The Easiest Way to Get to Corsica – Ferry, Plane or Train?

Taking your family on holiday to Corsica? Travel can be stressful, so here’s what you should know about getting to the island of Corsica for your holiday.

The easiest way to get to Corsica is by plane. Air travel offers the least complications of any of the entry methods. It’s faster, and it’s not as reliant on weather as ferries are. There are four airports, giving convenient access to most of the island.

But when you’re trying to have a good time with your family, the fastest or easiest way isn’t necessarily the best way. You might want to take the scenic route or to give the kids an opportunity to stretch their legs, so let’s look at your options.

Plane

Air travel is the most convenient way to get to Corsica. Several airlines serve Corsica. Each of Corsica’s airports has rental car facilities, as well as taxi services that take you to your next stop. However if you want a taxi from the Figari Sud-Corse Airport, you’re going to need to book it ahead of time.

The airports in Corsica correspond to many cities throughout Europe, especially in France, Germany, and Great Britain. Each airport in Corsica has French passport enforcement.

You won’t be able to get a direct flight to Corsica from every airport in Europe, but reaching to an airport that does offer direct flights to Corsica shouldn’t be a huge issue.

Airports in Corsica

You can easily search for flights using the below widget that is powered by Kiwi, just add and change the details to search.

Flight Travel Time From France

Departing Airport	Travel Time
Nice	40 min
Marseille	50 min
Lyon	1 h 30 min
Paris, France	1 h 35 min
Nantes	3 h 55 min

Flight Travel Time From United Kingdom

Departing Airport	Travel Time
London	4 h
Birmingham	6 h 55 min
Manchester	6 h 55 min
Newcastle upon Tyne	7 h 30 min
Edinburgh	7 h 50 min

Flight Travel Time From Germany

Departing Airport	Travel Time
Hamburg	5 h 45 min
Munich	5 h 55 min
Berlin	6 h 5 min
Frankfurt	6 h 40 min
Düsseldorf	6 h 50 min

Flight Travel Time From Italy

Departing Airport	Travel Time
Rome	3 h 40 min
Venice	6 h
Milan	6 h 10 min
Florence	6 h 10 min
Bologna	6 h 10 min

Flight Travel Time From Other Countries

Departing Airport	Travel Time
Brussels, Belgium	2 h 4 min
Geneva, Switzerland	5 h 45 min
Oslo, Norway	8 h 25 min

Ferry

For a beautiful trip and plenty of room for flexibility, booking a ride on a ferry can be an excellent choice. Many ferries visit Corsica each day, coming from ports in mainland France and Italy, as well as Sardinia.

However, it’s important to realise that ferries can take a long time to make the crossing. Some take less than 2 hours, and most crossings take between 6 to 12 hours. Crossings from France take the most time. If you want to spend the time enjoying the view, then this may not be a problem, but young children might have a hard time being stuck on a boat for so long.

On the other hand, you may be able to get a private cabin on the ferry where you can play board games or watch a movie together.

If you decide that you want to travel to Corsica via ferry, you should look through the ferry options using Direct Ferries ahead of time. Direct Ferries lists all the ferry companies that travel to Corsica, making it a convenient one stop shop where to search for tickets.

Ferry prices vary by the day, and though some ferries sail many times each week, some make the crossing 3 or less times per week. Take a look at the options for your date of travel, and keep in mind that the fastest route available to you may not necessarily be the cheapest.

Direct ferries will also provide options for ferries if you intend to travel with a car. However if you are on foot, then you’re going to have to think about transportation, both to your departure port and on the island.

Corsica buses don’t run very frequently, though you may be able to hire a car. Discover Cars are a good company to use because you can get some good deals from most companies that are present in Corsica.

Ferries From Sardinia

Departing Port	Corsica Arrival Port	Travel Time
Santa Teresa di Gallura	Bonifacio	1 h
Porto Torres	Ajaccio	4 h 30 min
Porto Torres	Porto Vecchio	4 h 30 min
Golfo Aranci	Bastia	5 h

Ferries From France

Departing Port	Corsica Arrival Port	Travel Time
Nice	Ile Rousse	4 h 15 min
Nice	Bastia	6 h
Nice	Ajaccio	6 h 45 min
Toulon	Ajaccio	7 h
Toulon	Ile Rousse	7 h
Toulon	Bastia	8 h 30 min
Marseille	Ile Rousse	11 h
Marseille	Bastia	11 h 30 min
Marseille	Ajaccio	11 h 45 min
Toulon	Porto Vecchio	12 h
Marseille	Propiano	12 h 15 min
Nice	Porto Vecchio	13 h
Marseille	Porto Vecchio	14 h

Ferries From Italy

Departing Port	Corsica Arrival Port	Travel Time
Portoferraio	Bastia	1 h 30 min
Piombino	Bastia	2 h 45 min
Livorno	Bastia	4 h 30 min
Livorno	Ile Rousse	5 h 30 min
Savona	Bastia	5 h 30 min
Savona	Ile Rousse	8 h 30 min
Genoa	Bastia	10 h
Livorno	Porto Vecchio	10 h

Train

Since Corsica is a distance from the mainland, you can’t ride a train to get to the island. You can take a train into Marseille and then take a ferry from there. To check trains and buses to get to Marseille you can use Omio to figure out the journey and cost.

However that’s only if you want to make an experience out of the travel itself. The ferry crossing from Marseille takes nearly 12 hours. Or you could fly from Marseille to Corsica, which only takes 50 minutes on the plane.

But just because it’s not a viable option to get to the island itself doesn’t mean you won’t be able to make any use of trains on your holiday to Corsica. Trains make up a good part of the transportation on the island itself, and you can get the timetables (in French) on the Chemin be Fer de la Corse website.