I spent a most enjoyable week in Corsica this May. We had our own car so were able to travel extensively. You can fly from the UK or take your own car and cross from Italy or the South of France. At present I suggest you avoid using SNCM ferries, as they are involved in an on-going dispute which may lead to cancellation of services at short notice.

Corsica has good departmental tourist offices (Haute Corse and Corse du Sud) and helpful and friendly town tourist offices, all of whom can send you literature on the surrounding area, accommodation and facilities.

What in particular do you want to know? It's certainly worth visiting, but I would recommend high season when the prices are astronomical and it is bursting at the seams with French holiday makers from the mainland.

We are seriously looking at Corsica this year. We are looking for a place which is nice but not too chic (expensive), nice sandy beach with shallow, warm sea.

any advice?

Try Ajaccio for a start as the beaches are on the west coast and seem less windy, otherwise why not try the French National Tourist Office - there is plenty of info available on Corsica (La Corse).

Hi could anyone tell me what there is to do in a few hours (4-5) in corsica? we are going on a Cruise and this is a port of call, would like ideas with only being there for a short time.
Thanks Liz.

Hi - we've called at Ajaccio on a cruise a couple of times. There is a road train which runs from close to the port which takes you around the town and its surroundings. There is also a really nice pedestrianised shopping street with some good shopping to be had!

Gill

Hi Gill
We go in 3 weeks on Cruise is it all within walking distance of ships port?
We dont really want to waste time and also dont want to pay a lot of money for the ship tours if we can do ourself.
We are going to Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Menorca and Rome if you could help with that also. We have booked with ship for Rome as it is so spread out.
Thanks Liz.

Hi Liz - sorry its taken me a while to get back to you - just returned from holiday in Lake Garda!

Ajjaccio is definately easy to do on foot from a cruise ship - have done so a couple of times myself. Menorca ditto - Mahon is very pretty and easy to do as well -apart from a bit of a climb up some steps to get into the town centre.

We have called into Palermo before, which was ok - ish, but otherwise I don't remember the ports we called into in Sardinia and Sicily as being that good - however, the ships tend to vary the ports of call on these islands, so I can't speak for all of them. Did a lovely ships tour to Taormina in Sicily, which I would recommend. Have a look at the threads on the cruise discussion forums on this site, if you haven't already done so.

Which ship are you going on? We love cruising and have just booked a med cruise for next summer, on the Thomson Spirit.

Get back to me if you have any more questions.

Gill