Corsica

Corsica is French politically and Italian-ish in most other ways. The interior is a mountain range that rises to Monte Cinto at 2,706 metres, which is unusual for a Mediterranean island and is why most of the population lives along the coast. Napoleon was born in Ajaccio in 1769; in exile, he said he could recognise Corsica blindfolded by the smell of the maquis, the dense scrubland of myrtle, rosemary and rockrose that covers most of the inland.

A yacht does the southern half of the island best. Bonifacio, the southernmost town, sits 11 kilometres from Sardinia at the top of a 70-metre limestone cliff, with the harbour cut into the rock below. From there, the strait between Corsica and Sardinia opens into the La Maddalena archipelago, a cluster of small Sardinian islands just across the water, which is why a single charter often takes in both islands in a week. Up the west coast, the Scandola Nature Reserve has been UNESCO-listed since 1983 and is only accessible by sea, so a yacht is the only way to see the porphyry red cliffs and the breeding ospreys it was created to protect. The eastern beaches are the well-known ones, particularly Cala di Roccapina, Saleccia and Palombaggia: white sand and water that does not really photograph the way it looks.

Most Corsica charters pick up in Bonifacio or Calvi. The season runs May to October, with September a particular favourite because the heat eases. The food triangle is charcuterie, brocciu (the soft sheep-and-goat cheese that anchors most local cooking) and Patrimonio wine from the AOC region in the north. French and Italian both work on the island, and you'll hear Corsican, the older language closely related to Tuscan Italian, in the inland villages.