Ferry to Corsica

vee5

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Not been to Corsica before so it's time to make it happen, although probably not until early September 2022. I can see loads of ferry routes operated by Corsica Ferries but even though their web site refers to day and night crossings the only ones coming up on their website for early September are night crossings, which I'm trying to avoid as I'll be with the other half who isn't good with ferries and especially not night crossings. Looks like Moby lines do a day crossing from Genoa but I can't find any reports from anyone that has used that service. Any one got any useful tips on Corsica ferries, especially from Genoa?

Also, it looks like there are plenty of stand out roads on Corsica but it's always good to get a recommendation...

Oh and as I'll be travelling with the other half it would be great to hear about any comfy small hotels on the island - won't get away with roughing it on this trip ;)

Ta
 
In other words, you want the whole nine yards.

I have been once. Then we had a day time crossing from Nice.

It pissed down most of the time we spent there, whilst the rest of France basked in hot summer sun. I remember this only because I called my father, not a million miles away in Provence, who asked what the noise was. I replied it that it was torrential rain. He laughed and said it was as as hot as hell with him.

As regards hotel(s) what and where do you fancy? Beach? Mountain? North end? South end? In the middle? Safe parking?

You have given yourself a long run up and have had a year and a half of being all but cooped up, but hey, here’s something to get you going….

2d20f95b25924194f26e983cd6a5ea94.png


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I have some routes carved into BaseCamp, I’ll see if I can find them.

…… now it’s your turn.
 
Yes there are day Crossings for Bastia, but I think only the ferries leaving from Livorno. I’ve sailed both from Livorno (daytime) and Genova (overnight).

One word of warning on the overnight service: they wake you up at 6am as you have to vacate the cabins early.

Also, it looks like there are plenty of stand out roads on Corsica but it's always good to get a recommendation...

Almost everywhere you'll go in Corsica will be a blast on a motorcycle.
It really depends on what you want to do, as Wapping asks. The inner area of Corsica is very interesting as well as the seaside. I've spent a couple of days up to Corte too and it is an interesting ride/drive up and around there (not to mention walks in the area).

But, trust me, even without planning the roads are amazing.

I should have some routes on my Basecamp.
 
I have just Googled Nice to Corsica ferries and can find day time crossings, using the high speed boat thing. They look pretty similar to the thing we took.
 
I have memories of the ferry deck paint being in a high gloss finish (2011). Combined with a damp covering and a fully loaded, two up 1600, and an indecisive deck crew in regards to where they wanted you to be, it was a real laugh…..
Corsica and Sardinia where super places to ride though.
 
In other words, you want the whole nine yards.

I have been once. Then we had a day time crossing from Nice.

It pissed down most of the time we spent there, whilst the rest of France basked in hot summer sun. I remember this only because I called my father, not a million miles away in Provence, who asked what the noise was. I replied it that it was torrential rain. He laughed and said it was as as hot as hell with him.

As regards hotel(s) what and where do you fancy? Beach? Mountain? North end? South end? In the middle? Safe parking?

You have given yourself a long run up and have had a year and a half of being all but cooped up….. now it’s your turn.

I admit this looks like a lazy request :whip I do indeed have the benefit of a long time to plan it, just suffering from choice overload at the moment so please forgive the open criteria :comfort

To avoid analysis paralysis I'll start with deciding on a ferry route and then work out a route & digs from there. Completely open at this point on areas but would prefer somewhere quiet. I'm not sure all the September ferry schedules are loaded yet but it does look like the day crossings from France only run until August. After peak season (which I will avoid) ends, they seem to be night crossings only. So Genoa Bastia on Moby looks like the only day crossing option for my trip.

Also plenty of time to make offerings to the Corsican weather gods....:bow
 
As el-minio says, don't worry about planning 'good roads', they are all amazing, you can't go wrong.

Certainly oop north and the interior (where I was) you will get nowhere fast so allow twice as long as you'd expect to get anywhere.

