Corsica Pictures
Bonifacio

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Bonifacio haute ville, in other words high town but meaning the walls and the buildings inside them; originally the town had just one entrance [top right].

Bonifacio hangs onto the southwest tip of Corsica, an isolated and captivating port that beats every other Corsican town into a dull pulp.
Split into two parts, the haute ville is a short though steep walk up from the ville basse, but worth it as inside the walls is the place to eat, drink and be merry. Ville basse restaurants take advantage of visitor sloth to over-price and under-provide but a five minute hike elevates you to a different world. It's a pity you can't stay there.

Bonifacio's port is as protected from the climatic elements as it was from maritime invaders; it's now a modern yachty magnet, but short of space.

Bonifacio's hotels cannot penetrate the haute ville so they cluster mostly along the narrow ville basse [on the right in the picture]. Town planners have devised a cunning plan to f*** with wheeled tourists whereby - without the slightest attempt at signposting - traffic to hotels has to drive up and past the haute ville, down to the port, U-turn along a quay and squeeze into a tight one-way street that runs through the ville basse and past the hotels.
Cars then stop to unload baggage, blocking others from travelling along the road, then drive off to the large public park at the end of town. It's not much of a walk to get there and is a reasonably sensible system but it would be nice if someone was to explain the system to tired and bemused new arrivals.

If you visit Bonifacio on a day trip, park in the first car park on the left, but you have to circle around it anticlockwise to get to the entrance. And if you wish to stay in the town in high season book ahead. Well ahead! And be prepared to pay for the pleasure!

The view along the chalk cliff coast from the haute ville, including Grain de Sable island.

One of Bonifacio's most popular tourist offerings is boat excursions lasting an hour or two to see the old town teetering on the edge of the high cliffs and visit a few islets in the area.

Bonifacio's old town is labyrinth of ancient and dilapidated Genoese-style apartment blocks.

Other activities available during the summer season [at least July to the end of October] in Bonifacio include: sailing, windsurfing, kite surfing, sea kayaking, canoeing, power boating and all sorts of boat excursions.

Friendly, lively, unpretentious and tasty, Stella d'Oro bar/restaurant in the haute ville. Next, photos of Corsica's east coast to Corte.

Beaches in the immediate vicinity are distinctly lacking though a half an hour by car is sufficient to reach luscious Rondinara beach a few kilometres to the north.

By the way, Bugbog unavoidably visited Corsica in October/November, the rainy month, so these photos do the place less than justice, but we hope you get the picture nevertheless.

E-mail from Mandy:

Then there was a boat trip to the Dragon Grotto in Bonifacio – wildly and spectacularly beautiful and also gut-churningly dodgy as the captain shoe-horned the boat into a cave with a very large swell washing serious waves into the cave behind us. It took all his skill to turn the boat, then he was unable to get us out as the waves surged in through the entrance. After some time, (which allowed me to check and establish that there was absolutely no safety equipment on the boat – not a life jacket or ring in sight), there was a lull in the waves, and he dashed out, thumping the boat hard against the side of the cave. Once out of the cave he did check that the boat wasn’t holed and letting in water and so we continued on our way...

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