26 of the best things to do in Corsica

Times

10-07-2025

When a place is nicknamed 'the isle of beauty', expectations are set high. Luckily, Corsica rises to the challenge, with platinum beaches, cerulean waters, wave-carved cliffs, hilltop villages, plunging gorges and miles of wild, scented maquis shrubland. Southeast of the Cote d'Azur and north of Sardinia, Corsica's culture, cuisine and language have dual influences — Balzac called it a 'French island basking in the Italian sun' — but more than anything it's fiercely independent, with a strong sense of local identity and pride. The fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean remains a little under-the-radar for UK visitors, so whether you come to bask on sandy Rondinara beach, taste Patrimonio wine, wander the backstreets of historic Bonifacio or hike the rugged GR20 trail, you won't hear huge numbers of other British accents. Here's a taste of what to do.
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The Ospedale Forest feels wilder than it should, considering it's about half an hour's drive from Porto-Vecchio. Hike through pine and beech glades, among dramatic granite boulders and under a waterfall tumbling 70 metres from a rock face, then swim in the limpid lake. When night falls, you needn't head back to habitation if you've booked a stay at Cocoon Village, an off-grid glamping site where the suspended bubble tents feature comfortable double beds. Each feels entirely remote — one is accessed by a via ferrata with a zipline for the way down — so you'll hear only birdsong and enjoy starry skies with little light pollution.The mostly uninhabited Lavezzi Islands in southeastern Corsica show off some of the island's finest beaches and offer superb snorkelling opportunities. At the reefs here, schools of rainbow wrasse will swim up to inspect you. Among Bonifacio's various boat tours, SPMB's shuttles are the most flexible. After a 30-minute journey, you can board any hourly voyage back following a quick circuit of private Cavallo. There are ample coves on the main stop, Lavezzi itself, ensuring reasonable space for early arrivals. Don't forget to bring supplies and your snorkelling gear.Via ferrata, rafting, hydrofoiling and paragliding are available around the island, but the most established high-octane sport here is canyoning. Take an expert-led adventure in the pine-perfumed Verghellu Canyon south of Corte where you will navigate rope courses, zoom along a long zip line, slide over chutes, abseil down rock faces and leap off into transparent plunge pools. There are great views along the way, and full safety equipment is provided. Pause to admire Gustave Eiffel's impressively minimal, train-carrying Pont du Vecchio viaduct, which towers 84m above the river.
• Discover our full guide to FranceThe Agriates Desert represents Corsica at its wildest — the air carries the sweet scent of the maquis shrub, while rocky scrublands give way to Castaway-style coves, some of them pristine white and eerily empty. Boats from Saint-Florent can take you to the western coves, but those further east often require a challenging hike, horseback ride, or a rugged 4×4 journey. Guided day trips from Calvi also offer this adventure, including stops at caves and abandoned villages before a four-hour visit to Ghignu Beach, where couples may find themselves leaving the first footprints in the sand.
Embark on a half-day boat trip from Marine de Porto or Ajaccio and encounter three unforgettable sights. First, marvel at the Calanches de Piana, where peaks and pinnacles in russet-red hues take on a pinkish shade in sunlight — a Unesco World Heritage Site. Although visible from cars, the charming coastal village of Girolata is accessible only by boat or on foot. After a 30-minute stop there, continue to the osprey-patrolled Scandola Nature Reserve, where coastal caves and sea stacks dot the landscape. On the return journey, keep an eye on the shoreline for passing pods of dolphins.Bastia serves as an excellent starting point for many island breaks and is less touristy compared to its charming rival, Ajaccio. This ensures an authentic experience, despite there being plenty to see. You can arrange a walking tour led by a local guide and customise what is included. This could involve exploring the mazy Old Town nestled along the harbour, taking breaks at cafés, visiting the twin-towered Church of St Jean-Baptiste, or ascending to the citadel above. Of particular interest is Bastia's wine scene — ask your guide to take you to a specialist bar or shop for a fully immersive experience.Corsica has several striking beaches, but none can quite compare to Rondinara, often hailed as one of Europe's most beautiful. As you snake along the access road, you'll gasp in awe at the tantalising glimpse of the white sand and crystal-clear waters. Rondinara's twin headlands curve dramatically towards one another to form a perfect horseshoe. Once in situ you'll find that such shelter from the ocean yields calm, lagoon-like turquoise water whose shallowness suits families. Arrive before 10am to enjoy thinner crowds and the shadiest parking spaces. Loungers and parasols can be hired and there's a good restaurant.Hiking trails litter the Col de Bavella in southern Corsica, offering incredible views of its jagged, needle-like outcrops. Some trails are gruelling and tough, while others are more leisurely. During a guided half-day climb, you can ascend, escaping the crowds and venturing into valleys blanketed with Laricio pines. A scenic picnic spot provides a marvellous viewpoint, offering glimpses of Sardinia and a chance to spot Corsican mouflon sheep, with their lean brown bodies and distinctive curving horns — the island's most emblematic