Balagne: Hilltop Villages and Corsican Craftsmen

Three days in the Balagne, a region nicknamed the garden of Corsica for its olive groves, orchards and mildness. The route starts at Calvi and its Genoese citadel above four kilometres of sandy beach, climbs to Sant'Antonino, a medieval eyrie considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited villages on the island, then Pigna, a craft village where instrument makers, potters and musicians have settled, Lumio facing the gulf of Calvi, and finally L'Ile-Rousse with its columned covered market. This is a land of granite, honey, olive oil and polyphonic song. Balagne roads are narrow and winding: allow twice the stated time. The little Calvi to L'Ile-Rousse train hugs the coast and spares you the car in summer.