Corsica - Your Perfect Holiday Island in the Med

Corsica is known as the Mediterranean's mountain island. Corsica breaks through the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea just southeast of mainland France. The island enjoys a typical Mediterranean climate, with summers being hot and dry, and remaining mild even in winter, at least at coastal level. The mountains are a little cooler all year round.

Corsica is 8,722 square kilometres in area, and is the third largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily and Sardinia. It measures 183 kilometres in length and 85 km in width. Corsica is closer to the Italian continent than the French continent (170 km) only 12 km separate it from Sardinia. Corsica's geography is most becoming with a large variety of landscapes, made up of over 20 mountains, numerous rivers, sandy white beaches, and rocky cliffs.

Corsica is almost the perfect holiday destination, basking in the Mediterranean sunshine off the south of France. With its perfect beaches, magnificent mountain scenery, fine towns and villages that simply belong in the surrounding landscape, and of course the climate. The hundreds of beaches and 1,000 kilometre of coastline form the basis of many holidays on the island, with swimming, snorkeling, wind-surfing, scuba diving and sunbathing being the most popular activities.

The wealth of tourist interest in this island is indisputably its natural heritage. Corsica has literally hundreds of beaches, probably the best in France and several among the best to be found anywhere.

Corsica is nothing like the image we have of a Mediterranean island. In fact, no other Mediterranean island has Corsica's lushness. With its conservation areas and nature reserves which have been given national recognition or registered on Unesco's world heritage list, its International marine reserve, and its Regional Nature Reserve which stretches from one side to the other of its mountain range, from Calvi to Porto-Vecchio, Corsica remains for the most part a protected island.

Corsica has three distinct geographical regions, Western Corsica, Eastern Corsica and Cap Corsica. The island has a long history, rich and complicated, influenced by both the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Corsica was also the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Part of France, yet highly influenced by Italy, its inhabitants are Corsicans first. The Corsican language is spoken by more than 70% of the population despite the fact that it was suppressed by the III Republic, and almost wiped out by television and the modern world. Corsican is a rich language, and has been taught in schools and at the university since the government granted it in 1974 the statute of a regional language. The accent is difficult to define, derived from medieval Tuscan crossed with Pisan and Genoese, the language spoken today is drawn on French.

The island has a lively culture, which is the product of centuries of customs maintained by the island's soul, and is richly expressed in its voices, music and crafts. The village fair, a showcase for the Corsican way of life, with its winemaking tradition going back to antiquity and its gastronomy full of local flavors, is just one way of discovering and learning to love Corsica. At night when you hear the "paghjelle", the traditional three-voice style of singing, it is the proud, fiery Corsican soul that you are hearing in song.

Gastronomy plays a central role in Corsican life. You can dine on , aTry the delicious lean ham from half-wild pigs fed on acorns and chestnuts called Prisuttu, or Figatelli which is a liver sausage. Chestnut pulenta will go nicely with your wild boar stew. Corsica is famous for its cheeses, such as the goat cheese and the broccoli, made from ewe's milk. At the seaside, you can enjoy lobster, fish and aziminu, the Corsican bouillabaisse.

Eight AOC wines give you a choice of rich, flavorful vintages. Feel free to stop in at the wine cellars. The Corsican wine producers will be delighted to let you taste their products. "A saluta!" The Corsican towns are very attractive (and very popular with visitors), as are walks in the mountains, and other outdoor activities based around both the mountains and the coast. The lively city of Ajaccio pays tribute to one of its most famous citizens, Napoleon Bonaparte, at the National Museum of the Bonaparte House. Nearby, Napoleon's uncle, Fesch, built the Fesch Museum, made up of many Italian artists' paintings. Dazzlingly white, Bonifacio is a fortified town built atop limestone cliffs. From Bonifacio, scuba divers can take a ferry to Iles Levezzi to view its fantastic reefs, and the transportation hub of Bastia is a good base for scouting out Cap Corse, a peninsula with varied terrain and an abundance of historic interest such as dilapidated chapels and towers.

The Natural Regional Park of Corse (Corsica) has been set-up to protect part of the rare and unusual habitats found on the island. The park includes some of the highest mountain peaks on the island, and much beauty. The Scandola Nature reserve is also stunning, but only accessible by boat.

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