For our week spent near Ajaccio in Corsica, we chose a villa in the small town of Porticcio, which is about 15-minutes’ drive from Ajaccio centre itself.
Porticcio is a popular holiday destination with numerous hotels, ‘residences’ – and a brilliant beach which is lined with a load of restaurants and bars with all their seating directly on the beachfront.
Porticcio has the feel of a typical tourist destination – with its busy ‘strip’ of restaurants, bars, a couple of clubs, a street market and range of tourist souvenir shops. Yet it still has a relaxed, laid-back feel – much less busy than the centre of Ajaccio town itself, the twinkling lights and massive cruise ships in the port of which are visible across the bay from Porticcio.
There are plenty of activities available from the Porticcio beach-front area, with a tourist information centre and people on the street selling tickets for various boat trips, water sports and other activities in the nearby mountains.
The beach itself is huge – plenty of space to spread out – and really comes in to its own in the evenings around sunset.
As the restaurants begin to fill up, the sun sets over the mountains opposite creating bright pink skies behind the backdrop of the mountains and the twinkling lights of Ajaccio in front. It’s a beautiful sight to sit and watch over your evening meal and drinks, while the children play on the sand of the beach in front of the restaurants.
After our evening meals at the Porticcio beach-front restaurants we’d walk over the sand to where all the beach loungers lay empty – and lay down and watch the sunset, listening to the quiet lapping of the waves and watching the distant lights of Ajaccio twinkling across the other side of the bay.
If you’re staying in the Ajaccio region, we’d recommend Porticcio instead of the main centre of Ajaccio as it’s less busy, the space on the beaches nearby is far more ample – and Ajaccio itself is only a short drive or bus ride away.
