Porto travel guide

Visit Porto (Corsica, France)

Porto is a village to the west of Corsica, overlooking the Golfe de Porto. It is true that Porto is in quite a remote location but it is in the centre of some of the most scenic highlights in Corsica so many visitors come here.

Exploring Porto

Porto village extends over quite a large distance, but is largely a long row of hotels and apartments that have been built along the river valley. Happily these are quite small and create the impression of a village with a holiday atmosphere rather than of a seaside resort. Behind the hotels the pretty river valley and the looming tall mountains create a spectacular backdrop.

There is a small group of older houses at each end of the main road: it is the end near the port which is of interest to visitors. In this part of Porto there is a very small area that was the historic village and now contains shops and restaurants, as well as several ticket offices where you can book your boat trips along the coast.

As far as I could see, all the companies charged the same price for the same trips and there are never last-minute reductions if places remain available - so there is not a lot of point in shopping around!

At the end of the headland there is an ancient tower. There is a small charge to pay to enter the tower but the the chance to walk out along the headland and the views from the top of the tower, both out to sea and back across the village, justify the expense.

After exploring this part of the village, take a stroll through the bustling waterfront in Porto. This is where tourists set off on one of the many boat trips available and is always bustling with activity. The other side of the port there is a sandy beach. Not perhaps the best beach in Corsica but very convenient for visitors.

Attractions nearby

It is the scenery and activities in the surrounding mountains that are of course the main attraction in Porto. In particular these include:

driving and hiking through the Calanques de Piana, with dramatic rocks providing some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in the Mediterranean
boat trips along the coast to see the calanques from a different perspective and to see the Scandola Nature reserve
visiting the villages of Ota and Evisa, and walking through the Spelunca gorges, to the east of Porto
visiting Piana, listed among the most beautiful villages in France and with access to two very lovely small beaches: see Piana guide
driving along the coast to the north-west of Porto (towards Calvi) for more beautiful coastal scenery

These are in what I would think is their order of popularity with visitors but I highly recommend you allow time to do all these things!

You can find more travel ideas in the Corsica guide.