animals.Many of Corsica's tipples hail from the Patrimonio region of Cap Corse — a spindly peninsula that extends 25 miles north of Bastia and St Florent. Vineyards are just one reason to visit: you'll also discover pretty ports, Nonza's black-pebble beaches and especially well-preserved Genoese watchtowers. Devote a day to lazily driving the Cap's wiggly roads, stopping whenever you wish, and proceed anticlockwise from Bastia to enjoy the sun's gaze on both coasts.Nowhere on Corsica can fire up the imagination quite like Bonifacio. Built in AD828 to deter pirates, its citadel overlooks the sea from a narrow ledge atop precipitous white bluffs. Take a private personalised walking tour with a local and check out the shop and café-lined lanes, the busy marina below, various viewpoints and the white-walled tombs of Campu Santu on the cliff edge — as beautiful a graveyard as you'll ever see. Descents down (and back up) the rock-carved King of Aragon's Staircase, whose steps finish almost at sea level, are optional.Despite Sartène being five miles inland, its history is full of pirates. After an attack by Barbary corsairs in 1583, in which 400 people were kidnapped and enslaved, the red-roofed hill town suffered constantly from the same foes' hands for centuries. Learn more in the town's Musée Départemental de Préhistoire, which, true to its name, also has artefacts from prehistory as well as the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. After, wander through Sartène's tangle of shopping streets and admire glorious views over southwestern Corsica before lunch on the focal Place de la Libération.
• Best small-ship Mediterranean cruise lines• Best no-fly holidaysTake a boat trip from Bonifacio to explore the picturesque grottos lining this limestone coast in either direction. Right by southern Corsica's tip, the Saint-Antoine Grotto is memorably shaped exactly like Napoleon's bicorne hat; west of Bonifacio, the Sdragonato Grotto abounds with white stalactites, while its vivid green waters are full of fish. Allowing for their illuminate is an opening said to mimic the island's shape precisely. Boats will expertly enter right inside, with ample time taken so everyone can capture a zillion photographs. You'll also pass the King of Aragon's Staircase.During Pasquale Paoli's short-lived Corsican republic, Corte served as the capital. It's easy to understand why when visiting: aloft on pinnacle and fortified for more than 2,000 years, what remains of its original stronghold is regally circled by high peaks. The Musée de la Corse up there has more history, while things are far mellower in the newer, still-nationalist below, connected via steep stairways and cobbled alleys. It's where you'll find Corsica's only university (founded by Paoli and reopened in the 1980s), craft shops and hundreds of hikers, bikers and rock climbers every summer.Although there's excellent grilled seafood to be devoured around the coast, Corsica's true cuisine is the meatier, more wholesome fare found inland. The most totemic dish is civet de sanglier (wild boar stew), the succulent, nutty meat usually slow-cooked with carrots, chestnuts, fennel and lots of red wine. Mountain restaurants and many in Corte, such as À Casa di L'Orsu, usually serve it. For pudding, see if fiadone — a lemony cheesecake minus the biscuit base, made with ricotta-like brocciu — is on the menu.Back to those Corsican wines. The island's sunny, dry climate and constant range of altitudes make for optimum viticulture across nine designated AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) areas. That may come as a surprise: with relatively few getting exported, the excellent wines here have something of an under-the-radar vibe. The vermentino grape dominates fruity, dry whites at Lumio's hangar-sized Clos Culombu — one of a few in La Balagne — alongside earthier, unoaked reds. Explore that Patrimonio region, and buy from Ajaccio's La Cave du Cardinal shop.Wonderfully wild, the 1,500m-high Coscione Plateau is a little-visited mesa of rocks and spongy, flower-filled grass in central Corsica. Numerous streams crisscross it to form distinctive shallow pools known as pozzines. Adding to the winsome vibe are herds of free-ranging pigs, goats, cows and, most commonly, amiable wild horses. A rutted road leads from Quenza to a car park at the Bucchinera refuge, and from there several walking trails can be followed, each very gentle and free of people. Those coming on guided tours can leave navigation to an expert.There are more than 100 Grand Randonnée hiking trails in Europe and the GR20 in Corsica is reputedly one of the toughest. Covering 180km, the 16-stage trail follows the granite spine of the island from Conca in the south-east to Calanzana in the north-west (or vice versa), with lots of exposed ridges and steep ascents and descents along the way. The reward is ravishing mountain scenery, from the needle-like peaks of the Aiguilles de Bavella to the glacial Lac de Nino, limpid in grassy meadows. Tackle it in late June or early September, sleeping and eating in mountain refuges or carrying your own tent and food. From October to May the refugios are not manned and in winter the path can be hazardous.At Filitosa, a hillside site north of Propriano, you'll find a plethora of granite standing stones — some thought to date back to the 6th millennium BC and virtually unchanged except for minor weathering. However, it's the stones from the Bronze Age that will truly amaze you at Corsica's pre-eminent historical site. These stones feature intricately detailed faces and depictions of weapons, believed to honour notable individuals. Guided tours in English are available and afterwards you're free to explore the adjacent museum.
