Capo Testa

Capo Testa is joined to the mainland by a narrow isthmus with a beach on each side, and the headland itself is granite worn by wind and salt into rounded blocks, mushroom shapes and honeycomb hollows, a process called tafoni weathering that is unusually well developed here. The Romans quarried the stone and took columns from it; abandoned worked blocks and cutting marks remain in the Valle della Luna and along the shore. That valley has been occupied intermittently since the 1960s by people living among the rocks. A lighthouse stands on the point, and Corsica is visible across the strait.

What you actually see

• The tafoni weathering - granite hollowed into honeycombs and mushrooms.
• The Roman quarries - abandoned worked blocks and cutting marks.
• The Valle della Luna - a boulder valley long occupied informally.
• The double beach - sand on both sides of the connecting isthmus.

When to go

May to September; the cape is exposed and the wind here is strong, which is part of the reason for the erosion. Sunset light suits the granite.

Honest expectations

The wind is often very strong. Paths among the boulders are unmarked and easy to lose. Parking near the isthmus fills quickly in summer.

Nearby

La Maddalena lies east; Corsica is across the strait.