The Rough Guide to Corsica, 3rd Edition (Rough Guides)

Around one and a half million people visit Corsica each year, drawn by a climate that's mild even in winter and by some of the most astonishingly diverse landscapes in all of Europe. Nowhere in the Mediterranean has beaches finer than Corsica's perfect half- moon bays of white sand and transparent water, or seascapes more inspiring than the mighty granite cliffs of Corsica's west coast. Inland, crystalline rivers cascade from the island's central peaks, rushing through dense forests of colossal pines that have been untouched for centuries. In the north of the island, exquisite Romanesque churches overlook olive groves and ranks of vines, while to the south prehistoric statues lurk on stark plains or amid green valleys cloaked in aromatic maquis shrubs.

Even though the annual influx of tourists now exceeds Corsica's population sixfold, tourism hasn't spoilt the island. There are a few resorts, but overdevelopment is rare and high-rise blocks nonexistent, thanks largely to local resistance – sometimes violent – to the approaches of foreign speculators. Although they are obliged to import practically every consumer durable from the French mainland, many Corsicans regard themselves as a people apart, and a history of repeated invasion has only strengthened their self-identity. Through the Saracen raids of the Middle Ages and the periods of Spanish, Italian and French rule, the Corsicans have tenaciously held on to their heritage, and continue to preserve their ancient culture in the face of the modern world. Unearthly choral chants sung in the native language can still be heard in some remote regions, and a belief in the supernatural remains a potent force. A continuing preoccupation with death is attested by the mausoleums that you'll see on hillsides all over the island, while the fierce sense of family pride preserves more than a vestige of the feeling which fired the notorious vendettas of the past. The code of honour that protected the island's bandits right into the present century persists in a culture that tends to regard collaboration with the police as something shameful. Yet the Corsicans' reputation for hostility to foreigners is largely undeserved. They might not be immediately approachable, but a deep hospitality is easily discovered if you make the effort – especially if you admire their island.