filitosa.fr/en/guided-tours
Corsica's most chichi town is undoubtedly Porto-Vecchio. In another walled citadel, its old town lanes are full of natty clothing shops and restaurants built into the ramparts, each with a candlelit sea vista better than the last. Shoes clack on stony floors and noise emanates from the central piazza, almost every inch covered by café terraces and a great place in which to while away a few hours. So too is the old defensive Bastion de France's rooftop; its views are the best of all. Below sparkles one of Europe's foremost yacht harbours.
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Known to all as the Trinichellu (Little Train), Corsica's limited Chemins de fer de la Corse rail network impressively traverses its rugged interior. Most scenic is the two-hour ascent from Ajaccio to Corte — a riot of soaring views, chestnut forests, Gustave Eiffel's viaduct and the Bridal Veil waterfall. If heading north, sit on the left for the best scenery. After Corte, the line to Ponte Leccia bisects flatter mountain valleys; continue to Calvi and you'll pass river rapids and eventually follow sandy beaches right into town.
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Sant'Antonino has quite the CV. Not only has its good looks earned membership of the Most Beautiful Villages of France association, but this hilltop hamlet is one of Corsica's oldest inhabited settlements. Here in the Balagne region most neighbouring villages are equally handsome and well situated, especially Lumio, where lemon trees abound, and pottery-making Pigna. Explore at your own pace astride an ebike, hiring one in L'Île-Rousse, or sign up for an all-day driving tour from there or Calvi, which concludes with a Mediterranean swim.
balagnebikes.fr
Ajaccio was where it all began for the Little Corporal. Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the capital's Rue Saint-Charles in 1769, living there with his Republican family for almost a decade and briefly returning years later. A large and austere residence, his old house is now Corsica's national museum, with its most famous son the understandable focus. Visitors can enter what is thought to have been Napoleon's bedroom and see a trapdoor through which he supposedly reached the port in 1799. Reservations are compulsory; the site is closed on Mondays.
napoleon.org
In central Corsica, nestled among picturesque valleys like Spelunca and Tavignano, is the small town of Corte. Here, the Restonica river winds through forested gorges, perfect for exploring by both road and foot. The river's shallow, blue-green pools are especially enjoyable on hot days. Smooth grey granite boulders provide spots to leave your clothes or bask in the sun, while pine trees and green-flowering hellebores add fragrance and shade. Just remember to keep your shoes on to avoid slipping.
visit-corsica.com
The haunting sound of a Corsican lament or lullaby, sung in a mountain village or ancient stone church, is one you're unlikely to forget. Traditionally performed a capella by groups of four to six men, the indigenous folk music was in danger of dying out until the 1970s, when it was revived alongside the independence movement. In the decades that followed, the vogue for World Music (especially Bulgarian chanting) brought it to the attention of an international audience, while groups such Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses, A Filetta and I Muvrini — who recorded a version of Fields of Gold with Sting — popularised it for modern tastes. The art form is celebrated every September at the Polyphonic Song Festival in the Calvi citadel, which brings together musicians from home and abroad.
visit-corsica.com
Blame the Genoans who, when they governed Corsica in the 16th century, decreed that each family should plant four trees annually, one of them a chestnut. Three centuries later, the hilly region southwest of Bastia was covered in the majestic trees, primarily producing flour to make bread. Emigration, war and chestnut blight changed all that, and today Castagniccia ('chestnut grove') has a fraction of its former population. With its winding lanes and charming villages, however, it is a gift to slow travellers, and chestnuts are still harvested in October and November to make cakes and other delicacies. Head to the Fiera di a Castagna in Bocognano in December to taste them and other Corsican treats, from olive oil to wine and jams, ewe's cheeses and cured ham from chestnut-fed pigs.
visit-corsica.com
To see the island's oldest woman, head to the Musee de l'Alta Rocca in the pretty mountain village of Levie. Dedicated to the island's rich archaeological heritage, its most famous exhibit is the Mesolithic Dame de Bonifacio, a roughly 9,000-year-old skeleton found in a rock shelter near the town. You can also see the remains of extinct animals which once roamed the island, plus Stone Age tools and Iron Age jewellery. Nearby, take a short circular hike to see Bronze Age hill forts of Cucuruzzu and Capula.
visit-corsica.com
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