What to do in Corsica: 14 must-sees, from Bonifacio to Scandola

At the island's southern tip, Bonifacio's upper town sits on the edge of high white limestone cliffs above the sea. You enter the citadel on foot through the Genoa Gate to walk its lanes, churches and houses lined up above the drop; the King of Aragon's Stairway, cut into the cliff, runs down to the sea.

The marina, at the end of a narrow inlet, is where boat trips leave for the sea caves and the Lavezzi archipelago, in the Bouches de Bonifacio nature reserve. Sardinia can be seen on a clear day, about twelve kilometres away.

Created in 1975, Scandola Nature Reserve protects a volcanic peninsula of red porphyry between Galéria and Girolata: 919 hectares on land and 604 hectares at sea, 70 of them in a strict reserve. It is part of the property "Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve", inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983. Cliffs, sea caves and rock columns shelter species such as the osprey.

The reserve is seen from the sea, on boat trips from Calvi, Porto or Ajaccio, often with a stop in Girolata. According to the Corsica Regional Nature Park, the following are banned in the reserve: taking plants or animals, hiking and climbing, camping, bivouacs and fires, scuba diving, spearfishing, all recreational fishing, and flying below 1,000 metres. Anchoring is allowed only from sunrise to sunset, and never in the strict reserve (from Gargalu island to Punta Palazzu).

Ajaccio, on the west coast, is Napoleon Bonaparte's birthplace and the island's main gateway. Maison Bonaparte, where he was born in 1769, is now a national museum; he was baptised in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, a few streets away. The Palais Fesch, founded by Cardinal Fesch, the emperor's uncle, holds one of France's main collections of Italian painting.

The central market, the old-town lanes and the Tino Rossi harbour are all walkable. 12 km to the west, the Sanguinaires road follows the coast to the Pointe de la Parata; Capo di Feno beach is about twenty minutes north-west.

Between Piana and Porto, the D81 road winds for a few kilometres through the Calanques of Piana, spires and jumbles of red granite sculpted by erosion that drop sheer into the Gulf of Porto. The site is part of the property inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983, together with the Gulf of Girolata and the Scandola reserve.

Several trails start from the road, such as the Château Fort path to a headland overlooking the gulf. From the sea, boat trips from Porto run along the foot of the cliffs.

The GR20 crosses Corsica from north to south over about 180 kilometres, from Calenzana, in the Balagne, to Conca, north of Porto-Vecchio, in 16 stages. It is known as one of Europe's toughest long-distance trails: rocky sections with fixed chains, exposed ridges and steep climbs, especially in the northern half.

Hikers sleep in mountain huts or in the bivouac areas around them. You can walk just one half: the village of Vizzavona, served by the train, divides the northern GR20 from the easier southern GR20.

Above Zonza, in southern Corsica, the Bavella Needles are reddish granite peaks rising over a forest of Laricio pines. The road crosses the Col de Bavella (1,218 m), where the statue of Our Lady of the Snows stands; the GR20 runs nearby.

From the pass, the trail to the Trou de la Bombe, a natural arch pierced through the rock, is the most popular hike; other routes climb to the ridges. The canyons around, including the Purcaraccia, are descended with an instructor.

Capital of the Balagne, on the north-west coast, Calvi is overlooked by a Genoese citadel set on a rocky headland. Inside the ramparts, the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist and the cobbled lanes look over the bay; below, the marina and the church of Sainte-Marie-Majeure make up the lower town.

Calvi beach stretches for several kilometres, backed by a pine wood. Boat trips to the Scandola reserve and the village of Girolata leave from the harbour, and the Capu di a Veta trail (703 m) gives a view over the whole bay and the mountains.

In the centre of the island, at about 400 metres above sea level, Corte was the capital of Pasquale Paoli's independent Corsica in the 18th century. Its citadel, built from 1419 on a rocky spur, now houses the Museum of Corsica. The Pasquale Paoli University, founded by Paoli in 1765 and reopened in 1981, keeps the town lively.

Corte is the gateway to the Restonica valley and its high lakes, and a stop on the train line between Ajaccio and Bastia. Since storms Ciaran and Domingos in November 2023, the valley has been reached mainly by a shuttle from the station.

The south has the best-known white-sand beaches: Palombaggia and Santa Giulia near Porto-Vecchio, the shell-shaped Rondinara between Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio, and Roccapina, overlooked by a lion-shaped rock, on the road to Sartène. In the north, Saleccia and Lotu line the Agriates desert: you get there by boat from Saint-Florent, by a long dirt track or on foot along the coastal path.

Near Ajaccio, Capo di Feno is a windswept sandy beach popular with surfers. On Cap Corse, the dark-pebble beach at Nonza is reached by a stairway from the village.

The Cap Corse peninsula stretches for about forty kilometres north of Bastia. The D80 road loops around it, past fishing villages, Genoese towers and small harbours. On the east side, Erbalunga and its port; at the tip, Centuri, known for spiny lobster; on the west side, Nonza, perched on a rock above a beach of dark pebbles that come from the spoil of the former Canari asbestos mine.

The customs officers' path links Macinaggio to Centuri along the north coast, and the wine estates produce Muscat du Cap Corse. Seneca's Tower, above Luri, is reached on foot from the Col de Santa Lucia.

At the entrance to the Gulf of Ajaccio, the Sanguinaires archipelago lines up four islets of dark rock that turn red at sunset. The largest, Mezu Mare, has a lighthouse and an old Genoese tower; some boat trips land there.

On the mainland, the Sanguinaires road leads to the Pointe de la Parata, topped by a Genoese tower: a path loops around it and gives the widest view of the archipelago. Boats leave from Ajaccio harbour and Porticcio.

At the head of the Restonica valley, above Corte, Lake Melo (1,711 m) and Lake Capitello (1,930 m) are the island's most visited mountain lakes. The trail first climbs to Melo over rock slabs, some fitted with chains, then continues to Capitello, framed by sheer walls.

The storms of November 2023 damaged the valley. From 1 May to 30 September 2026, the C13 shuttle links Corte station with the A Frasseta terminus, with several stops in the valley. Further north, Lake Nino, in the Niolu, is reached by other trails.

In the Balagne, Sant'Antonino, listed among the Most Beautiful Villages of France, coils around a hilltop above the plain of L'Île-Rousse. To the west, Piana, also listed, overlooks the calanques; higher up, Evisa sits above the Spelunca gorge, which you walk down towards Ota. Cargèse, on the coast, has two churches facing each other, one Latin, the other of the Greek rite, a legacy of the Greek community that settled in Corsica in the late 17th century.

In the Alta Rocca and Taravo, Zicavo is a starting point for the Coscione plateau. These villages are linked by narrow roads through chestnut woods and maquis.

In the hills behind Porto-Vecchio, the Cavu river comes down the mountain in a chain of clear pools carved into the granite, between smooth boulders and pines. You swim in water cooler than the sea, and paths follow the stream.

The pools nearest the car parks are the busiest; walking upstream you find quieter ones. The site lies above Sainte-Lucie-de-Porto-Vecchio, on the road towards Zonza.