Travel to Corsica, flights to Corsica, ferries to Corsica

Travel to Corsica - how do I get there?

There are several ways to travel to Corsica, but by far the easiest way if you are travelling during the main season (May-October) is by direct charter flights from the UK. For 2006, there are 9 flights which all operate on Sundays to tie in with the changeover day for most of the rental properties. You can also drive down through France and catch the ferry to the island, which is a nice option if you want to stop off en-route and make it part of your holiday. If you know how you want travel to Corsica, simply click the links below or if you're not sure whether to fly or take the boat, read on to find out more about each option.

FLIGHTS
FERRIES

Flights to Corsica...

You can fly direct to Corsica from London, Stansted, Bristol, Birmingham, East Midlands, Manchester and Edinburgh. Flight time is less than 2 hours from London and about 3 and a half hours from Scotland. Some of these routes only travel to one airport on the island, so it's important to think about where you will be staying when you get there because having to drive for 4 or 5 hours to reach your accommodation on arrival will not be a good start to your holiday. As a general rule, if you are staying in the north of the island, you should fly into Calvi or Bastia. For holidays in south Corsica, Figari is ideal, but depending on whereabouts you are staying, your second choice would either be Ajaccio (south west) or Bastia (south east).

Finding suitable flights at a good rate can sometimes prove difficult, particularly for a little known destination like Corsica. directCorsica offers cheap flights to Corsica with a further 5% discount for any seats requested online via their website. Click HERE for cheap flights to Corsica.

Of course, charter flights are not the only way to get to Corsica.

For 2008, EASYJET will operate direct low cost flights from Gatwick to Bastia in the north, and Ajaccio in the south. both flights will run just once a week on Sundays. The Ajaccio flight in particular is often quite reasonably priced for clients who want to stay in the south of the island.

If you want travel on a different day of the week, or out of the charter season, various airlines operate low cost flights to both Nice and Marseille (best booked online). Click HERE for a list of regional flights with low cost airlines.

AIR CORSICA Connecting flights from mainland France to Calvi, Bastia, Ajaccio or Figari can be booked through Air France by clicking the link on the left. However, if you are travelling with children, students or as a family, you do sometimes find that other fares are available via their call centre that maybe cheaper for you. There is also a new website www.aircorsica.com where you can book connecting flights direct with CCM Airline

It is worth bearing in mind that pretty much all the self catering properties in Corsica are let on a Sunday to Sunday basis, but at hotels you can arrive any day and stay for any duration (subject to availability), so there is the possibility of mid-week arrivals, short breaks or even 11 night holidays

Ferries to Corsica...

If you enjoy travelling and want to try something different, why not drive to Corsica. This is only really practical if you plan to stay for 2 weeks or more as you will spend a couple of days traveling in either direction. This is something that I like to do myself, and I have found that the easiest route is to use the tunnel to Calais and then head down via Reims, Dijon, Lyon and Marseille.

Ihave found that the Marseille crossings suit me best because I like to travel overnight (and it is nearer to Calais), but this does mean travelling with SNCM or Meridionale. The new 'cruise' ferries are huge and very comfortable, but some of the older/freight boats can be a little basic.

The other option is to take Corsica Ferries who offer high speed crossings from Nice to Calvi, Bastia and Ajaccio, as well as sailings from Toulon to Ile Rousse, Ajaccio and Bastia. The Corsica ferries ships are modern and comfortable, and they are rapidly replacing SNCM as the company of choice for crossing from mainland France to Corsica.

Crossing times will vary depending on where you travel from and to. The shortest crossing is from Nice to Calvi, and the high speed boats can now do this in less than 4 hours. Crossings from Marseille are generally overnight or take all day. Check the websites for full timetable information.

When we are two drivers, we tend to drive straight through swapping every 2 hours or so, so you don't get too tired or bored (French Motoways are very good but not very interesting). When I am driving alone I tend to stop off at Beaune (or Dijon) which is just a little under half way, and I've found a nice Ibis there where the parking is easy, but you can get into the town in just a few minutes. Beaune is beautiful, and if you're traveling with kids, you'd probably want to break your journey en route anyway. Tolls cost approx. 75 euros each way from Calais through to Marseille and approximately 100 euros from Calais through to Nice, but do bear in mind that this can, and does, change often. En-route hotels can be booked through Accor at very reasonable prices (even during the summer) - simply click the link below underneath.

One of our guests also suggested the following;

We live just under 3 hours drive from Dover. We set out early on the Friday morning and drove to Dover and caught the 10.00am Norfolk Line sailing to Dunkerque. We then drove the autoroute into Belgium, passing around Bruxelles and then down to Luxembourg. From there, we drove down back into France towards Metz, before heading eastwards to Strasbourg where we stayed overnight. The following day we drove to the Swiss border at Basel and then through Switzerland passing Luzern, the St Gotthard Tunnel, Lugano, to the Italian border at Chiasso. We then used the autostrada passing west of Milan, south of Alessandria, arriving at the port of Savona on the Mediterranean coast on Saturday evening. From here, we took the 11pm overnight Corsica Ferries sailing to Bastia which arrived at 7am on the Sunday morning. This then allowed a leisurely day's drive through Corsica to our apartment near Propriano. Incidentally, a cabin on the ferry is much cheaper than an overnight hotel.

There are two main advantages of taking this route.

Although being almost exclusively on motorway/autoroute/autostrada, there are relatively few tolls. The only ones are Metz - Strasbourg 11.30 euros and Chiasso - Savona 13.80 euros (prices correct July 2008). To use the Swiss motorways, you need to purchase a 'vignette' which is valid to 31st January of the year following it's purchase. These cost 40 Swiss francs or 30 euros. We already had one from visiting Bern in January and many other people may have one from winter skiing trips. Even if you have to purchase a vignette on the way to Corsica, you don't have to pay anything on your way back home through Switzerland!
Although both Luxembourg & Switzerland are expensive countries to live in, both governments levy far less tax on petrol than the UK, France, Belgium or Italy. Therefore by travelling this route, you can fill up with cheap fuel in Luxembourg & Switzerland en route.

The other advantages of having your own car are:-

You can take what you want with you without having to worry about airport security or items being damaged in transit in the hold of an aircraft. My wife was able to take her expensive camera equipment and I could take my walking poles.
My car, a Renault Scenic, has air conditioning which was highly useful in the warmth of Corsica. To hire the equivalent model in Corsica is much more expensive than a basic two door compact & even that, for two weeks, is quite pricey.
You can bring back what you want such as bottles of Corsican wine!!!!!
In a Corsican registered hire car, it is easy to be mistaken for a local by other Corsican drivers. In a British registered right-hand drive car, everyone gave us a wide berth!

En-route hotels can be booked through Accor at very reasonable prices (even during the summer) - simply click the link below to check availability and book.

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