From Macinaggio the main D80 winds west across the promontory via 8km of tortuous hairpin bends over the Col St-Nicolas (303m) and the Col de Serra (365m). Once over the second col you soon come to CAMERA , the first hamlet of the commune of Centuri, where the bizarre cylindrical turrets of the Château de Général Cipriani (not open to the public) peer from the woods beneath the road. The smaller hamlet of CANELLE , overlooking Centuri-Port and accessible from Camera along the road heading north or on foot from the port, is known for its enormous fig trees, whose drooping branches overhang the houses and shadow the road.
When Dr Johnson's biographer, James Boswell, arrived here from England in 1765, the former Roman settlement of CENTURI-PORT was a tiny fishing village, recommended to him for its peaceful detachment from the dangerous turmoil of the rest of Corsica. Not much has changed since Boswell's time: Centuri-Port exudes tranquillity despite a serious influx of summer residents, many of them artists who come to paint the fishing boats in the slightly prettified harbour, where the grey-stone wall is highlighted by the green serpentine roofs of the encircling cottages, restaurants and bars. The only drawback is that you'll find the small beach disappointingly muddy and not ideal for sunbathing (although it is an excellent spot for
snorkelling).
Centuri-Port has more hotels than anywhere else on Cap Corse. Hôtel-Restaurant du Pêcheur (tel 04.95.35.60.14; €46-61; closed Nov-March), the pink building in the harbour, is among the most pleasant and fills up quickly in the high season; its rooms are agreeably cool, with thick stone walls, and it has a popular restaurant. A slightly posher and pricier option is the Vieux Moulin (tel 04.95.35.60.15, fax 04.95.35.60.24; €46-61; closed Oct-March), a restored palazzu that occupies a prime location behind the harbour (on the right as you enter the village), but the rooms can be stuffy in summer and the obligatory €22.80 menu is a poor deal. Otherwise you have Hôtel La Jetée , at the far end of the jetty (tel 04.95.35.64.46; €34-46; closed Oct-Easter), whose rooms are pretty ordinary and don't have sea views, but are the cheapest in the village during high season. For campers there's Camping l'Isolettu , 400m south (tel 04.95.35.62.81; open all year), an uninviting option but the only choice in the vicinity.
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