Cap Corse is a thin strip of land in Northern Corsica called 'the finger' stretching towards the Italian region of Liguria. It is possibly the wildest and less spoilt part of the
island and offers plenty of untouched beaches, beautiful hiking paths, ancient
Genoese towers, fresh seafood and a worldwide acclaimed
muscat!
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| Mediterranean maquis, Corsica |
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| Genoese tower, Corsica |
Starting your way up from the dynamic port town of
Bastia, on the eastern side, the
road is one lane per direction making the trip a bit slow at times, but still extremely
enjoyable thanks to the amazing views of the sea on your right. Once you arrive in Centuri, at
the top of the finger on the western side, things get a bit more complicated as the
road's conditions are extremely poor and nothing has changed at all since we visited 3 years ago; it still looks like a work in progress without having made
any progress!
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| Cap Corse, Corsica |
This time we spent most of our holiday on the eastern part
of the finger making base in Macinaggio, a port village on the outskirts
of the Site Naturel de la Capandula.
Before getting there, though, we stopped on the various beaches along the road; Marine de Pietracorbara, Marine de Sisco and Marine de Santa Severa for a few refreshing baths.
Even being the last days of September the water temperature was still warm and, actually, this is probably the perfect time of the year to enjoy these
places completely as the high season is finished and the atmosphere is much
more relaxed! We also stopped to taste a bit of Muscat at the
Domaine Pieretti which was delicious as we were expecting!
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| Macinaggio, Corsica |
Macinaggio in itself is not that exciting: a few hotels and restaurants and a couple of ticky-tacky souvenir shops, but it's the perfect base to discover the surrounding area and the other little villages: Rogliano, Barcaggio, Centuri, Pino and Luri.
Rogliano is divided in various hamlets on the hills inland: lovely stone
houses, green rich vegetation all around and the silent view of the sea are going to welcome you there.
Barcaggio is at the real northernmost finger tip, a mid stop on the spectacular Sentier du Douanier and
just in front of Ile de la Giraglia. The village is very quiet (at least in September) and being at the border with the Site Naturel de la Capandula, it
is not unusual to see wild cows resting and bathing. Getting there requires a bit of patience as the road from Ersa is narrow and windy, but you will rewarded by the splendid sight of unspoiled nature.
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| Walking trail, Corsica |
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| Cap Corse, Corsica |
Once on the western side of the Cap, the first town you will encounter is Centuri. Its port is a tiny fishing village that every summer turns in a bustling spot with plenty of crowded fish restaurants offering great
seafood.
If you keep going on the main road heading south
towards Pino make sure you don't stop by the bar/fuel station unless you like extremely rude and slow service!
From Pino, getting inland towards Luri, the landscape is a succession of beautiful vineyards (at the time of our visit they were just ready to be harvested). The town is not that much different from the others in the Cap-Corse; characterized by a quiet and relaxing atmosphere. Just outside the town it is worth visiting the Tour of Seneca, where the ancient Roman philosopher was confined with a charge of adultery. The short climb to get there is worth the great view of the sea on both sides.
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| Cap Corse, path to the Tour of Seneca, Corsica |
Worth mentioning as well that Luri is the place where the biggest
wine festival in Corsica takes place, though, unfortunately, we got there just a couple of months late, as the fair is in July!
We ended our circular tour by heading back to Santa Severa, Luri's marina, on the eastern shores of the Cap, just on time for the last bath of this summer.
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| Beach Cap Corse, Corsica |
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