Beautiful European island begging for British tourists to visit

A beautiful European island is so underrated that it gets relatively few British visitors – despite having stunning scenery, gorgeous food and quaint historic villages.  

Corsica has been dubbed France’s “best-kept secret” by one Brit, who has made her home on the island – that was the birthplace of Napolean. Janine Marsh has lived in the Pas-de-Calais for 20-years – and is baffled that the island isn’t more popular with her fellow Brits.

It certainly is a mystery, given even the ancient Greeks – who knew a thing or two about Mediterranean Islands – dubbed Corsica  ‘The beautiful island’.  Janine said Plato and co did this “for a reason”.

She told GB News: “It’s absolutely amazing. It’s covered in wild lemon trees and fig trees and olive trees. 

“Tiny villages cling to the mountainsides like barnacles on a whale, exceptional baroque style churches abound, fortified seaside villages and cobbled streets combined with glorious sandy beaches and crystal clear water – Corsica is a holidaymaker’s paradise.”

Still not convinced? Well, the island boasts hundreds of miles of coastline and more than 200 beaches. And it is home to some of the prettiest railways in Europe. 

If trains don’t set your pulse racing, perhaps you’d prefer a beautiful town that French tourists don’t want you to know about. Porto-Vecchio has been included in a list of the best places to travel in Europe this year – but our gallic cousins would probably rather keep it to themselves.

To be fair, the entente cordiale goes out the window as soon as you see Porto Vecchio’s sea views – and sensational Santa Giulia Beach.  And the town’s old centre – which is a maze of narrow streets – has also kept its charm. 

Elsewhere, Corsica also boasts a seaside town that looks like it’s about to fall off a cliff.  Perched on the island’s southernmost point, Bonifacio is celebrated for its breathtaking clifftop citadel, often referred to as the “City of Cliffs”.

The neighbouring island of Sardinia, which is part of Italy, is just a one-hour ferry ride away.  Perhaps this is why Corsica is fiercely independent – so much so it’s had enough of being part of Emmanuel Macron’s France.

Has that convinced you Corsica is the right place for you? We thought it might. 

If it has, rome2rio.com lists 12 different ways you can get to Corsica from the UK. These include plane, train, ferry or bus journeys.

A non-stop flights from London will take around two and half hours, with rerun flights costing from around £270 with AirFrance.  A cheaper option might be a combination of bus and ferry, which rome2rio.com says can cost as little as £100 – but this takes around 33 hours.