The flight to Figari in the south was from Gatwick at 6.40am and took just over two hours. I hired a car form the airport and using my own Michelin map and some very poor directions from the travel company, we eventually found our way to the apartment. Overlooking a beautiful bay it was an ideal location, although we were extremely thankful to have a car as there were no shops or cafes within walking distance. At the apartment we had the use of two swimming pools and a tennis court with a small pebbly beach 200metres away.

However, Corsica has many beautiful beaches one of which, Palombaggia, was very close by. From this particular beach we were able to hire pedalos, sun loungers and jet skis, if desired! There was also a delightful beach bistro, which served freshly caught fish. Another beach about 20 minutes away was at Saint Giulia; here my children, who are twins aged 10, persuaded me to go doughnutting. Personally I prefer the more sedate watersports of snorkelling from the pedalo. From this beach you could go out into the middle of the bay and dive off the granite rocks.

The Corsican cuisine has a strong Italian influence with many pizzerias, and as you would expect with a Mediterranean island there is an abundance of fresh seafood, but there was also the traditional steak frites available. We either ate out in the evening or lunchtime and with so many restaurants available it was fairly easy to cater for all tastes. Most shops would close for a good few hours at lunchtime and the supermarkets were not open on Sundays.

Corsica is a very beautiful island and I would have liked to do more touring, especially up into the mountains - but that will have to be for another time. We had a successful trip down to Bonifacio, which is about half an hour drive from Porto Vecchio. Bonifacio is on the southern most tip of Corsica and on a fine day you can see Sardinia. We took a boat trip around the harbour investigating some interesting limestone caves on the way. We also visited the old town perched high up on the clifftops. However, I would not recommend walking up from the harbour on a hot day especially if you have small children. The visit was rounded off with a wonderful meal in a restaurant along the quayside overlooking the smart boats moored there. During this meal our dreams definitely overtook the size of my pocket!

Our holiday in Corsica was a definite success and we would like to revisit one day. It is worth bearing in mind that our holiday was the last week in July and the first week in August and certainly the second week was much more crowded with all the French and Italians on their annual holidays The roads and beaches were significantly more crowded, but perhaps not quite a bad as the Cote D'Azure!

Websites to Visit

Travel websites:
Corsican Places - the Specialists
Simply Corsica

Information websites
Corsica-guide.com
Visit Corsica