For a town that played such a crucial role in how we go on holiday, Calvi on the quiet island of Corsica has a low-key air.Yet it was here, in this bijou port with its medieval citadel, where honey and pastel-coloured houses tumble down to a small marina and a narrow sweep of golden sand, that the modern package holiday began 75 years ago.Not that you’d ever know, such is the quietude. But it was to here that a flamboyant Russian emigre named Vladimir Raitz, owner of Horizon Holidays, chartered a plane from London in 1950 to take a group of British tourists for a fortnight’s stay on the French island’s pretty northern coast.Thomas Cook had, of course, been offering escorted holidays since the Victorian era. But these were epic expeditions catering principally for the moneyed elite.Raitz, taking advantage of the post-war boom in commercial aircraft, created what is commonly considered to be the first ‘modern’ package getaway.The trips were affordable, coming in at £32 10s for two weeks’ all-inclusive (about £900 in today’s money). They were accessible – for the first time, guests could book flights and accommodation in one payment. And you could choose from a number of summer departures, whisked to the Med on the Dakota DC-3 Raitz hired. Travel writer Rob Crossan visits Corsica, the first ever package holiday destination, 75 years on While Thomas Cook had been offering escorted holidays since the Victorian era, Russian emigre named Vladimir Raitz, owner of Horizon Holidays, chartered a plane from London in 1951 to take a group of British tourists for a fortnight’s stay on the French island’s pretty northern coastAn experimental dummy run, primarily for teachers, took place in 1950 before Raitz advanced an advertising campaign in the UK press for a trip which, I have to admit, I’m glad I wasn’t on, given that the flight took six hours, the accommodation was in surplus Army tents and the ‘entertainment’ mostly comprised dancing to a gramophone record player on the beach.Despite this innovation, Calvi was not to become a typical sprawling Mediterranean resort over the following decades. The dragon-tooth mountains, smothered with pine trees, boulders and shrubland, made big high-rise hotels impractical. Instead, Raitz’s successors looked to Spain to satisfy the growing package break market.Taking advantage of today’s infinitely more convenient package options, I visit in May with easyJet Holidays, grateful for both a reduced flight time (it’s now just two-and-a-half hours to Corsica), as well as accommodation far surpassing what Raitz’ group would have experienced.Calvi’s town, marina and beach now exude the kind of demure atmosphere that was perhaps the mode of the Cote d’Azur back in the era of Brigitte Bardot and Alain Delon. Small boutiques sell linen shirts and midi-dresses. Meanwhile, cute little delis such as the tiny A Casetta offer up boards of creamy Corsican sheep’s cheese and glasses of Vermentino, with views over the bay from the back terrace.Going to Calvi is a glorious introduction to a Mediterranean island still little visited by Brits. A postcard of Corsica, circa 1953, just after Raitz took the first group of British tourists to the island, which sits 100 miles from the French mainlandThe entire northern coast, more than 100 miles from the French mainland, exudes an untrammelled air with switch-back mountain roads taking you through sleepy villages, entirely deserted beaches, family-owned vineyards and the occasional fortress.These were built by the Genoese, who ruled the island for centuries. Lord Nelson’s fleet launched an attack here in 1794, resulting in the wound which, famously, cost him his sight in one eye.St Florent, a 90-minute drive along the coast from Calvi, is the prettiest of the coastal spots I visit. Even quieter than Calvi, the town, shaded by plane trees and with games of petanque breaking out at dusk, makes a great base to explore the surrounding Patrimonio wine region.With the glittering ocean never entirely out of view, this area produces some of the island’s finest wine. Mathieu, the fifth generation of owners, pours me samples from his vineyard, Clos Marfisi.Wine has been made in Patrimonio for 2,000 years and the schist, granite and clay-limestone soil is unique to the island. The cooling sea breeze helps create some gorgeously saline, crisp whites, which must be made entirely from Vermentino grapes in these parts to pass the ‘appellation controlee’ regulations.Sipping Mathieu’s wines on the estate’s front porch, it’s difficult to imagine this being the home of one of the most aggressive warriors Europe has seen. But Corsica is indeed the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as being the favoured summer holiday destination of Marie Antoinette. Rob visits Corsica’s vineyards, in the Patrimino Hills, where wine has been produced for the past 2,000 yearsI suspect Napoleon’s appetite for revolution may have been quelled if he’d stayed in Hotel Basgi Basgi, one of the finest family-run hotels I’ve found in the Med.Opening it two years ago on the site of a wine cellar just outside St Florent, owner Coline Marchini and her husband have created a retreat around a long pool and garden festooned with rosemary and lavender.It’s a small hotel, and the attention to detail spans everything from the lattice-fronted wardrobes to the comfy balcony chairs that give me a morning soundtrack of cicadas and the occasional sigh of wind through maritime pines.With more than 100 Corsican wines in the cellar and a menu rich in local ingredients such as saffron, cured mullet roe, hazelnuts and charcuterie, a sizable lunch here demands a supine afternoon.The hotel is on the Cap Corse coastal road, which zig-zags up to the most northerly point of Corsica. I stop at Albo, reaching this sweep of pebbles via a path that descends through a tunnel of flowering oleander, the blossoms exploding in shades of rose pink and magenta.It’s a summer afternoon and there isn’t another soul here. This coastline may be the home of the package holiday but, at times like this, it feels like the entire island hasn’t received a visitor since Napoleon – and the package holiday industry set sail for bigger things. TRAVEL FACTS Seven nights at the four-star Boutique Hotel and Restaurant Basgi Basgi is available with easyJet Holidays from £696pp on a room-only basis, including 23kg luggage, transfers and flights from Gatwick (easyjet.com)