Usually, my summer is filled with weddings and I absolutely adore my job. But sometimes, it’s necessary to just take a moment to yourself. That’s why we decided to take one week (two weekends!) off in July so that I could recharge my batteries in the middle of the busiest time of the year. And boy, was it worth it.
We flew to Corsica in the mediterranean and had no idea on what to do there. All we knew was that the island wasn’t too big so it might be possible to go around in a week and we knew we wanted to hike. So I picked a hike for us, the “Sentier des Douaniers” in Cap Corse and after touching down and getting our rental car we were off to Macinaggio for the hike. It was scorching 36 degrees and the whole path had absolutely no shade but we still enjoyed it. The landscapes are beautiful and hiking along the sea just has something magical, especially coming from a landlocked country. I am a big lover of the sea and was mesmerized by the sparkling of the water, the crisp colors and the incredible shorelines Cap Corse has to offer. It took us almost four hours because of a silly detour where we slid along dunes instead of taking the official path but at the end, we arrived at the beach in Barcaggio - sweaty and thirsty. And saw some special guests at the beach. Scroll down to see what stopped us in our tracks at that beach :D
The next days were just as eventful: We decided to try to get around the island and drove to the beautiful city of Saint-Florent next, ate some of the amazing ice cream Corsica has to offer before trying to do another hike - unsuccessfully. The desert des Agriates is not good for a short hike as there’s hardly no hiking paths around. So we turned around and enjoyed a quiet evening. After that, we visited Ile Rousse, Calvi, Ajaccio and Porto Oto where we simply enjoyed ourselves sightseeing, eating and strolling around the cute old towns. I was particularly impressed by the Calanques de Piana, red cliffs that almost look otherworldly. Unfortunately, I did not take many photos there.
For the last stretch of our trip we went to the mesmerizing town of Bonifacio, probably my favorite in all of Corsica, and then to the mountainous area around Corte where we bathed in clear mountain streams, hiked in thankfully shadier places and enjoyed the last days before going back to Bastia and flying home.
Corsica is quite expensive as a traveller, but it is absolutely worth it. Without a rental car it might be difficult to get around and I highly recommend just driving some of the breathtaking roads along the coast and through the mountains. It was a beautiful trip, not relaxing, but definitely stunning and worth it. We’d be back in a heartbeat.
