Welcome to the island of Beauty!
To discover Corsica through its wines, I propose five guides:
Heading north, which will guide you from Patrimonio to the tip of the Cap Corse before reaching the beautiful Bastia
The secrets of the Plaine, an essential link between the Bastia region and the banks of Porto-Vecchio
Under the southern sun, via Porto-Vecchio, Bonifacio, Figari and Sartène
A drink in Ajaccio, to enjoy the Imperial City and its surroundings
The elegance of Calvi, which will guide you throughout the Balagne
For each guide, a Google map allows you to view all the addresses listed. With a smartphone, you just have to click on an address to obtain the itinerary and the information recorded directly by the owner in Google (opening hours for example). A summary allows you to navigate quickly through the page and find the information you are looking for.
After a presentation of the region and the soil, I propose you some wineries to visit and present you the activities organized within them. The dates and times being variable, I invite you to consult regularly the page "At the moment" of the site where I will publish the information when they are sure and certain! I also invite you to contact directly the mentioned winegrowers to have information: they will all be delighted to answer you!
Finally, in My favourites, you will find craftsmen (cheese, charcuterie, olive oil, essential oils, etc.), artists, wine merchants, restaurants, some unusual accommodation, more or less known sites not to be missed, etc. A selection concocted with love! Here again, do not hesitate to contact them or to go directly to the site.
Some important information for your holiday in Corsica:
- Covid: All information on entry requirements for Corsica is updated on the website: https: //www.corse.ars.sante.fr/
- Getting around: beware of Corsican roads!!! Corsica is a mountain and the roads are therefore winding, sometimes not very wide, in some places a bit broken... Always think that you will take (on average) as many minutes to make a journey as there are kilometres: 50 minutes to make 50kms, 2h30 (minimum) to make Ajaccio-Bastia,... Take your time and let the Corsicans overtake you, it makes them happy 😉
- Public transport is unfortunately not very developed on the island. You can take the buses by asking for information on the spot (good luck) but above all the train (not expensive, magnificent landscapes to admire but not fast) which serves the stations between Bastia-Ajaccio-Calvi. Infos: https://www.train-corse.com/fr
- Budget: Corsica remains an expensive destination. The addresses indicated in this guide are, except when I have mentioned it, in the average of the prices practised in the island.
- Language: some rudiments of Corsican language to help you understand what is going on around you. First obstacle; the "ghj" and "chj" that you will find in many place names. GHJ is pronounced "god" and CHJ "tieu". If you have a basic knowledge of Italian, it should be easier to pronounce the "ch" (="k"), the "cc" (="tch") and the "u" (="ou"). Exception (it would be too simple): very common words like "Ajaccio" which is pronounced in French "Ajaxio" but which in Corsican is said "Aiacciu". Received idea: Corsicans don't pronounce the last syllables of words... even if some take this inclination, in reality it is because the penultimate syllable is accentuated that the last one is a little mutated. But it's there all the same, very discreetly. Finally, if you want to militate for regional languages, don't say "I ate broutch in Porto-Vek", but "I ate brocciu (accenting the "o") in Portivechju".