Mediterranean France
Corsica
A first Corsica trip for UK travellers: which of the four airports to fly into, the Ajaccio–Bonifacio–Calvi loop, real ferry and drive times, and why you'll want a hire car.
In short
Corsica at a glance
Corsica is France's wild, mountainous Mediterranean island — turquoise coves and granite peaks packed onto a place barely 180km top to bottom, yet a drive that takes far longer than the map suggests because the roads twist. The classic first trip is a one-week self-drive loop: fly into Ajaccio in the west or Figari in the south, swing round Bonifacio's white cliffs, the Aiguilles de Bavella and the beaches of Porto-Vecchio, then up the west coast to Calvi. You need a hire car — buses are sparse and the best beaches and villages aren't on any train line. Allow 7 days for a relaxed loop, 10 if you want to slow down and swim.
Corsica is the bit of France that doesn’t feel like France: a granite mountain range dropped into the Mediterranean, with its own language, its own fierce sense of itself, and beaches that rival the Caribbean tucked under 2,000-metre peaks. It belongs to France but sits closer to Italy, and the trip people picture — turquoise coves, the white cliffs of Bonifacio, red granite spires at Piana — is real, but it’s spread around the edge of a wild interior that takes far longer to drive than any map suggests.
The mistake first-timers make is underestimating the distances. The island looks small, and it is — barely 180km top to bottom — but almost every road is a mountain road, so you’ll average 40–50km/h and a journey that looks like an hour eats half a morning. That’s why the first two decisions matter so much: which of the four airports you fly into, and accepting from the start that you need a hire car. Pick an airport near the region you most want, book the car before you fly, and plan a loop rather than darting back and forth — and you’ll spend your week swimming instead of stuck on hairpins.
The route
A relaxed one-week anticlockwise loop that links the south's beaches and Bonifacio with the west coast's Calanques and Calvi, from an Ajaccio start. Drive times are real Corsican estimates — slower than the distances suggest, because almost every road is a mountain road.
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Days 1–2
Ajaccio & the west
Pick up the hire car at Ajaccio airport (AJA), 8km south of town. Napoleon's birthplace city makes an easy first base: the old town, the Maison Bonaparte and a half-day boat trip to the Sanguinaires islands at sunset. Stock up before you leave — the south coast beach villages are pricier and thinner on shops.
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Days 3–4
Bonifacio & Porto-Vecchio
Around 2h30 south from Ajaccio (137km but slow). Bonifacio's old town sits on white limestone cliffs above a fjord-like harbour — take the boat to the grottoes and the Lavezzi islands. Base near Porto-Vecchio for the headline beaches: Palombaggia and Santa Giulia, both fine pale sand and shallow turquoise water.
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Day 5
Corte & the mountains
Cut inland to Corte, the old island capital, about 1h30 from Porto-Vecchio through the Bavella pass. The Restonica gorge above town has river pools to swim in and the start of mountain trails — a complete change of scene from the coast, and far cooler in midsummer.
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Days 6–7
Calvi & the Calanques de Piana
Head to the northwest via the Calanques de Piana — a stretch of fire-red granite spires plunging into the sea, one of the great Corsican drives (go early, the single-track road jams). Finish in Calvi: a Genoese citadel, a long curving beach and an airport (CLY) you can fly home from to close the loop.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Ajaccio & the west coast
££ mid-rangeThe best all-round first base — an airport, a real working city with shops and restaurants, and quick access to the Sanguinaires islands and the Calanques de Piana up the coast. Less polished than the south but better value and more authentically Corsican.
Best for: First-timers, a balanced loop, the west coast Calanques
Porto-Vecchio & the south
£££ premiumThe beach capital: Palombaggia and Santa Giulia are the island's most famous sands, and Bonifacio is a half-hour away. This is where prices peak in August and where the smartest resorts cluster — book early or come in the shoulder season.
Best for: Beaches, families, Bonifacio day trips
Calvi & the Balagne
££ mid-rangeThe northwest's resort town — a beach backed by a Genoese citadel, a marina full of restaurants and the hill villages of the Balagne behind. Good for a fly-in beach week if you skip the full loop, with its own airport (CLY) and a scenic coastal railway down to L'Île-Rousse.
Best for: A fly-in beach base, the Balagne villages, no-loop trips
Getting around Corsica
Hire a car — this is non-negotiable for a touring trip, as Corsica's buses are infrequent and don't reach most beaches or hill villages. Budget for slow going: the island is only about 180km north to south, but the constant mountain bends mean you'll average 40–50km/h, so a 130km drive can take three hours. A week's small hire car booked ahead runs around £200–£350 in shoulder season and more in August; petrol is dearer than the mainland (budget roughly £1.60–£1.75 a litre) and stations thin out in the interior, so fill up in towns. The one rail line (the 'Trinighellu' micheline) is a scenic narrow-gauge run from Ajaccio to Bastia via Corte and a separate coastal branch from Calvi to L'Île-Rousse — charming, but a sightseeing ride rather than a way to tour the island. If you bring your own car on the ferry from Nice, Toulon or Marseille, you skip the hire-car cost entirely on a longer trip.
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