St Florent & Cap Corse

Against a backdrop of misty lavender mountains, Saint Florent basks at the neck of the Cap Corse looking out on its azure gulf. More French in atmosphere than the harbours of the south, in Saint Florent, the locals drink pastis and play pétanque. Water-sports are a draw on the sandy beach a mile outside town, while the fabulous isolated strands of Saleccia and Loto are reachable on foot, by boat, four-wheel drive or motorbike.

The nearby vine-covered hills of Nebbiu and Patrimonio produce excellent wines, which can be tasted and bought at growers’ mansions, and the finest white wines on the island come from Cap Corse. This giant’s thumb of land has a string of small ports on a coastline of cliffs, coves, sweeps of pebble and sand, while mountains are covered with woods and maquis. One of the Cap’s gems is Nonza. Flower-decked and slate-roofed, the village seems to have sprouted from its craggy foundations, and another jewel is the artists’ haunt of Erbalunga, which clings to a jagged promontory, its fishing boats bobbing at anchor.