Two fabulous resorts on the island’s south-eastern coast with distinctly different personalities.

Porto Vecchio, a port of call for international jet-setters. Bonifacio, a fortress citadel atop rugged chalk cliffs.

In Porto Vecchio old town’s tiny nucleus, layers of past civilisations may be compacted within the walls but today the central square, flanked by its church, Le Tabac and dappled café terraces, is undeniably French. Glossy shops sell designer labels and sophisticated sauces are whipped up in the kitchens of restaurants.
Around the Gulf of Porto Vecchio, arcs of soft white sand are lapped by turquoise shallows and shaded by laricio pines – bliss for small children. Palombaggia is the best known beach – busy in high season, but on others you may only have the cicadas for company.

Half-an-hour’s drive away is dramatic Bonifacio. Once the HQ of the French Foreign Legion, this garrison town on the southernmost tip of Corsica is literally the last resort – and one of Europe’s most dramatic. The giddying cliff drop to the sea explains why its walls have never been breached, and only ships in the know could find their way through to the unruffled calm of its deep-water harbour. As in Porto Vecchio, today a Côte d’Azur glamour wafts around the quayside restaurants whose speciality is fresh grilled langouste. Found 90 metres deep in the straits, it’s among the tastiest in the Mediterranean.

Up in the citadel (a zig-zagging drive or steep climb via the steps of the Montée Rastello), boutiques and buzzy cafés squeeze into the web of cobbled streets, alongside patrician houses with splendid portals. At sea level is a small beach from where you can swim among the rocky stacks and there are good sandy beaches within ten minutes’ drive. Sail, windsurf, learn to dive, ride, play tennis and golf (there’s a Robert Trent-Jones-designed course at Sperone) or picnic in the cool forest inland, below the soaring needles of the Bavella massif.

Highlights

• Lazing on the idyllic beaches of Palombaggia & Santa Giulia
• Dramatic, white cliffs of Bonifacio
• Bonifacio’s lively & charming old town in the citadel
• Walking & swimming in rock pools in the Ospedale Forest
• Mountain villages of the Alta Rocca & the Bavella peaks
• The protected Lavezzi islands and their crystal clear waters