I think Corsica rates as the best place I have been on a bike and it is a great mash up of all the best of France and Italy in one.

Although I wrote this 10 years ago :eek: have a read to get a flavour of the place LINKY

Andres
 
Google: motorcycle Corsica or Motorrad touren korsika * and hit the translate button. Here’s a very basic sample, which took just minutes on an iPad. It is that easy.

First a vey basic few days, all in the north:

https://de.france.fr/de/korsika/liste/die-schoensten-motorradtouren-auf-korsika

An eight day tour, which would be so easy to recreate:

https://korsika-motorradtouren.ch/die-tour-2021/

https://www.motorradonline.de/reise/unterwegs-korsika-erste-begegnung/ Which will lead you to an all but instant 14 day holiday, all created for you:

97d1405fc5a61058cef152b80131282e.png


And proof that it translates pretty well at the touch of a keypad:

cec726c39b6bd1777d7965a84eae4de9.png




In short, get a map or two, surf about, buy a guide book and use some imagination. It’s not so hard when you get going, trust me. But you do have to do a bit of work. That’s OK as you know yiu, much better than we know you, so you’ll know what you want to get out of your holiday.

Richard

:beerjug:

* The Germans do far more touring than the insular Brits ever do.
 
We took the night ferry from Nice to Porto Vechio, get a cabin, it’s not too expensive and at least you have your own toilet and shower and you can gonk down for a few hours

We basically followed the coast around clockwise (so you’re on the inside lane for the mountain roads;)) down to Bonifacio and then all the way up the west coast taking the ferry back from L’IleRousse, it’s a shorter crossing so we just crashed out on the deck for a couple of hours (daytime)

The best roads (I believe) are up the west coast, the views are stunning and the roads are not too torturous, make sure you ride through the Calanques de Piana on the way up between Piana and Porto

Once you head inland the roads get tighter and twistier and some have more potholes than tarmac, in places I was down to walking pace on a GS (2 up)
 
Also plenty of time to make offerings to the Corsican weather gods....:bow

I've been there a few times (sailboat, car, motorbike) and it's safe to say Wapping got real unlucky.

Last time, as I mentioned, was 2019. Last decent vacation pre-Covid. There is a few bits here (short sleeves bits :D ).
Don't worry, all my vacation videos are one minute long, no more :D

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dq44fR5fITE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As a rule of thumb, remember that the west side of Corsica is a bit "wilder", nicer.


Just checked Basecamp, I only have the tracks from the 2019 trip. It was a week and we didn't move much from around the north (we were staying in a nice Airbnb just outside Bastia).
corsica-routes.png


The routes I followed were mostly to reach beaches and coves, but still amazing rides.


One last note: keep in mind that Genova to Livorno is just a few extra hours on the motorway. If your wife doesn't like the ferry, it might be worth doing a few extra miles on the road.
Sailing from there is significantly shorter.
Also saves you from:

a) driving through Genova (and I say this as an Italian :D )
b) going though Genova's port (Piombino is a bit better IMHO)
 
Nice little video. It’s not often that I say that.


The weather was extraordinary. The French Meteo on the TV had suns stuck all over Metropolitan France…. Except Corsica, which had a black cloud, lightning, three bars of rain, plonked right on top of the island. And there it sat.
 
As el-minio says, don't worry about planning 'good roads', they are all amazing, you can't go wrong.

Certainly oop north and the interior (where I was) you will get nowhere fast so allow twice as long as you'd expect to get anywhere.

I think Corsica rates as the best place I have been on a bike and it is a great mash up of all the best of France and Italy in one.

