Guide Books/Internet Resources

Can anybody recommend guide books or internet resources with information on Corsica? I%26#39;m planning my honeymoon for next May 2009.

Also, it seems to me like we could do Switzerland and Corsica in the same trip if we travel through France or Italy. Am I correct? We will have at least 2 weeks in Europe. My fiance wants to go to Switzerland and I%26#39;m looking for a beautiful place off the beaten path.

Thank you.

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I think you could manage to include both Corsica and Switzerland in your itinerary.

From Corsica, I would investigate either catching the ferry or flying to Nice, then hiring a car and driving up to Switzerland through Italy (although there may be some very expensive one-way hire fees for the car, which could be off-putting - alternatively, you could get a cheap flight to Basel or Geneva and hire a car for use only in Switzerland, but I%26#39;m not sure how much of a difference this would make financially). You could also go from Corsica to Marseille or Toulon, hire a car and head for Switzerland through France (same issue as above, though). With a car, it%26#39;s a difficult choice because the alpine areas of France and Italy are both spectacular! And there are lots of smaller roads and little villages that you can lose yourself in along the way.

You could also catch the ferry to Genova and then the train up to Switzerland via Milan - go to Luzern, for example, then hire a car or take advantage of the Swiss Rail network to get around. Then you could fly back to the US from Zurich.

As far as guidebooks go, I%26#39;ve used the Rough Guide series in the past and thought they were good - I find that they have a little bit more detail than the Lonely Planet guides, which suits me. My old Rough Guide to France (a bit out of date now) devoted 54 pages to Corsica, which is pretty fair going! For internet resources, I%26#39;d just read TripAdvisor and Google %26quot;Corsica%26quot; and see what comes up!

Hope this helps a bit. Happy planning (and honeymoon!).

halwimsey

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Rough Guides do a book on Corsica alonme, so do not rely on the France one. The Corsica guide stretches to about 400 pages, and is probably the best of the Corsica guides.

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%26lt;My fiance wants to go to Switzerland and I%26#39;m looking for a beautiful place off the beaten path.%26gt;

Check out Zermatt.

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Yes, I agree that the Rough Guide to Corsica is probably the most comprehensive in the English language. Make sure you buy the latest edition.

There is Michelin green guide in French to Corsica (obviously referred to as %26#39;Corse%26#39; in the guide). also worth getting if you can read French.

For general cultural background (in English) you have a lot to choose from. Dorothy Carrington%26#39;s books are often referred to in revered terms, although personally I find them a little too self-important. (Undoubtedly classics though). For a lighter but more atmospheric introduction to Corsica (at least the Corsica of 40 years ago) try The Rose Cafe by John Mitchell.

Regards,

Robin.

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Thank you all for your fast responses. We%26#39;ll see how my fiance responds to the idea of Corsica.

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For most destinations I usually prefer Lonely Planet over Rough Guide but for Corsica the Rough Guide definitely has more detail.

If you are doing any hiking, of the many I own, these 3 are my favourites:

Trekking in Corsica : David Abram : Trailblazer : 1873756631 ,

GR20 Corsica : Paddy Dillon : Cicerone : 1852844779 ,

Corsica Walking guide : Klaus Wolfsperger : Rother : 3763348190

For the casual hiking tourist , the Rother book is by far the more useful-truely pocket size as well.

I note that Gillian Price has written a %26#39;Walking in Corsica%26#39; guide published through Cicerone; I can%26#39;t comment as I haven%26#39;t read it, however having bought several of the authors Dolomites %26amp; Gran Paradiso guides I would expect this to be of the highest quality too.

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To be honest I think you%26#39;d be daft to do Switzerland and Corsica in 2 weeks as a honeymoon. Not that it isn%26#39;t possible, although fans of both places will get upset because a week isn%26#39;t really enough for anything more than a surface impression.

No, the thing is, why bother? To get from Switzerland to Corsica will take you a day of mixed up travelling and ferries. Why not mix Switzerland with Provence/Cote d%26#39;Azur, the German Black Forest or with Austria?

Not that I want to put you off Corsica (come back another time), but when you can went gently from Western Switzerland to Avignon and the lavender and sunflower fields of Provence, you%26#39;ll find plenty of beautiful places but with less effort and less travelling.

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