Corsica

A second visit to the "Île de Beauté" (Island of Beauty), this time focused on Southern Corsica — the wildest and most dramatic part of the island, where granite mountains plunge into the Mediterranean creating breathtaking scenery.

Departing from Bastia, the main port in the north of the island. Bastia is a genuine city, far from tourist glamour: the Old Port with fishing boats, the Church of St John the Baptist dominating the square, the narrow alleys of the Genoese Citadel and the fish restaurants where you dine with a sea view. A perfect starting point for heading south.

The descent along the eastern coast passes through constantly changing landscapes, from the cultivated plains of the Plaine Orientale to the first rocky inlets. Porto-Vecchio, the "salt city" for its ancient salt pans, is the heart of southern Corsican beach life. The beaches of Palombaggia and Santa Giulia are among the most photographed on the island — fine white sand, turquoise water and maritime pines reaching down to the shore. Crystal-clear waters worthy of the Caribbean, just a few ferry hours from Italy.

But Bonifacio is the true jewel. The town is perched on white limestone cliffs sheer above the sea, with houses that seem to grow from the rock itself. The Bouches de Bonifacio, the strait separating Corsica from Sardinia, can be admired from the top of the bastion — on clear days the Sardinian coast is plainly visible. The King of Aragon's Staircase, carved into the cliff face, descends toward the sea in 187 vertiginous steps. At sunset, the golden light on the white cliffs creates one of the most dramatic settings in the Mediterranean.

Inland: Sartène, which Prosper Mérimée called "the most Corsican town in Corsica" — a grey granite village with a stern, fascinating atmosphere where Corsican traditions still run deep. The Catenacciu procession during Holy Week is one of Corsica's oldest and most mysterious events.

The most spectacular excursion of the trip is to the Purcaraccia Waterfalls, in the heart of the Bavella massif. A walk along the stream through natural pools of crystal-clear water among pink granite boulders, up to the main falls where water cascades over time-smoothed rocks. A paradise for summer canyoning, but enjoyable even with a simple hike. The Aiguilles de Bavella, the granite spires dominating the landscape, are visible throughout the descent — scenery reminiscent of the Dolomites, but in a Mediterranean version.

Southern Corsica is the island in its purest form: wild, proud, spectacular. A place where the maquis scrubland is fragrant with myrtle and helichrysum, the sea is an unreal shade of blue, and every evening the sunset paints the mountains purple.