Calanche di Piana - dramatic mountain roads in western Corsica

Writer: Helena Bergström

Calanche di Piana is an area of incredibly dramatic mountain roads in western Corsica. Driving here is breathtakingly beautiful, and this is one of the most stunning stretches of road we have ever driven. The views really take your breath away!

Calanche di Piana - a dramatic Unesco heritage site

Since 1996, Calanche di Piana has been part of the Gulf of Porto Unesco Heritage Site, together with the Gulf of Girolata and Scandola Nature Reserve. The area is about 400 metres above sea level and consists of eroded reddish granite rocks, often with peculiar and imaginative shapes.

The name Calanche di Piana is the Corsican description. Because yes, Corsican is a language of its own, closely related to Italian. In French, the stretch is often called Calanques de Piana. In the context of UNESCO heritage, the area can sometimes also be described as Pirana wines in Swedish.

The Calanche di Piana stretches from the village of Porto in the north to Piana in the south, on the western coast of Corsica.

Coastal road from Calvi - south towards Porto

The Calanche di Piana stretches between Porto and Piana. However, we choose to start our story a little further north, just south of Calvi. This stretch, the coastal road between Calvi and Porto, is also fantastically beautiful.

We drove here with our motorhome, which is 7.3 metres long, and this is the second time in our lives that we have experienced this beautiful part of Corsica. We were here with the motorhome ten years ago, and ever since then we have been longing to return.

There are two roads from Calvi to Porto, and we chose the one closest to the coast. According to Google Maps, it should take just over two hours to drive this distance, but for us it took much longer. With a motorhome, you tend to drive slowly on the narrow and winding roads, and in addition, you "have" to stop and take pictures all the time. If we also include our lunch stop, well then it took more or less the whole day ...

The roads? They keep you on your toes and alert! The quality is mostly ok, but it twists and turns, it can be hilly and steep, and sometimes it is narrow. You can also expect the odd stretch of patched and potholed roads.

If you drive a motorhome, as we did, you may have to fold in your rear-view mirrors when you meet. Peter also often pulled off to the side to let small cars, which were in a much greater hurry to reach their final destination, pass.

We had initially planned to do the whole route, including Calanche di Piana, in one day, but we changed our minds and decided to stay in the village of Porto overnight. That way we would be rested and extra excited for the highlight of the trip.

Camping in Porto, Corsica

In the village of Porto there are several campsites and we chose to stay at Camping Solo e Vista - the same campsite we visited ten years ago. This campsite is dramatically beautiful, in many stages, and there is also a nice swimming pool.

Last time we were here we were very happy. This time the place was less suitable for us. As we have a large motorhome (by Corsican standards) and as we arrived quite late in the day, we got a place at the very bottom of the campsite, where you have no view at all.

From here it was also too far, and too steep an uphill, for us to be able to use service houses or other facilities. All in all, 45 euros excl. electricity felt very expensive for an overnight stay, as we did not use any service at all. However, very nice and service-minded staff, and a place higher up can certainly offer a better experience!

Continuing the journey - south along the coast from Porto

Now it was time for the real adventure to start! We left Porto, on the narrow winding road that is the start of the Calanche di Piana. The first thing that happened was that we met a big bus! We had to fold in our rear-view mirrors and wait motionless while the bus slowly glided past ...

Looking back, we had another beautiful view of the Golfe de Porto.

Calanche di Piana

Calanche di Piana is breathtakingly beautiful. The road (D81) runs along the steep cliff face and you drive through a landscape that feels like something out of a fairy tale or a fantasy series.

You drive slowly here, for many reasons. The road winds, there are steep drops at the side, and you can meet someone on the narrow road at any time. And you want to take photos and films along the way!

The advantage is that pretty much everyone drives very slowly here. And yes, there is usually some sort of small verge on the side of the road, of varying quality though, that prevents one from accidentally driving too far out.

At one point along the road there is a restaurant, and the view from their outdoor terrace is breathtaking, to say the least. At the end of the road, if you come from the north, there are relatively many small parking bays, and here many people stop, to take photos and maybe walk for a while along the road. Here Peter also brought up his drone, so that we can offer some views from a different perspective.

The drone footage shows how the winding road follows the sharp mountain edges, through the exotic landscape.

Tips for driving along the Calanche di Piana

We can conclude with some general tips for those who want to drive along the Calanche di Piana in Corsica. Firstly, it's good to know that driving here is discouraged if you have a bus or motorhome longer than 8 metres. There is no formal width limit, but it is of course more challenging to meet if you have a wide vehicle.

If you drive from north to south, as we did, you are in the outside lane, which means that you drive closest to the cliff when meeting. If you drive in the other direction, you will instead be close to the rock wall, possibly with a greater risk of scraping the rock at meetings.

More to see and do in the neighbourhood

For those who like to hike, there are several hiking trails in the area. We can also recommend a visit to the lovely village of Calvi, which offers beautiful sandy beaches and an impressive citadel. There are also many beautiful beaches nearby, such as Cupabia Beach.

Would you like to drive at Calanche di Piana in Corsica?

Would you like to drive at Calanche di Piana in Corsica? Or maybe you have already driven here?