I am wondering why one Rough Guide writer was so negative about staying in St. Florent....twice he wrote to stay inI%26#39;lle Rousse instead. Though, St. Florent is on the must see list..
Do you know of any 2-3 star, or alternate place to stay in St. Florent..or nearby.?
On the Cape?
Would you look to stay way up ie) Rogliano, Macinaggio, centuri??
When I went to check dates for booking for that popular hotel in Erbalunga Castel Brando...no dates were available in July??
Help!
|||
1) www.hoteltettola.com in St Florent
I%26#39;ve stayed here and so has my daughter on another occasion, both times we enjoyed it.
2) http://www.a-stalla-sischese.com/
On the east coast. I%26#39;ve only eaten here (you have to have a gigantic appetite but it%26#39;s very good food). The rooms look comfortable and would certainly be worth a try.
|||
I don%26#39;t understand either why anyone would be negative about St. Florent. It is a dear little place. But I suppose the poor relation of other coastal towns such as Ille Rousse, Calvi, Porto Vecchio etc. As a base it is not ideal because the only way out is across mountainous roads, although not the worst Corsica has to offer by any means.
We stayed a week in Patrimonio last June and I see you are looking at Patrimonio. It is a quiet place very conveniently situated for St. Florent and Cap Corse. You should be aware that Patrimonio has a big guitar festival in the middle of July, which goes on for about a week. It%26#39;s hard to believe it but they have the likes of Joe Satriani and Eric Clapton playing there. So I should imagine the area gets very booked up around that time.
As far as accommodation is concerned, there is plenty to choose from in St. Florent, but I don%26#39;t know of anywhere outstanding.
If you were basing yourself on Cap Corse I would suggest the east side as the quality of the roads is much better. By all means visit the west side, but the thought of returning home along those roads every day would be too much for me to deal with. Having said that, south of Nonza the roads are good and not so high and twisty.
|||
Thanks to all
Irishrover....you mention the time to get back into St. Florent after each day trip....Could you give me an actual example of the time it takes...say for example...from Patrimonio into st. Florent.
Thanks
|||
We once stayed at a house called %26#39; a Torra%26#39; (the tower) between Nonza and St Florent which was ok (It was with Simply Corsica at the time and may well stll be) but you had to drive everywhere for everything. Although bread was delivered it didn%26#39;t come till 11 am so if you wanted croissants for breakfast this wasn%26#39;t much good.
The beaches in St Florent aren%26#39;t great compared with other alternatives (Calvi, Ile Rousse, Algajola, round Propriano; and the SW which I know less well) and the town itself is quite small and limited. I think this could explain the lukewarm write-up in the Rough Guide.
We drrove mainly into St Florent which was not ideal, as in August parking was difficult . However as a base for expeditions (Nonza, Patrimonio, Bastia, St Florent and beaches beyond ie Saleccia etc) it was ok. Good wine-tasting opportunities. And it was good enough to encourage us to come back to Corsica, as for Derekthered, countless times.
The whole of Cap Corse is sui generis... a bit isolated, not quite like the rest of Corsica, but worth a visit. Capicursini may well shout me down.
|||
Hello fishpicker
In answer to your question. The road from Patrimonio to St. Florent is easy, quick and completely unthreatening. It would take 7 to 10 minutes by car. You could actually walk it, if you really wanted to and enjoyed that sort of thing.
Also the trip to the village of Oletta, just above St. Florent, takes just a view minutes, part of it flat, part vertical.
The difficulties lie in getting anywhere outside this small area. The nearest town is Bastia. The road to Bastia is one of those classic twisting, panoramic routes you get in Corsica. Good road, but not just a case of nipping over to Bastia.
But the problems of access are more pronounced getting to other parts of Haut Corse. To reach Ile Rousse and Calvi, you have to drive across the Desart des Agriates. A fabulous drive but it takes at least two hours to reach Calvi. It would probably actually be just as quick to double back to Bastia and approach Ile Rouse on the N197 (great road).
Also to get to Corte or anywhere in the centre would involve either driving across the Desart des Agriates or over to Bastia and down the east side. I%26#39;m sure there are short-cuts on the back roads, but the roads would probably be the stuff of nightmares (for me anyway)
To get to Cap Corse as far as Nonza from St. Florent is straightforward and would take about half an hour. After Nonza the road gets much slower and twisting. They are doing up this road.
I really enjoyed our stay in the St. Florent/Patrimonio but would not recommend it as a base for seeing Haut Corse. Ile Rousse would be a better base as you have easy access to the N197.
The point above about traffic and parking in St. Florent is a good one. It was almost choc-a-bloc in June, so what it must be like in July/August I dread to think.
|||
Have been following this post with interest - am going to be based in Calvi in September and had planned to drive over to St. Florent one morning to get a boat to Plage de Saleccia/Loto. Doesn%26#39;t look too bad a drive on the map across the Desert des Agriates but gather it could take 2-3 hrs ??? Would it be quicker to go via Bastia on the more main road and cut back to St. Florent ? Any info appreciated.
|||
The main road across the desert is not too bad. It is reasonably wide and not too twisty. There are some %26quot;dizzying drops%26quot; but they are quite mild. would be very surprised if it took longer than two hours to drive from Calvi to St Florent.
The Cap is great for a day trip but I personally wopuld not stay there for the reasons others give - not too easy to tke other trips. Centuri Port is unique and worth a visit, but half a day is probably enough for most.
|||
white family
I don%26#39;t think it takes anything like 3 hours from Calvi to St Florent. I reckon it takes about the same time to get from Calvi to Bastia round by the N197 (2 hours ish) as it does via St Florent even thought the latter looks like the more direct route. So it%26#39;s definitely not worth going round . I would say it%26#39;s about 1 - 1 1/2 hours max to St Florent, depending on traffic and your driving style, and so easily doable for a day trip.
But as others have said, it is a bit of a drag to have drive the same road for 1/2 - 3/4 hour to get anywhere else in Haute Corse, so better to stay in Ile Rousse or similar.
|||
I have to disagree with the previous posters, having done the journey from St. Florent to Calvi and back twice to collect and drop people at the airport. When we asked a local how long it would take and he told us 2 to 21/2 hours, we didn%26#39;t believe him either, but it%26#39;s true. We allowed an hour and a half and were an hour late meeting our visitors. I actually think it could be quicker to go via Bastia.
If you are getting the boat to Saleccia in anything like the busy season you need to be there at 9.00 to start queueing. The tickets for the early boats sell out quickly. The first day we went down they had sold out , so we had to go back the next day. They did not allow you to buy the tickets in advance for the next day. Maybe this has changed - it ought to. Also, the guide books don%26#39;t always tell you that it is about a 45 minute walk from Plage du Lodo to Saleccia. DON%26#39;T go by the coastal path it takes even longer, but if you have plenty of time, say an hour and a half you could come back that way as it%26#39;s a beautiful walk.
I believe you can get a boat to Saleccia from Ile Rousse. But I might be wrong
|||
Just to clarify. The boats to Saleccia run all day long, but it is the early sailings that sell out. It is quite expensive for such a short trip so you feel that you want to stay as long as possible to make it worthwhile.
No comments:
Post a Comment