Calvi, Haute-Corse

A Genoese citadel town on the northwest coast of Corsica, its medieval fortifications rising above a long crescent of white sand beach with the snow-capped Corsican mountains as backdrop in spring. The old town within the citadel walls retains its fifteenth-century Genoese configuration, and a cathedral and several atmospheric lanes within the fortifications are freely accessible. The beach at La Revellata offers the clearest water on the island's northern coast.