Corsica is not your typical beach destination where you’ll spend your entire holiday in one single place. Corsica is an island that’s perfect for travelling far and wide to explore its natural beauty and picturesque mountain villages.

Read our tips on the best ways to get around Corsica.

By car

A car is the best way to get around Corsica. If you’re not arriving in your own car, you’ll find plenty of car hire companies on the island where you can hire one.

Compare car hire prices in Corsica

As travelling by car is the most common way to get around Corsica, we have put together a separate section on Car Hire, where you will also find information on traffic, road regulations and petrol prices. This section will therefore also be useful for those arriving in their own car.

By train, or the ‘Corsican TGV’

The unique railway line connecting Bastia and Ajaccio, with a branch line to Calvi, offers an interesting travel experience; due to the rugged terrain, the route takes some very daring turns in places.

The most interesting section is between the towns of Corte and Vizzavona. Over this relatively short distance, there are more than 30 tunnels and almost 80 bridges.

A train journey through Corsica is one of the most beautiful experiences you can have. The views are truly magical, and the speed of the trains as they wind their way through the central mountain range is so slow that you can really take your time to enjoy the scenery to the full.

Partly because of their low average speed, the local trains are ironically nicknamed the ‘Corsican TGV’, after the legendary high-speed trains that criss-cross the tracks on the French mainland.

Ticket prices and where to buy them?

Tickets for Corsican trains cannot be bought online; you must always purchase them at the station, or from the conductor if there is no ticket office or ticket machine at the station. Prices are relatively high, and examples are given below:

• Ajaccio – Bastia – approx. 22 eur
• Bastia – Corte: approx. 10,50 eur
• Ajaccio – Calvi – approx. 25 eur

You can find the full price list on the Corsican Railways website:cf-corse.corsica/tarifs.

Timetables and service frequencies

Trains on the main line between Bastia and Ajaccio run on average 5 times a day, and 3–4 times a day at weekends and on public holidays. Trains on the branch line to Calvi, which branches off from the main line at Ponte Leccia, run 1–2 times a day.

In the areas surrounding the largest towns – Ajaccio, Bastia and Calvi – there is a more frequent commuter rail service on the following sections:

• Ajaccio – Mezzana
• Bastia – Casamozza
• Calvi – Ile Rousse

Timetables can also be found on the railway company’s website:cf-corse.corsica/horaires. 

Each service has its own column in these timetables, at the top of which is a note indicating the days on which it runs:

• TLJ = runs every day
• SF SDF = runs from Monday to Friday, does not run on public holidays
• SF DF = runs from Monday to Saturday, does not run on public holidays
• sf Sa = runs every day including public holidays, except Saturdays when it does not run
• SA DF = runs only on Saturdays and Sundays

By bus

Several companies operate bus routes in Corsica, but even so, the bus network is relatively sparse and it is best not to rely on it.

Buses only run between the largest towns, usually no more than 2–3 times a day. There are no buses at all to most tourist attractions in the mountains, and most beaches outside the towns are not served by public transport either.

To provide a clearer overview, a private website, corsicabus.org, has been set up, which aims to consolidate the timetables of all bus companies operating in Corsica into a single, unified format.

The website generally keeps the main routes up to date, but it is always a good idea to check the last update date for each individual timetable.

You can always buyticketsfrom the driver; some companies also offer online ticket sales – see below.

Approximate fares on some popular routes:

• Ajaccio – Sartene: 8 eur
• Ajaccio – Bonifacio: 20 eur
• Ajaccio – Porto Vecchio: 20 eur
• Ajaccio – Piana: 12 eur
• Bastia – Porto Vecchio: 24 eur
• Bastia – Saint-Florent: 10 eur
• Calvi – Porto: 18 eur

Some of the bus companies:

• Collectivité de Corse – a public bus network from Ajaccio along the entire west coast as far as Bonifacio and north to the resort of Porto / Ota
• Autocars de l'Île de Beauté – a service connecting Ajaccio with the resort of Porto / Ota, from where it continues on to Calvi. There is also a service from Calvi to Evis
• Balesi Evasion – a direct service from Ajaccio to Porto-Vecchio via the Bavella mountain pass
• Corsicar – a direct route between Bastia, Ile Rousse and Calvi, and between Bastia and Calenzana
• Rapides Bleus – a route from Bastia to Porto-Vecchio and a seasonal route from Porto-Vecchio to Santa Giulia beach

In addition, you can use the local public transport buses in Ajaccio and Bastia:

• Ajaccio public transport
• Bastia public transport

In any case, travelling by bus is only a secondary option and should be your last resort.

By bike

Corsica has something for everyone, whether you’re a fan of road cycling, leisurely mountain biking or extreme downhill cycling. Places in Corsica that are perfect for cycling include Castagniccia, Casinca, Cap Corse, the inland mountains, Alta Rocca, La Balagne and the west coast between Porto and Calvi or Ajaccio and Propriano.

There are several bike hire shops on the island, such as: Bcyclet Corse, Bike-Rental-Corsica, Wild Machja.

On a motorbike

Corsica’s winding roads are a favourite destination for many motorcyclists. You can also hire a motorbike locally, for example through Rentalmotorbikeor Bike-Rental-Corsica.

Hitchhiking

Hitchhiking in Corsica is no problem; you’ll usually wait no longer than fifteen minutes. In many cases, the very first car will stop for you. Hitchhiking is quite a common phenomenon in Corsica, simply due to the large number of tourists and the poor public transport links.