Holidays in Corsica - Travel Information

How to travel to Corsica, which UK airports you can fly from and where the Corsican airports are, where to book cheap flights, a ferry from mainland France or Italy with your car, book transfers, taxis or car hire. My travel guide will be updated regularly.

Corsica flights

A few years ago, you could only fly to Corsica on a charter flight. Most of them were operated by Holiday Options. No low-cost airlines were present in Corsica until May 2009, when the inaugral Easyjet flight landed in Bastia, something the Corsicans had opposed for many years, as many islanders felt it would 'lower the tone' of their Mediterranean paradise. Flights take around 2.5 hours from the UK.

Book an Easyjet flight to Corsica from England

Flights were traditionally only on Sundays but in 2011 a direct Saturday flight started. There are 4 airports on the island served from the UK. They are Bastia in the north east, Calvi in the north west, Ajaccio in the south west and Figari in the south/south-east. As with most things, when planes start filling up prices go up accordingly, so it's definitely worth checking prices early. At the last minute you may get lucky with a cheap charter flight although July and August often sell out quite fast. June has also become an increasingly popular month to visit.

Map of Corsica

Easyjet are operating the following flight routes in 2011 to Corsica, from May to September and only on Sundays

London Gatwick (LGW) - Ajaccio (AJA)
London Gatwick (LGW) - Bastia (BIA)
Manchester (MAN) - Bastia (BIA)

Thomsonfly operate a Saturday flight according to their schedule

London Gatwick (LGW) - Figari (FSC)

Charter flights - Corsican Places are operating the following Sunday charters in 2011 and will probably have empty seats on some flights as planes are notoriously difficult to fill each week.

Stansted (STN) - Calvi (CLY) with Titan Airways
Heathrow (LHR) - Figari (FSC) with BMI Baby

Other places to search for cheap Corsica flights

http://www.charterflights.co.uk/
http://www.skyscanner.net/

Ferry to Corsica

Naturally, the fastest way to travel to Corsica from the UK is to fly, however it's also possible to get there in other ways. I recently drove down from England via the Channel Tunnel and took my own car over from mainland France (from Nice to Calvi). It is an awfully long way from Calais to Nice (some 560 miles) but it can be done in one go, as I realised, with the aid of 4 litres of Red Bull!

Corsica ferries available from France and Italy

There are three main companies that operate between Corsica and both France and Italy. They are Corsica Ferries, SNCM and Moby Lines (who travel to/from Italy).

SNCM ferries operate between mainland France & Corsica

A typical crossing from mainland France to Corsica takes around 6 hours, although some overnight crossings can take up to 10 hours. There are cabins and pullman reclinable seats on board. Each ferry has a restaurant and café, sun decks and bars. I booked my crossing in March and travelled in June and the cost was 150€. Crossings in peak season are likely to be higher. Ferries sail to Bastia, l'Ile Rousse, Calvi, Ajaccio, Propriano and Porto-Vecchio - see map of Corsica above.

Find and book a Corsica ferry

There a quite a few sites where you can search and book a Corsica ferry:

Car hire in Corsica

The best way to discover Corsica is by hiring a car on arrival (if you haven't driven yourself!). Public transport on the island is really rather lacking and taxis are very expensive. There is a train service which I will give details for later but by a country mile the best solution is to hire a vehicle.

On arrival at the airport, whether in Ajaccio, Calvi, Bastia or Figari you will see the car hire desks, often with very long queues if you're travelling during peak months. Please note that at some airports, the car hire desk is outside the terminal building. Car hire can be booked through all the major rental companies. I would tend to book with one of the more recognised names and it's always best to book in advance. I am currently in the process of arranging special discounted car hire rates if you book through this site; email me corsicainfo@ymail.com for further details.

Search and book a hire car in Corsica

Avis, Hertz, Europcar car hire in Corsica

Corsican Railway - Trains in Corsica

Corsica has a network of railway tracks (some 232km according to wiki). Lines originate from Ponte Leccia (Haute Corse) and run towards Bastia, Calvi and over the mountains to Ajaccio. The railway network is run by the Chemins de Fer de la Corse (CFC) and offers the opportunity to view parts of Corsica from a remarkable vantage point.

A high bridge on the Corsican railway

I would highly recommend the section between Ajaccio and Ponte Leccia as a day trip. The railway twists and turns around steep mountainsides and across plunging gorges and serves up some tantalising photo opportunities. This YouTube video shows how spectacular the journey is. The train to Calvi takes you past a plethora of world-class beaches, just make sure you don't miss the last train home!

Timetables are normally released in the Spring of each year, this website shows the timetable of summer and autumn trains in 2011.