Visit Porto-Vecchio, Corsica - a travel guide

On the south-eastern coast of Corsica, Porto-Vecchio is a very popular place with tourists. It is a town built on salt marshes and salt continues to play an important role in the town. It was the marshes that prevented earlier development of the town, because they were infested with mosquitoes and malaria until well into the 20th century. If you visit in September you can still witness the annual salt harvest from the Porte Gènoise.

More recently the marshes have been drained and improved communication links have enabled the town to develop its role as seaside resort - a role to which it is admirably suited, given its location overlooking a lovely harbour.

After a period of prosperity due to cork production, the town has in recent decades given way to tourism.

It is largely the renowned beaches and coastline to the south of the town that are the big attraction, but the town itself also merits investigation. The marina area is very attractive, with the expected cafes and restaurants overlooking the harbour, and the old town next to the Place de la Republique has some lovely ancient buildings pressing in on narrow streets.

The outskirts of the town are rather overdeveloped due in part to the rapid growth that Porto Vecchio has seen during the last 25 years.

During the summer evenings especially, the streets of the old town come to life with music and entertainment - for the large part it is Italians that pass their holidays here.

Porto-Vecchio makes a fine base for exploring this part of Corsica. There are several very attractive beaches around the town, mostly to the south of the town including Palombaggia, a beach internationally renowned for its beauty. Then the mountainous landscape behind Porto-Vecchio also has a lot of rewarding and interesting scenery to explore, with craggy mountain tops looming from behind the parasol pines from across small mountainous lakes.

There are several prehistoric sites inland from the town including those at Tappa and Sotta.

photo by ben7va subject to copyright