From the beach at Tamaricciu to the Lion at Roccapina

A little look at the fabled beaches just south of Porto-Vecchio (Palombaggia, Tamaricciu and Ascigghju), deserted now but apparently heaving in high season. Well worth the detour if you're going on down to Bonifacio. Lovely little coves with long stretches of white sand and turquoise shallow water.

The Citadel

A reasonably short and again spectacular drive down to Bonifacio, the nearest ferry port to Sardinia and what an impressive citadel. Its perched high up above the marina where you need to park and it's a steep climb but what magnificent views of the harbour and bay when you get there. The citadel was built on a large high spur of land that juts out to sea, so on the one side below you you have the marina and on the other breathtaking views of the bay and the waves pounding the rocks below.

Windeaten cliffs

It was beautifully sunny but the wind was so ferocious that we had to abandon our walk to the very end of the promontory and when we got back to the car both the windscreen and our glasses were covered in salt! You'll be pleased to hear that we cleaned both before setting off again for Ajaccio.

Bonifacio Harbour

The N198 passes high over the mountains again from Bonifaccio heading west before winding North. At the furthest point west you look down into the Cala di Roccapina and across to the rock formation of the Lion de Roccapina Rocher.

Lion Rock, Roccapina

It does look like a Lion doesn't it! We stopped off at Sartene north of here for a quick drink and then headed on up to Ajaccio. Unfortunately we arrived during the evening rush hour but managed to park up by the ferry terminal to call the hotel we'd spotted in both the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet.

Ajaccio

Luckily they had a room (the evening ferry had been cancelled due to rough seas and they were filling fast) and we parked up and headed out for what we think was our most authentic Corsican meal to date.

From the beach at Tamaricciu to the Lion at Roccapina

Ajaccio, France