Bastia’s Vieux Port is ringed by precariously tall, pastel-coloured tenements and buzzy brasseries, and overlooked by the twin-towered Église St-Jean Baptiste. The best views of the harbour are from the citadel or the hillside park of Jardin Romieu, reached via a stately old staircase that twists up from the waterfront.
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Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.22 MILES
Looming above the harbour, Bastia’s stern-walled citadel was built between the 15th and 17th centuries for the city’s Genoese masters. Known as the Terra…
0.12 MILES
Criss-crossed by narrow lanes, Terra Vecchia is Bastia’s heart and soul. Shady place de l’Hôtel de Ville hosts a lively morning market on Saturday and…
0.16 MILES
Occupying the former palace of Bastia’s Genoese governors, set into the formidable walls of the citadel, this museum retraces the city’s history from its…
8.21 MILES
Atop a footpath that winds up between the rocks opposite the church, the stark Tour de Nonza is an 18th-century structure erected on the ruins of a…
0.35 MILES
The 19th-century place St-Nicolas, an enormous paved square that sprawls from the ferry port towards the old harbour, is the focus of the everyday life of…
7.19 MILES
The remarkable Romanesque church of Santa Maria Assunta, 800m inland and known as ‘Cathedral of the Nebbio’, dates from 1140, when Corsica was under Pisan…
26.5 MILES
Low, rocky Île de la Pietra, the ‘russet island’ that gave Île Rousse its name, is a pleasant 15-minute stroll from the centre, across a short causeway…
26.36 MILES
This coastal promenade follows the seafront east from Île Rousse. The beach right by the town centre is actually very pleasant, with fine broad sand, but…
Nearby Bastia attractions
0.06 MILES
The dramatic twin-towered church of John the Baptist soars majestically above the Vieux Port waterfront. Viewed from the citadel above, it’s the most…
2. Chapelle de l’Immaculée Conception
0.11 MILES
Notable for its elaborately painted barrel-vaulted ceiling, the baroque Chapelle de l’Immaculée Conception served in 1795 as the seat of the short-lived…
0.12 MILES
Criss-crossed by narrow lanes, Terra Vecchia is Bastia’s heart and soul. Shady place de l’Hôtel de Ville hosts a lively morning market on Saturday and…
0.14 MILES
Climbing the hillside below the mighty walls of the citadel, and threaded through by interlacing paths and stairways, this wooded park makes a scenic…
0.16 MILES
Occupying the former palace of Bastia’s Genoese governors, set into the formidable walls of the citadel, this museum retraces the city’s history from its…
0.16 MILES
The Chapelle St-Roch is known for its 18th-century organ and trompe l’œil roof.
0.22 MILES
Looming above the harbour, Bastia’s stern-walled citadel was built between the 15th and 17th centuries for the city’s Genoese masters. Known as the Terra…
0.25 MILES
Adjoining and slightly predating the Cathédrale Ste-Marie, the rococo Église Ste-Croix features gilded ceilings and a mysterious black-oak crucifix, said…