Calvi is one of those places best discovered by wandering through it aimlessly. Not with a checklist, not with a route map, but simply: walking, looking, sitting down somewhere now and then. It's a town that shows its best side to those who take their time.

Experiencing Calvi: an evening and a morning

Let me put it this way: if you only have one evening and one morning in Calvi, this is how to spend them.

Start in the late afternoon at the Quai Landry, the boulevard along the marina. This is Calvi's stage: fishing boats next to sailing yachts, terraces filling up as the sun drops, and a view of the citadel that improves by the hour. Order a pastis or a glass of Corsican rose and watch the shadows creep across the fortress walls. There's no rush.

Then slowly make your way up the hill to the citadel. The entrance is unassuming -- you'd almost walk right past it -- but once inside, everything changes. The narrow streets of the haute ville are quiet, especially in the evening light. People still live here, laundry hangs on the lines and cats lie on warm stones. It's not a museum; it's a neighbourhood that happens to be six hundred years old.

Walk on to the ramparts and find the spot where you look west, over the bay. When the sun sets behind the mountains of the Revellata, with the beach as a luminous arc below you, you understand why people keep coming back. It's one of the most beautiful sunsets in Corsica, and you don't need to drive or climb to see it -- just walk.

Insider tip The citadel is at its most beautiful between six and eight in the evening during the shoulder season. The day-trippers have gone, the light is warm and you have the narrow streets almost to yourself. Bring something to drink; there's no terrace up top, but there is a low wall with the best view on the island.

The haute ville

Inside the citadel walls you'll find the Cathedrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste, a surprisingly large church for such a small fortress. Inside it's cool and quiet, with a Baroque interior that contrasts with the rugged exterior. Next door stands the house where, according to local tradition, Christopher Columbus was born -- a claim historians dispute but Calvi defends with gusto. A plaque on the facade is the only reminder.

The rest of the haute ville is a matter of getting lost. Literally: the streets dead-end, turn unexpectedly and keep bringing you to a different corner of the wall with a different view. There are a few workshops and galleries, but it's the walls themselves, the stairways and the glimpses through gaps that make the place. Photogenic is an understatement.

The harbour and the beach

Back down below, the harbour is the social hub. On the Quai Landry restaurants stand shoulder to shoulder, and yes, some are tourist traps. But there are good ones too. Watch where the locals sit -- that's usually a reliable indicator. Fish restaurants with a handwritten menu and an owner who visits your table are almost always better than the establishments with laminated menus in four languages.

The beach at Calvi stretches east: nearly six kilometres of fine sand that gradually gives way to the pine forest of the Pinede. Early in the morning, before the sun loungers are set out, it's at its finest. The water is shallow and clear, the mountains form the backdrop and there's space aplenty. Walk past the beach bars towards the stretch near the forest for more tranquillity.

Insider tip Walk out onto the beach early in the morning, towards the Pinede. The light is soft, the sand still cool and you have kilometres of beach almost to yourself. Pick up bread and coffee from the bakery on Rue Clemenceau -- it opens at seven.

Thursday market

If you're in Calvi on a Thursday, head to the market that spreads through the streets behind the harbour. It's a mix of local produce and tourist wares, but the food stalls are excellent. Corsican cheeses, charcuterie, honey from the interior, homemade jams -- it's the place to stock up for a picnic or to buy gifts to take home. The scent of brocciu and fresh herbs hangs in the air, and vendors selling their own produce are usually happy to let you taste.

Jazz in June

Every year in June, Calvi transforms during the Jazz Festival. Concerts take place in the citadel, on small squares and in churches, and the music carries across the harbour in the evening. It's one of the better jazz festivals in France, with international artists in an intimate setting. The combination of jazz and medieval walls is something special -- not something you'll quickly forget.

Even if you're not there specifically for the festival but happen to stumble upon it: go to a concert. The atmosphere is relaxed, the tickets affordable and the venues unique.

The feel of Calvi

Calvi is no hidden gem. It's a well-known destination, it gets busy in summer and some corners are inevitably touristy. But it has something many comparable places lack: it feels like a real place that also functions outside the season. People live here, there's a school, there's a life that has nothing to do with tourism.

Perhaps it's the combination of elements that nowhere else comes together so compactly: a medieval citadel, a natural harbour, a long sandy beach and mountains in the background. Or perhaps it's simply that Calvi, despite everything, has kept its ease. It doesn't try to be something it's not.

Walk through it, take your time and let it sink in. Calvi is at its best when you have no plans at all.