Between Erbalunga and Macinaggio the east coast settles into a rhythm: a headland, a bay, a small marine with a beach and a café, and a side road disappearing up a green valley to a scatter of hamlets. This is the gentle side of Cap Corse — the road is wide and low, the sea is usually calm in the morning, and the island of Elba and the rest of the Tuscan archipelago float on the horizon.
Sisco and Pietracorbara are the two valleys most worth a stop, and between them and Macinaggio lie the tiny harbours of Porticciolo and Santa Severa. None takes long; together they make the east coast more than just the road to the tip.
Top things to do: Sisco & Pietracorbara
Spend an hour on Pietracorbara beach
The broadest sandy beach on the east coast, with shallow, clear water that suits children, a couple of beach cafés in season and plenty of parking behind the sand. A small wetland lies behind the dunes. It is rarely crowded outside the first half of August.
Stop at the Tour de l’Osse
A few minutes north of Pietracorbara, this round 16th-century watchtower stands on a rock at the very edge of the road and is one of the best-preserved on the cape. There is space to pull in just beyond it. Towers like this were built under Genoese rule to warn of raids by Barbary corsairs: a fire lit on one could be seen from the next, and the alarm passed quickly round the coast.
Explore the Sisco valley
Sisco’s marine has a pebble-and-sand beach and a few places to eat; behind it a road winds up through chestnut and oak to more than a dozen hamlets. The church of San Martinu keeps a collection of relics brought back by local sailors, and the small Romanesque chapel of San Michele sits on a spur high above the valley — a steep walk, with a huge view.
Pause at Porticciolo and Santa Severa
Porticciolo is a postcard hamlet with a minute harbour and a small beach; Santa Severa is the marine of Luri and the start of the road across the cape to Pino. If you have time, drive ten minutes up that road to the pass and walk up to the Tour de Sénèque, a medieval tower on a crag where, according to legend, the Roman philosopher Seneca spent his exile.
How to get to Sisco & Pietracorbara
- By car: all these places are on the D80. From Bastia, Sisco is about 16 km (25–30 minutes), Pietracorbara about 20 km and Santa Severa about 27 km.
- By bus: the limited Bastia–Macinaggio services pass through, but with only a few departures a day they are of little use for hopping between beaches.
- Parking: free roadside or beach car parks at each marine; in midsummer arrive before late morning.
Insider tips
- East-coast beaches get the sun early and lose it by late afternoon, when the mountain casts its shadow — plan your swim for the morning and save the west coast for sunset.
- When a strong easterly blows the sea is rough on this side; cross to the west coast, which will usually be sheltered. With the westerly libeccio it is the reverse.
- The Luri road (D180) is the only easy shortcut across the peninsula — useful if you run out of time and need to skip the northern tip.
Best tours & boat trips for Sisco & Pietracorbara
These experiences pair well with a visit to Sisco & Pietracorbara:
Sailing trip from €108 Le Grand Tour: Cap Corse Sailing Trip from Bastia Old Harbour
Four hours under sail along the eastern shore of the cape, starting from the old harbour in the middle of Bastia. You pass the Genoese towers and marinas that the D80 strings together, seen from the side they were built to watch, with a stop to swim. The easiest way to get onto the water if you are staying in town or arriving by ferry.
- Leaves from Bastia’s Vieux Port — no car needed
- Genoese towers, villages and coves of the east coast
- Swimming stop in a small group
Private tour from €399 per group Bastia: Private Driver – Customised Tour of Haute-Corse
If you would rather not drive the corniche yourself, this is the one product that lets someone else do it: a private driver for four hours, on a route you agree together — panoramas, villages, beaches and tastings. A new listing with no reviews yet, priced per group of up to three, so compare it with the cost of a day’s car hire.
- Price is per group of up to three
- Your own itinerary: villages, beaches, viewpoints
- Food-tasting stops possible
