Corsica

Corsica (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

With so much to offer, from child-friendly beach resorts to rugged mountains and Roman ruins, there is no other guidebook needed to take to this enigmatic Mediterranean island. Includes information on the fascinating traditions and rich wildlife, as well as advice on the best restaurants and where to stay.

Features over 600 full-color photographs, maps and illustrations.

Corsica, 3rd (Cadogan Guides)

Corsica 4 (Regional Guide)

Discover Corsica

Sip and ice-cold pastis in the maquis-scented garden of a south coast chambre d'hote.
Test your tyres as you wind up vista-filled corniches to the hilltop hamlets of La Castagniccia.
Learn to tell coppa from prisuttu as hand-cured, mountain charcuterie melts in your mouth.
Splash down waterfalls and leap into natural pools while canyoning in the Massif de Bavella.

In This Guide:

Day-by-day coverage of walking the entire GR20, plus other stunning hikes.
Full-color introduction reveals the island's natural wonders, cultural heritage and hearty cuisine.
Insider tips on driving routes, activities for kids and the best places to dive, kitesurf, cycle, and horseride.

The Rough Guide to Corsica - Edition 5 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

Explore every corner of this beautiful island with the revised fifth edition of the Rough Guide to Corsica. The 24-page, full-colour introduction will inspire you on where to go and what to see, from the spectacular views of Spenlunca Gorge to the blissfully unspoilt beach of La Plage d’Arone. The new ‘author picks’ section highlights the island’s best hotels and restaurants, plus there are hundreds of listings of all the top resorts, bars, clubs and shops to suit all budgets. The guide takes a detailed look at Corsica’s historic sites from megalithic Filitosa to Napoleon’s birthplace in Ajaccio, with an informed background on Corsican history, culture and wildlife, There is plenty of practical advice on outdoor activities, including hiking the famous GR20 route. The guide comes complete with maps and plans for the whole island.

The Rough Guide to Corsica Map (Rough Guide Country/Region Map)

Corsica – half the size of Wales – is one of the Mediterranean’s most stunning islands with attractions and activities for all types of visitors, ranging from the soaring granite escarpments of Col de Bavella to the ultimate Grande Randonneee of the GR20.The Rough Guide map will make exploring the island by car that much simpler with information on all the routes from the (well sign-posted) main roads to unpaved tracks. The map pinpoints the location of many attractions and places of interest, including unspolit beaches, churches, castles and outstanding natural features. As with all the maps in the Rough Guides series, this map is made of rip-proof, waterproof Polyart™ paper, durable enough to survive a dip in the sea.

Gr20 - Corsica: The High-level Route (A Cicerone Guide)

Corsica Insight Guides

One of over 400 titles in the Insight series, Pocket Guide Corsica. This 94-page book includes a chapter detailing Corsica's history and culture, 14 itineraries taking in sights ranging from Bastia's tiny churches and colourful markets to the towering northern peaks of the alpine massif, leisure-time suggestions, and a comprehensive information section packed with essential contact addresses and numbers. Plus many high quality photographs and maps, including a detailed pull-out map.

The Rough Guide to Corsica 4 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

INTRODUCTION

`Kallisté' - `the most beautiful' - was what the ancient Greeks called Corsica, and the compliment holds as true today as ever. In few corners of the Mediterranean will you find water as translucent, sand as soft and white, and weather so dependably warm and sunny; and nowhere else has seascapes as dramatic as the red porphyry Calanches of the west coast, and the striated white cliffs in the far south. Crowning it all, a mass of forested valleys herringbone from the island's granite spine, which rises to a mighty 2706m at Monte Cinto, snow-encrusted even at the height of summer.

That these extraordinary landscapes have survived the ferro-concrete revolution of the past few decades unscathed seems miraculous when you consider the fate of comparably beautiful parts of southern Europe. Nearly two million visitors descend on the island annually (two thirds of them in July and August), yet purpose-built resorts are few and far between, while high-rise blocks remain outnumbered by extravagant Baroque churches and old fortified houses built to protect families formerly embroiled in vendettas. Overlooked by Corsica's trademark seventeenth-century watchtowers, long stretches of the shore remain backed by unbroken maquis, while forests of holm oak, chestnut trees and magnificent Laricio pines carpet the interior valleys, dotted with pretty stone villages. "Provence without the Brits" is how rural Corsica is often described in holiday brochures, but the gloss fails to convey the island's distinctive grandeur: the wildness of its uplands, the vivid atmosphere of its remote settlements, and arresting emptiness of its valleys and woodlands, where wild boar are still more numerous than people.

Corsica's pristine state is largely the legacy of economic neglect, compounded by the impact of two world wars and mass out-migration in the twentieth century. Lured by the island's abundant natural resources and strategic position on the Mediterranean seaways, successive invaders - from the Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans, to the Aragonese, Italians, British and French - all came and conquered, but none were able to establish lasting prosperity. Nor were they ever able to subjugate fully the rebellious spirit of the islanders themselves, who at various times in their history have mounted fierce resistance to colonial occupation. In the nineteenth century, an armed uprising established a fully independent government led by one of the most charismatic political figures of the Enlightenment, Pascal Paoli. Before it was ruthlessly crushed by the French, the regime introduced the vote for women and a democratic constitution which would later be used a model for that of the United States.

Violent opposition to French rule flared up once again in the mid-1970s, since when nationalist paramilitary groups have been waging a bloody campaign against the state and its representatives, both on the island and on the Continent. Among ordinary islanders, support for the armed struggle - whose bombings and shootings have claimed hundreds of lives but seldom, if ever, affect tourists - has dwindled to virtually nil over the past decade. Yet the desire for greater autonomy remains as fervent as ever, in spite of the fact that the island imports virtually everything it needs and receives huge financial support from Paris and the EU.

Having had to struggle for centuries to preserve their language and customs, Corsicans have gained a reputation for being suspicious of outsiders. You will, for example, get a very frosty response indeed (or worse) if you attempt to broach the subject of nationalist violence, the Mafia, religious brotherhoods or belief in occult phenomena such as the Evil Eye. But express admiration for those facets of island life which the islanders are overtly proud of - such as their cuisine, fine wines, enigmatic carved menhirs and polyphony singing - and you'll soon feel the warmth of traditional hospitality.

Save for the ubiquitous nationalist graffiti, sprayed-out road signs and odd fire-bombed villa or beach restaurant, Corsica's dark underbelly is barely discernible these days, as its population is drawn ever closer to the European mainstream. Lasting impressions tend instead to be dominated by the things which have beguiled travellers since Boswell first raved about the island in the mid-eighteenth century: the breathtakingly unspoilt scenery and distinctive Mediterranean way of life which, although bearing strong resemblances to the cultures of neighbouring Tuscany and Sardinia, the French Riviera and Sicily - somehow manages to remain quite different from any of them.

Two hundred years of French rule have had limited tangible effect on Corsica, an island where Baroque churches, Genoese fortresses, fervent Catholic rituals and an indigenous language saturated with Tuscan influences show a more profound affinity with neighbouring Italy. During the long era of Italian supremacy the northeast and southwest of Corsica formed two provinces known as Diqua dei monti - "this side of the mountains" - and Dila dei monti, the uncontrollable "side beyond". Today the French départements of Haute-Corse and Corse du Sud roughly coincide with these territories, and remain quite different in feel.

Walking on Corsica (Cicerone International Walking)

Corsica Trekking GR20 (Trailblazer)