A seven-day loop from Ajaccio: the far south, the mountains of Bavella and Corte, then the Gulf of Porto.
A week in Corsica is spent on the road. This loop starts and ends in Ajaccio: first the far south, from Sartène to Bonifacio and the beaches of Porto-Vecchio, then the mountains, over the Bavella pass and through Corte, and finally the Gulf of Porto, with Scandola and the Calanques de Piana. Ajaccio has an airport and a ferry terminal: you arrive there by plane or ferry and return the car there.
Allow about 510 km and 9 hr 30 min of driving over the week, outside summer and without stops, with 1 hr 30 min to 2 hr 45 min on the road between one town and the next. It is a brisk pace: only two nights in the same place, in Bonifacio, for the boat day to the Lavezzi.
In summer, the roads are slow: camper vans, coaches, narrow mountain roads and villages to drive through make every journey longer. Build some slack into the times on this page, and book your ferry and hire car early. Useful links: the ferry crossing, car hire and journey times in Corsica.
The north is not part of this loop. To add Bastia, Cap Corse and the Balagne, follow Corsica in 10 days, which repeats the first five days and goes all the way round the island.
Driving times calculated with OSRM, rounded to the nearest quarter of an hour, outside summer and without stops. Each evening, the name of the town leads to its neighbourhoods and our accommodation picks.
Drop your bags in Ajaccio and set off on foot: Place Foch and its market, Rue Fesch up to the palace of the same name, then the Bonaparte house and the cathedral, below the citadel. A morning is enough for the main sights. Late in the day, take the Sanguinaires road out to the Parata tower: this is where people watch the sun go down behind the islands.
Old town · Bonaparte house · Sanguinaires islands
An hour’s drive takes you to Propriano, at the head of the Gulf of Valinco, for a break by the harbour. A quarter of an hour further on is Sartène, ‘the most Corsican of Corsican towns’ according to Prosper Mérimée: go in by Place de la Libération and pass under the town hall into the old Manighedda quarter. Another quarter of an hour and the Lion of Roccapina appears above its bay, seen from the viewpoint on the RT40: park in the lay-by, never on the bends. Bonifacio is then only half an hour away.
Propriano · Sartène · Roccapina
In the morning, catch the boat to the Lavezzi islands from the harbour: a crossing of about 30 minutes, then the granite coves of Lavezzu island. Take the first boat of the day, and check that the trip actually lands on the island. In the afternoon, climb to the upper town of Bonifacio, set on its limestone headland: the Genoa gate, the church of Sainte-Marie-Majeure, the view over the cliffs and the King of Aragon’s staircase.
Lavezzi islands · Upper town · Cliffs
Half an hour by road brings you to the bay of Rondinara, an almost enclosed round cove where the water stays calm and shallow; the last few kilometres, after Suartone, are narrow. Another half hour and you reach Palombaggia: two kilometres of sand facing the Cerbicale islands. In the evening, Porto-Vecchio is a quarter of an hour away: have dinner in the upper town, behind the Genoese ramparts.
Rondinara · Palombaggia · Citadel
The longest day on the road. Set off early up through the Ospedale forest to the Bavella pass, at 1,218 m (1 hr): in July and August, get there before 9 am, as the car park fills quickly. If you are not walking, the view from the pass is enough; with two hours to spare, do the Trou de la Bombe walk. Then drive down towards Solenzara, follow the east coast and take the Aléria road to Corte (1 hr 45 min).
Bavella pass · Trou de la Bombe · Alta Rocca
In the morning, walk up to the citadel of Corte, capital of Pascal Paoli’s Corsica: the Museum of Corsica, then the viewpoint over the Tavignano. Then take the D84: half an hour to the gorges of the Scala di Santa Regina, where you can only park in the passing places, and another half hour to the Vergio pass, at 1,477 m. The road drops down through the laricio pines of the Aïtone forest: swim in the rock pools of the torrent, near Évisa, then Porto is half an hour further down.
Corte citadel · Niolu · Laricio pines
In the morning, while the sea is calm, board a boat at the marina of Porto for the Scandola reserve: trips last 1 hr 30 min to 2 hr 30 min, or 3 hours or more with a stop at Girolata. Then take the D81 again, which crosses the Calanques de Piana a quarter of an hour further on: do not stop on the road, park at the Tête de Chien viewpoint. Ajaccio is 1 hr 15 min away, via Cargèse.
Scandola · Calanques de Piana · Tête de Chien
For the south, the mountains and the west coast, yes, as long as you accept some days on the road: this loop covers about 510 km and 9 hr 30 min of driving, outside summer and without stops. The north (Bastia, Cap Corse, the Balagne) needs a few more days: that is the 10-day tour of the island. With 4 or 5 days, keep only days 1 to 4, from Ajaccio to Porto-Vecchio, and fly home from Figari airport.
From Ajaccio, head south first: that keeps the mountains for the middle of the trip and ends with the Gulf of Porto, about 1 hr 30 min from Ajaccio. If you arrive in Bastia, do the same loop from Corte, about 1 hr 15 min from the port and 1 hr from Bastia-Poretta airport. From Figari airport, start in Bonifacio, three quarters of an hour away. Times are outside summer and without stops.
Yes. The train links Ajaccio, Corte and Bastia, and the Balagne, but no line serves the south, and a loop like this one, with mountain passes and beaches at the end of minor roads, can only be done by car. The hire companies are based at the airports: see our page on car hire in Corsica, and book as soon as you have your tickets.
One night in Ajaccio, two in Bonifacio (for the Lavezzi day), then one each in Porto-Vecchio, Corte and Porto. Each stage of the timeline links to the town’s neighbourhoods and our accommodation picks, for example where to stay in Bonifacio.
May, June and September are the best months: the sea is warm enough to swim, and the roads and sights are less busy than in July and August. See when to go to Corsica.
