Corsica was not somewhere that I ever thought I would visit, knowing very little about it, save for the fact that the Tour de France passed through the island in 2013 and it looked very hilly! However my boyfriend suggested Corsica for our summer holiday and a quick google showed that the island was beautiful.
The first challenge was how to get there, as we live in the North of England, direct flights to Corsica would involve a trip to London, ramping up the cost significantly. Instead we decided to fly to Pisa and get the ferry across to Bastia from Livorno. This is a great option if you have time to spare as it was a lot cheaper and you can experience some of Italy too. We spent two nights in Livorno, a true taste of Italy.
We stayed in an Airbnb private room with a balcony in Livorno and our host Flora was so lovely, she had prepared cake and juice for our arrival and made us feel very much at home.
On the first night we went for an early even passa ghatto in true Italian style, then after a quick shower headed out for some Italian fish and chips, traditional little van where they fry up some fritto misto and you can get a glass of wine for under 10 euros. I love Italy!
The next day we were treated to a breakfast at Flora’s apartment before we headed out to explore Livorno. We visited the market, old port before the heavens opened and it started to rain. We headed back for a siesta and chill out before we went for an evening run along the seafront.
The run was tough as it was very muggy but it was a great way to see some more of Livorno. After the run it started to rain again so we took shelter in an ice cream parlour, which I wish we had photos of as it was incredible! The flavours were all natural, I got pistachio which is my absolute favourite and Nutella frozen yogurt (to placate my major sweet tooth!).
That evening we went for dinner in a traditional trattoria recommended by our host Flora and were not disappointed, we were brought delicious Primi spaghetti followed by more seafood Secondi. There was also copious amounts of house vino so we stumbled back to our beds full of the joys of Italy!
The next morning we had an early start to catch the 8am ferry from Livorno to Bastia in Corsica .
discopony 