stunning natural setting, the ancient fortress town of Bonifacio is an essential stop for all visitors to Corsica. Protected by vast smooth walls, the town itself stretches along a narrow, top-heavy promontory, undercut by creamy-white limestone cliffs hollowed out by centuries of ceaseless waves. Down below, connected by steep footpaths and a single winding road, and lapped by cornflower-blue waters, its harbour and modern marina shelters at the landward end of a snaking fjord-like inlet.

It’s down by the port where much of Bonifacio’s tourist trade is concentrated, including ferries across to nearby Sardinia, boat tours to Corsica’s southerly beaches and the Îles Lavezzi, and a busy clutch of bars, clubs and brasseries along the quayside. The old city, though, is what truly lingers in the mind, a ravishingly romantic web of alleyways lined by ramshackle medieval houses and chapels with faded pastel plasterwork.

The high pass by which the D268 crosses the mountains, the Col de Bavella (Bavella Pass; 1218m), is overlooked by the magnificent silhouettes of the serrated Aiguilles de Bavella (Bavella Needles). Soaring to over 1600m, and also known as the Cornes d'Asinao (Asinao Horns), these jagged points vary in colour from grey to ochre to golden as the sun moves across the sky.