Andres

Yep totally agree with that although the twice as long estimate may be a bit optimistic!
 
iirc I did the day crossing from Nice to Calvi, then rode down to the hotel Corsica in Calvi for a few days, as it was previously recommended on here, the hotel is geared up to accommodate bikers and there`s garage space to park under cover, and its a short walk to the beach and resturants. From there you can cover most of the North, west, and central areas in day rides. I`d avoid riding the D81B road from calvi, although its secenic cliff top route its a PITA to ride, instead take the more direct inland D81.
I didn`t bother heading to Bonifacio as I wasn`t intending to take the ferry to Sardinia. But I did ride as far south to Porto Pollo before riding North through the centre to Bastia for the ferry to italy. IIRC The hotels in Porto Pollo where eye wateringly expensive so bear that in mind if you are heading that way. Somewhere I have the Mapsource files for the ride out loops, If I can find them later I`ll post a drop box link
 
One of my favourite destinations !

Its a real polarised mix of playboy ports and C18th mountains. We would often go there from Nice, but leave there to Tuscany and then have a few days in Sienna. Home is North back to the Alps. Thats a super round trip.

Bonifacio well worth a visit. Go to the Citadelle for a wander :thumb2

There are loads of seaside hotels, and I'll not bore you with where we stayed, but if you want a few days off the bike in complete tranquility up in the mountains, then go here ;


https://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/pa...6a9d10a0111;type=total;ucfs=1;sig=v1ygTx3Cjt&

Its charming, very quiet, you can do day trips on the bike of you want or just have a day off and chill by the pool. Food there was amazing last time I went. Its a good way of mixing coastal stuff with something in land. River at the bottom of the hotel for a cold swim if you're brave enough!

<a href="https://app.photobucket.com/u/mannlamb/a/40dd65c9-5a8e-47d6-83b3-495b723cb92d/p/1b73e25c-8230-4e4c-aab6-063f8cc7b6d7" target="_blank"><img src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/f38/mannlamb/corsica/.highres/null_zpsfa1ba9f1.jpg?width=960&height=720&fit=bounds" border="0" /></a>



<a href="https://gileslamb.smugmug.com/Corsica/i-wVjVQk3/A"><img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Corsica/i-wVjVQk3/0/a81e0d45/L/073-L.jpg" alt=""></a>

<a href="https://gileslamb.smugmug.com/Corsica/i-nDvVmLJ/A"><img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Corsica/i-nDvVmLJ/0/6ea01a14/L/048-L.jpg" alt=""></a>


<a href="https://app.photobucket.com/u/mannlamb/a/40dd65c9-5a8e-47d6-83b3-495b723cb92d/p/60461897-16f2-44d9-b25e-0a1e880b0ff4" target="_blank"><img src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/f38/mannlamb/corsica/.highres/212_zpsb760e9ad.jpg?width=960&height=720&fit=bounds" border="0" alt="212_zpsb760e9ad"/></a>

<a href="https://app.photobucket.com/u/mannlamb/a/40dd65c9-5a8e-47d6-83b3-495b723cb92d/p/2269a383-e7cd-4b7e-b0c7-92fad08319be" target="_blank"><img src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/f38/mannlamb/corsica/.highres/228_zps03311f6c.jpg?width=960&height=720&fit=bounds" border="0" alt="228_zps03311f6c"/></a>
 
I was there about a month ago for two weeks, still have 21 hours of gopro video to edit. The ferry from Toulon to Ajjacio is fine, but on the night crossing back we had a cabin. we were two bikes, my 2020 1250RS and the GFs 2021 S1000XR.
Corsica is a mecca for French bikers, every biker that I know has been there at least once.
We just rode and booked a hotel every day, and found the accommodation to be a very high standard.
We shall be going back in a year or so. Only grind for us is the 700 km ride on the autoroutes to Toulon but, as with all French autoroutes, it is a fast journey and only takes half a day.
The weather was fantastic for the whole two weeks.
 
Echoing what has been said already. I've been several times. And crossed to Sardinia too from Corsica. Whatever you end up doing, you will never forget it. Its got it all. Very rarely rains there, In fact I never see a cloud. Makes me want to go again !
Corsica Sardinia Ferries - Nice - Bastia
Ajaccio - Toulon
 

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