Cote d'Azur / Corsica / Italy - Recommendations please!

[ricsearle]

Cote d\'Azur / Corsica / Italy - Recommendations please!

Hi,

I'm off to the south of France for a fortnight tomorrow. We're chartering from Bormes-les-Mimosas, and as well as the usual Riviera ports, we intend to go across to Corsica, and the Tuscan archipegalo.

There will be 14 of us (2 boats), average age of mid-twenties...

Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm after anything from suggested islands/ports/anchorages to restaurants/shops/attractions etc. Anything we should definitely _not_ do?

Thanks,

Ric

 

[tcm]

Re: Cote d\'Azur / Corsica / Italy - Recommendations please!

blimey, a good old whack.

Don't bother with ajaccio unles napoleon nut and even then it's just a house in a big city.

Don't bother with much on the italian coast except port Fino and even then...

Don't expect too much of corsica ashore - it's a poor mans french riviera.

Perhaps try and do a bit of the corsican coast west of calvi - there's a little village begins er G bout forty miles on W coast, nice anchorage. But not exactly a "must"

Do think carefully if dodgy forecast - the wind is flippin strong and menacing so f7 can be much less easy to handle than in uk with bigger fetch

I would make sure i went to Calvi, St Florent on corsica, and Nice, Antibes, ste Maxime, St tropez on fr coast.

If the weather out east is iffy, i'd go to Marseilles, fab city, and the calanques. In fact, i'd go there anyway, much better. oops!

 

[whisper]

Re: Cote d\'Azur / Corsica / Italy - Recommendations please!

Yup. St Florent is very nice. Bastia - big city feel, sort of tatty, lots of atmosphere both good and bad, especially around the Vieux Port - beware of N'lies in here.
Of the Tuscan Islands, definitely visit Capraia and wander up to former gaol in the village above the harbour - eerie. On Elba itself Marina de Campo and Porto Azzuro on S. coast are nice. Marciana Marina on the N.coast is allegedly nice as is the trip on the cable car up the adjacent mountain. Portoferriao is super - bustling, lots of restaurants, entertaining - definitely worth exploring. Don't bother with Napoleon's Country Villa out in the sticks. Go only to the one in the town itself - it's 5-55 mins walk from the harbour, depending on how many pit stops you have on the way /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Food on Elba (and people) generally much nicer than on Corsica IMHO.
Have a great time. Imray's pilots for the areas are very good but you will need two of them unfortunately.