Corsica

The beaches are the main reason most people come, and the best of them stand with any in the Mediterranean. The far south around Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio has the classic set: Palombaggia with its pines and pink rocks, the sheltered bay of Santa Giulia, the near-circular cove of Rondinara, all pale sand on clear turquoise water. The north has the Agriates, where Saleccia and Lotu are reached by boat or a long track, and the long bay at Calvi. The west coast around Ajaccio, Propriano and Roccapina offers granite coves and quieter sand.

The sea is warm enough to swim from June to October, reaching about 25°C in August. In high summer the famous southern beaches fill early, so a base with a car and a willingness to walk a little pays off.

Corsican food is mountain food more than seaside food: cured pork from free-roaming pigs, sold as lonzu, coppa and the winter sausage figatellu, sheep and goat cheeses, the fresh whey cheese brocciu that turns up in omelettes, pasta and the cheesecake-like fiadone, wild boar stews and anything made with chestnut flour. On the coast there is good grilled fish and lobster. The island makes serious wine, above all around Patrimonio near Bastia and in the Ajaccio and Sartène areas, and the local cap corse aperitif is worth trying.

The best eating tends to be in village inns inland and in the markets of Ajaccio and Bastia. Beach-resort menus in summer are often ordinary, and the range beyond Corsican and French cooking is narrow.

The island's heritage is that of a contested frontier: Genoese citadels and watchtowers ringing the coast, Pisan Romanesque chapels in the hills, and fortified villages. Bonifacio is the standout, its old town perched on white limestone cliffs above the sea, and Calvi's citadel and the upper town of Corte, the old capital of the independent Corsican republic, follow. Ajaccio has Napoleon's birthplace and the Palais Fesch, with a notable collection of Italian paintings. Prehistory is represented by the carved standing stones of Filitosa.

It adds up to rewarding sightseeing for a road trip rather than a dense museum offer, and much of the pleasure lies in the setting of each town.

Evenings are mostly about long dinners and a drink on a harbour terrace. In July and August the scene livens up around Porto-Vecchio, with a few large open-air clubs in the hills behind the town, and around Calvi, with beach bars and harbour-side bars that stay busy late. Ajaccio and Bastia keep some bars going through the year. Outside high summer and those few towns, the island is quiet early, and anyone wanting a serious night out will find little to choose from.

This is a mountain range in the sea. Peaks rise to over 2,700m within sight of the coast, and the GR20 traverse along the island's spine is one of Europe's toughest and most celebrated long-distance treks, though easier paths such as the Mare e Monti routes suit most walkers. The red granite of the Calanques de Piana, the protected cliffs and sea caves of the Scandola reserve, the jagged needles of Bavella and the glacial lakes above the Restonica gorge near Corte are the high points.

The interior is chestnut and pine forest cut by rivers ideal for canyoning, while the coast offers diving, sailing and sea kayaking, especially around the Lavezzi islands and Scandola. Spring and early autumn are best for hiking; high summer is hot at low altitude.

Outings mean other towns and villages around the island rather than a string of famous sites. From the south, the stony town of Sartène and a ferry crossing from Bonifacio to the north of Sardinia, under an hour, make good days out. From Calvi, the hill villages of the Balagne have craft workshops and views, and from Bastia the villages of Cap Corse and the vineyards of Patrimonio are close. Corte works as a day out from either coast by the island railway.

Distances look short on the map, but mountain roads are slow, so each base has its own few outings rather than the whole island within reach.

Corsica suits families who want a beach and outdoor vacation. The sheltered bays around Porto-Vecchio, such as Santa Giulia, have shallow, calm water, and family campsites and resort villages with pools are common along the east and south coasts. River pools inland, easy walks and boat trips to sea caves add variety, and the island feels safe and unhurried.

There is very little made specifically for children, though: no major zoo, aquarium or theme park. Long, twisting drives are hard on young passengers, so the island works best with one base near a calm beach and short outings from it.

A car is close to essential. Roads are good in surface but narrow and winding, so journeys take far longer than distance suggests, and in summer the coastal roads near the main resorts are slow with traffic. The scenic narrow-gauge railway links Ajaccio, Corte, Bastia and Calvi, and is a pleasure in itself, but it skips the south. Buses between towns are infrequent. The old towns of Bonifacio, Calvi and Ajaccio are easy to walk once you have parked.

Shopping is about local products to take home: charcuterie, cheeses, chestnut flour and honey, island wines, and hand-forged Corsican knives. The morning markets of Ajaccio and Bastia are the best places for food, and the craft villages of the Balagne sell pottery and woodwork. Porto-Vecchio and Calvi have some summer fashion boutiques, but there is no real retail depth anywhere on the island.

Corsica is expensive in the season when people go. July and August bring high prices for rooms in Porto-Vecchio, Bonifacio and Calvi, restaurants on the coast charge resort prices, and car hire and ferry crossings add to the bill. Costs fall in inland villages, at the island's many campsites and in June or September, and village inns and market food are better value than beach terraces.

The island's own musical tradition is polyphonic singing, unaccompanied male voices in close harmony, which visitors can hear at concerts in village and town churches, especially in summer. Summer also brings music festivals, notably jazz in Calvi and guitar evenings in the vineyards around Patrimonio. Beyond that the year-round offer is small, a few theatres in Ajaccio and Bastia with a local programme and no opera or major concert life.

Corsica slows people down: long lunches, siestas in the heat, and village evenings in the mountains where little happens after dark. Formal wellness is limited to spas in upmarket hotels around Porto-Vecchio, Calvi and Ajaccio, and a few small, old-fashioned thermal springs inland, such as Pietrapola, are simple rather than grand. There is no bathing tradition to build a trip around, so rest here comes from the pace and the quiet rather than from spas.