L'Île Rousse and the Balagne Coast

L'Île Rousse is a coastal town on the Balagne coast of Haute-Corse, founded in the 1760s by Pasquale Paoli as a Corsican-controlled port to rival Calvi, then held by the Genoese. It takes its name from a small islet of red granite, the Île de la Pietra, which is joined to the mainland by a causeway and topped by a lighthouse and an old watchtower. The town centre is organised around Place Paoli, a large square shaded by plane trees, with a statue of Paoli, cafés and a covered market hall that operates daily in the morning. Streets laid out on a regular grid lead from the square toward the sea, and a long beach of fine sand curves around the bay. A walk along the causeway to the islet takes about twenty minutes and gives views of the harbour, the beach and the Balagne mountains behind. Inland, the Balagne region is called the garden of Corsica and is dotted with olive groves and hill villages such as Pigna and Sant'Antonino, reached by short drives. A day in L'Île Rousse can combine the market, the islet, the beach and a lunch on the square. Mornings are best for the market, which runs until about 13:00, and the afternoon suits the islet walk once the heat eases. Crowds fill the beach and the main square in July and August, and the town is quieter in spring and autumn. L'Île Rousse has a railway station on the CFC line from Calvi, a trip of around thirty minutes, and ferries from Nice and Marseille call seasonally. By road it lies about 75 kilometres from Bastia.