Guide to Cargese

"Two kilometres to the south of Cargese is enchanting Menasina Beach, with its spectacular emerald water."

The string of sandy beaches both north and south of this charming village, the splendid mountains lying just inland and the pinnacles of the Calanques - the most dramatic coastline in Europe - just a twenty minute drive away, should be what springs to mind when the name Cargese is mentioned. Yet Cargese's renown is also for its Greekness as it is still known as the 'Village Grec' from the Greek refugees who settled there two centuries ago.

With its neat tiers of pastel houses climbing up the headland, its carefully tended kitchen gardens, its palm trees, hibiscus and figs and its pretty fishing boats in the harbour below, this large village certainly has its own special atmosphere. Even in the quietest time of the season, Cargese has a pleasant and comfortable air of activity and life and in the evening a gentle stroll around Cargese's backstreets will lead you to an enticing selection of restaurants, pizzerias and cafes.

Just as welcoming as the village itself is the countryside behind, composed of meadows, hills, woods and hedgerows, a lovely landscape for gentle rambles. Only a few minutes' drive away is the charming stone-built hamlet of Lozzi, whilst behind Cargese, towering over the village and the sea, is the original settlement of the Greeks of Cargese, Paomia.

Cargese is so relaxing and the beaches so impressive, however, that it would be hard, especially perhaps for families with small children, to leave the seaside too often. On glorious Pero Beach, the closest of Cargese's three beaches (1km away), a couple of attractive summertime cafe-restaurants serve delicious food, as well as ice-creams and cool drinks. Chiuni Beach, about 6km north of Cargese, is equally lovely and within a reasonable drive are yet more seemingly limitless expanses of unspoilt sand, from Arone to the north to Sagone to the south, all backed by dramatic mountain landscapes.

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