Like many visitors my first sight of Corsica was from the Nice to Calvi Ferry as the vessel approached in the early morning the Island seemed to rise from the mist covering the azure blue Mediterranean and the stunning port of Calvi soon emerged. Unsurprisingly Corsica was known to the Ancient Greeks as Kalliste or ‘Most Beautiful’ and still today the French call it the l’Île de Beauté or the Beautiful Island.

So if you only visit one Mediterranean island this is the one - it has everything you could want from abundant sunshine to beaches with crystal clear water and from craggy mountains with remote villages to small friendly cities with top hotels and good restaurants.

Corsica has only been part of France since the late 19th century and before that it was occupied by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Saracens and finally Genoese who sold it to the French in 1769.