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No time? No yacht? No problem
Weekending in Corsica is easy, but only if you know how, says Tania Cagnoni
Have you ever tried to organise a weekend in Corsica? It's no easy task. Charter flights to the island operate weekly and scheduled flights are either expensive or indirect, leaving short jaunts largely the preserve of those lucky enough to own a yacht.
But there is an alternative. If you take a low-cost flight to Nice, Marseille or Toulon, you can hire a car and cross by ferry. En route to or from your accommodation, you can stop at the idyllic beach at Golfe de Santa Giulia, visit glamorous Porto Vecchio or see an ancient Megalithic site.
Two main operators, SNCM Ferries and Corsica-Sardinia Ferries, sail from Toulon, Nice and Marseille to Bastia, Ajaccio, Porto Vecchio, Propriano, Calvi and Ile Rousse. Prices for a car and passengers are surprisingly reasonable (from 40-70 euros each way) and you can sail into one port and out of another, or book single tickets.
I sailed on Corsica-Sardinia Ferries from Nice to Bastia, leaving at 2.15pm. I'd expected a dodgy Greek Island-style vessel, but the ship was pleasantly swish, more like a cruise liner, with a plunge pool, deck chairs, a play room and three places to eat - a brasserie, a "spaghetteria" and a self-service café offering an excellent escalope Milanese with sauté potatoes for 10 euros.
Arriving at 7.15pm left me about two hours to drive the length of Corsica's best, straightest, fastest road, the N198, in daylight. This red cartographic line follows the east coast from Bastia in the north to Bonifacio in the south, passing through Porto Vecchio. Corsica's few N-roads are wide, two-way rues, with plenty of opportunities to overtake.
But there is an alternative. If you take a low-cost flight to Nice, Marseille or Toulon, you can hire a car and cross by ferry. En route to or from your accommodation, you can stop at the idyllic beach at Golfe de Santa Giulia, visit glamorous Porto Vecchio or see an ancient Megalithic site.
Two main operators, SNCM Ferries and Corsica-Sardinia Ferries, sail from Toulon, Nice and Marseille to Bastia, Ajaccio, Porto Vecchio, Propriano, Calvi and Ile Rousse. Prices for a car and passengers are surprisingly reasonable (from 40-70 euros each way) and you can sail into one port and out of another, or book single tickets.
I sailed on Corsica-Sardinia Ferries from Nice to Bastia, leaving at 2.15pm. I'd expected a dodgy Greek Island-style vessel, but the ship was pleasantly swish, more like a cruise liner, with a plunge pool, deck chairs, a play room and three places to eat - a brasserie, a "spaghetteria" and a self-service café offering an excellent escalope Milanese with sauté potatoes for 10 euros.
Arriving at 7.15pm left me about two hours to drive the length of Corsica's best, straightest, fastest road, the N198, in daylight. This red cartographic line follows the east coast from Bastia in the north to Bonifacio in the south, passing through Porto Vecchio. Corsica's few N-roads are wide, two-way rues, with plenty of opportunities to overtake.
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