This is the beautiful European town French tourists don’t want you to know about.
Porto-Vecchio is a port town on the French island of Corsica which has been included in a list of the best places to travel in Europe this year.
The travel site described it as “the promise of an unforgettable gastronomic, cultural and visual experience”. It recommended visiting nearby vineyards, Romanesque chapels and prehistoric villages.
The port town grew around a 16th-century Genoese citadel, perched atop an outcrop of granite. Rampart restaurants offer views from this ancient vantage point.
The town’s old centre, a maze of narrow streets, has kept its charm and still has the atmosphere of the fortress town it once was.
Porto Vecchio is a lively centre for café-sitting and menu browsing. Excellent food shops are one of the attractions, from supermarkets to delis crammed with French and Corsican specialities.
Up in the old town, there is a wide range of boutiques for browsing plus lots of cafés, bars and restaurants.
It also boasts one of the most distinguished harbours in Europe, where countless yachts sit along the marina, overlooked by al fresco dining spaces and a promenade.
Nearby there are beautiful sandy beaches dubbed some of the best in France, like Santa Giulia and Palombaggia.
Porto-Vecchio, a destination the French would prefer to keep to themselves, is not yet well known to the international traveller, making it perfect for a quiet getaway.
The area has a nice average summer temperature, with highs of 29C and lows of 20C. In the winter, it has highs of 13C and lows of 7C.
Those wishing to visit Porto-Vecchio can travel to Corsica via direct flights from London and indirect flights from other UK airports. There are a number of places to stay in the area including hotels and holiday lets.
European Best Destinations made a list of the 20 best places to visit in Europe selected by travellers, which included Batumi in Georgia and Ponza Island in Italy.
