Plage du Ricanto on the southwestern side of the Isle of Corsica. Tourists flock to this narrow sandy beach not far from downtown Ajaccio during the summer season. And yet when I visited the first week of September, I had the warm sand and calm, shallow waters almost all to myself. The only minor downside was that the beach cafe closes at the end of August, so if you go out of season, bring your own snacks and drinks.

If you walk about halfway down this roughly 1 1/2 mile-long beach, you’ll come across something unexpected: the end of the Ajaccio Airport runway. Located less than 50 feet from the edge of the sand, it’s not the sort of place you’d want to set up your beach umbrella. Or fly a kite. Or jump up and down on a trampoline. It would, though, be a terrific place to get up-close-and-personal views of aircraft as they take off and land.

To get there by bus, you have two choices:

• Take the #8 Airport bus departing from the Marconajo stop across the street from the Ajaccio train station. Get off at Institut Consulaire, which is 7 stops and about 17 minutes away. The beach will be across the road. Note that since this is actually an airport-serving bus, the price is significantly higher than normal: 5 euros, which you pay directly to the driver.
• Take the #12 bus departing from the Ajaccio train station. Get off at Institut Consulaire, which is 7 stops and about 17 minutes away. The beach will be across the road. The price of 1 euro is significantly cheaper than the #8 bus, but the buses are less frequent.