The mistake with Corsica is the map.
It looks like an island you could loop in three days. It is a hundred and eighty kilometres long with a mountain range down the middle, so the roads go around rather than across, and they go around slowly. Everything below is built on real driving times rather than distances.
The full picture of the island, and how the regions differ, is in my complete guide to Corsica.
The rule this itinerary is built on
One major move per day, maximum. Three bases in a week, maximum.
Break that and the trip becomes a driving holiday you did not book. Keep it and the driving becomes the best part, because the coast road here is genuinely one of the great ones.
Driving times, honestly
These are real, not optimistic, and they assume you do not stop.
- Figari airport to Bonifacio: 25 minutes
- Figari to Porto-Vecchio: 30 minutes
- Porto-Vecchio to Bonifacio: 40 minutes
- Porto-Vecchio to Ajaccio: 2 hours 30
- Ajaccio to Porto: 2 hours, and it is a serious road
- Porto to Calvi: 2 hours 30
- Calvi to Bastia: 2 hours 15
- Bastia to Corte: 1 hour 15
Add half again to every one of these in August, and add more for stopping, which you will.
The seven day version, south to north
The one I would book for a first trip.
Day 1. Fly into Figari, base in Porto-Vecchio. Land, collect the car, and go no further than dinner. The old town is up the hill and pleasant in the evening.
Day 2. Beaches. Palombaggia in the morning before the car park fills, Santa Giulia or Rondinara in the afternoon. Which is which is in the best beaches in Corsica.
Day 3. Bonifacio. Forty minutes down. Give it the whole day: the citadel, the staircase in the cliff, and a boat out to the Lavezzi islands or into the caves. Full detail in Bonifacio.
Day 4. Drive to Porto. The long one, four to five hours with the stops you will want on the west coast. Base in Porto or Piana.
Day 5. The Gulf. A boat to Scandola and the Calanques, four to five hours out of Porto harbour. Drive the Calanques road at sunset afterwards, which is when the rock burns orange. See Scandola and the Gulf of Porto.
Day 6. Drive to Calvi. Two and a half hours through the Balagne. Citadel, beach, and a dinner on the quay.
Day 7. Balagne villages, then fly from Calvi. Or drive to Bastia if that is your airport.
The ten day version
Same spine, with the pressure taken off.
Add a second night in Bonifacio rather than day-tripping it, a day in the Balagne doing the hill villages properly, and either Cap Corse as a full loop from Bastia or Corte and the Restonica gorge for a day inland.
Ten days is where Corsica stops feeling like a tour and starts feeling like a holiday.
Day five, inland
If you only give the interior one day, make it Corte.
An old university town on a rock in the middle of the island, and the capital of Pasquale Paoli’s independent Corsica in the eighteenth century. Behind it the Restonica gorge runs up into the high country with river pools that are startlingly cold and worth it.
It is two hours or more from any coastal base, so it is a whole day. Go early, because the Restonica road is narrow and the small car park at the top fills by mid morning.
The four or five day version
Do not attempt the island. Pick the south.
Fly into Figari, stay once in Porto-Vecchio or Bonifacio, and spend the days on beaches, the cliff town and one boat trip. You will see a third of Corsica properly instead of all of it through a windscreen, which is the better trip by a distance.
Which direction to drive it
Either works, but the light does not.
Going south to north puts the west coast on your left in the afternoon, with the sun ahead of you over the sea. Going north to south does the reverse. For photographs, the west coast in the late afternoon going north is the better run, and the Calanques de Piana at sunset is the single best hour of driving on the island.
What to book before you leave
Very little, but the little matters.
The hire car in August, months out. The boat trip at Scandola or Bonifacio a few days ahead in summer, and be aware that the libeccio wind cancels sailings at any point in the season, so leave a spare day rather than booking it for your last morning.
Accommodation in July and August should be booked as early as you can bear. In June or September a week ahead is usually fine.
Building in a spare day
Corsica punishes tight plans more than most places, for one reason: the wind.
The libeccio comes up from the southwest and shuts the west coast boats down, sometimes for two days at a stretch, at any point in the season. If Scandola is on your list and you have scheduled it for your last morning, you have effectively scheduled it for never.
So leave one flexible day, and put the boat early in the stay rather than late. If the west is blown out, drive the Calanques instead, which needs no weather, and take the boat the following day.
The same logic applies to a beach day at Saleccia and to the Lavezzi crossing. Nothing here is worth building a whole trip around a single fixed morning.
Read also
The Best Beaches in Corsica | Getting to Corsica and Around | Victoria’s Complete Guide to Corsica
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days do you need in Corsica?
Seven is the practical minimum for the coast, split between two or three bases. Ten days lets you add the interior or Cap Corse without rushing. Four or five days works only if you stay in one region, usually the south.
Is a week enough for Corsica?
Yes, for the coastal highlights. A week covers the south, the Gulf of Porto and Calvi comfortably at one major move per day. It is not enough for the whole island including the interior and Cap Corse.
What is the best route around Corsica?
South to north: Figari or Porto-Vecchio for the beaches, Bonifacio for the cliffs, up the west coast to Porto for Scandola and the Calanques, then Calvi and the Balagne. It puts the best coastal driving in the afternoon light.
How long does it take to drive around Corsica?
The full coastal loop is roughly 600km and takes eight to ten hours of pure driving, but nobody does it in one go. Realistically it is four to five driving days spread across a week, because the roads are mountainous and slow.
Do you need to book Corsica in advance?
In July and August, yes, months ahead for hire cars and accommodation. In June or September a week or two is usually enough. Book boat trips a few days ahead in summer and leave a spare day, because wind cancels them.
