Corsica’s unsung heroes are its railways, chugging via towns of contrasting scenery, the view switching between golden sands and blue crescent coves to jagged peaks dotted with medieval villages. Jump aboard to experience one of the Mediterranean’s most gorgeous routes – the Trinichellu.
Officially known as Chemins de Fer de la Corse (Corsican Railways), Trinichellu – or ‘Little Train’, as it’s nicknamed – traverses landscapes roads have never even attempted. It took 20,000 labourers to build the railway in the late 19th century, hand-laying 232km of track across some of the Med’s most rugged terrain.
Even Gustave Eiffel took time out from some big tower project in Paris in 1888 to design the 84m-high Vecchio viaduct. Though the Trinichellu was born amid the Belle Époque’s optimism for technology, Italy’s post-war gloom saw proposals to close the rail network fought off, luckily.
There’s no such talk today though, thanks to a resurgence in local pride for all things truly Corsican. Using the local trains is a way of showing solidarity.
AJACCIO TO CORTE
Corsica's trains are a mix of old and new / Image: Carlotta Cardana
This Corsican odyssey begins in the capital, Ajaccio, a port city with more than a whiff of the Côte d’Azur about it. From there, it’s a two-hour ascent up to Corte. The left-hand side of the train is the most coveted, for the best views of the precipitous slopes that kick in after half an hour.
Rattling through pines and chestnut trees in the Vizzavona forest, the train hugs hills high above silver threads of valley streams. The beauty of train travel means you can expect a pain-free arrival into Corte: no creeping into town in traffic, then fretting around unfamiliar streets.
With five hours until the connecting train to Calvi, there’s ample time to delve into two millennia’s worth of history in the Musée de la Corse, housed inside Corte’s magnificent citadel, before diving into the surrounding maze of cobbled lanes dotted with craft shops.
CORTE TO CALVI
Calvi is full of history – it was stormed by Nelson in 1794 / Image: Carlotta Cardana
From Corte, it’s a chunter through mountain valleys to Ponte Leccia – the island’s inland rail hub. And from there it’s a two-hour ride (via a quick platform change) to Calvi on board a charmingly careworn train that growls like a vintage Alfa Romeo.
The old-timer iron horse zooms alongside fast-flowing river rapids and echoing stations with potholed platforms and windowless buildings. Later it swoops through low hills grazed by lean cattle. Villages like Belgodère dot a moving landscape that looks straight out of a 19th-century Impressionist canvas.
Eventually the line reaches the sea, clattering through the historic little resort of L’Île-Rousse at the northern end of the coast known as the Balagne. The last half hour is a highlight, riding so close to the shore it feels as if the train is actually skimming the dunes.
