Hello everyone, my dears! Today we will talk about how to get from Ajaccio airport to the city and other corners of the island.

Corsican Ajaccio Airport Napoleon Bonaparte - the largest on the island of Corsica. It is used by tourists from many countries of the world.
The convenient location of this air harbor is also popular with tourists. The center of the nearby city of Ajaccio is only 5 kilometers from the airport.

You can get to the city around the clock and in several different ways.

In this article:

Most comfortable night and day

The easiest way to leave the airport is by taxi. And at night it’s also the only one: unlike public transport, taxis are at the airport around the clock.

Parking lots are located almost opposite the exit from the passenger terminal of the airport.

Do not use unlicensed taxi drivers. Such a trip will not be cheaper, and may end in various troubles.

The cost of a taxi ride in Corsica at night is 30-40% more expensive than the daily rate. During the day, you can get from the airport to the city for 10-12 euros.

Travel time from Ajaccio Airport to the city center is about 15 minutes.

By public transport

1. Bus

All bus lines in Corsica are owned by private carriers. Therefore, the exact timetable for buses does not exist at all. In fact, every day you need to find out the amendments to the base schedule at the airport information desk.

However, you can leave Ajaccio airport by bus only in summer: in July and August. The rest of the time there are no regular flights between the airport and the city.

The bus departure interval is about 60 minutes. The cost of the trip is 5 euros.

The bus stops:

• near Ajaccio bus station (Gare Routiere),
• at railway station (Gare SNCF).

The bus stop at the airport is located on the right side of the exit from the passenger terminal, near parking lots and taxi ranks on the forecourt.

You can purchase a ticket at automatic ticket offices or at the ticket office of the airport terminal.

Machines accept:

• coins,
• bank cards with a chip.

At the checkout, you can pay in any convenient way.

2. Train

There are no trains to Ajaccio Airport. But if you plan to continue your journey by rail, you can take a taxi or regular bus to the city railway station.

Timetables of trains passing through it, as well as information about the rules of railway transportation, you can get at the information desk of the station or on the website French railways.

These data depend on the season and quickly lose their relevance. Therefore, it is better to learn everything as needed.

The railway network does not envelop the entire island, but passes through its center and connects major cities.

If you want to drive around the whole island

As you already understood, the public transport of the island cannot boast of constancy, it runs quite rarely. This forces you to adapt to yourself and takes a lot of time, which makes traveling around the island quite problematic.

The only way out in this case is to rent a car. If you like to drive a car and have reached the age of 21, then this method is optimal for you!

All you need to rent a car is:

• driving experience of three years or more,
• international driver's license.

By renting a car, you will feel the real freedom of the traveler. After all, you no longer have to depend on public transport schedules.

You can rent a car right at the airport terminal, in the arrivals sector. There are several agent desks where you will slowly choose the car you need and draw up a rental agreement.

But if you arrive in Corsica at night, it is better to book a car in advance on the company website. The fact is that the representative desks do not work from 23.00 to 07.00.

When ordering a car via the Internet, you will need to draw up a preliminary booking agreement. The agent will bring the car to the airport terminal by the time of your arrival.

To complete the transaction, you will need to show him your passport, driver's license and a printout of the preliminary contract.

Traveling in a rented car has many advantages:

• complete independence from public transport with its schedules and transfers,
• the cost of rent and fuel, comparable to the price of bus or train tickets,
• maximum amenities for the elderly or people with limited mobility,
• you can take a minivan and travel with a large company of 4 people or a family,
• convenient to transport animals,
• minimum hassle when traveling with a child,
• plan your own travel schedule
• you can carry any oversized baggage,
• convenient to return to the airport of departure at the end of the trip,
• places can be visited. Remote from public transport routes.

You can get to Ajaccio from the airport along the N193 highway.

Ready route:

Tourists from all over the world come to Corsica every year. This paradise island is famous for its nature and has a developed infrastructure for recreation. I am sure that the experience of visiting Corsica will be unforgettable.

Enjoy your holiday, dear friends! See you soon!

Given that Corsica is an island, there are two ways to get to it - by air or by water.

The fastest of them, of course, will be a flight to airplane. There are four airports on the island at once, receiving flights from different parts of Europe. True, there are no direct flights from Russia as such (except for special, summer flights, usually with tours under the auspices of a certain tour operator). So if you are going to fly to Corsica on your own, you will have to count on a transfer in one of such large French cities as Nice, Marseille, Paris and so on. True, with Paris you need to be careful. When booking a ticket, pay attention to which airport you are arriving on a flight from Russia and which airport will be the plane to Corsica. Most likely, these will be two different airports and you will have to move from one to the other. And this takes time and certain funds. You can choose a suitable flight and book tickets (and most conveniently) via the Internet by going to the website of the airline you are interested in. Among airlines with regular flights to Corsica, the most frequent are AIR FRANCE (www.airfrance.com), BRITISH AIRWAYS (London - Gatwick / Ajaccio & Bastia: www.ba.com), CCM AIRLINES (www.aircorsica.com) and LUXAIR ( www.luxair.ru).

“Hi, buddy! Sorry I didn’t write right away. You understand, while we arrived, while we looked around, and then we got carried away and forgot about everything! But now I have a minute, and I decided to strike you a letter, and even with pictures.
I hope you remember how delighted we returned from Corsica last year? So, we boarded the plane Paris - Bastia in anticipation of the same delight!
Crap! And yet, some wise uncle (or aunt?) correctly remarked: in order not to be disappointed, you should not be fascinated ahead of time!

So, my friend, the first disappointment befell us when we suddenly realized that the “not far” from the sea stated in the description of our hotel was transformed into one and a half kilometers, and even, merde, uphill!!! Yes, hot! Estimate? While we crawled to the Best Western Bastia Center booked in Moscow, a hundred sweats came down from us! Once again, getting out of this hotel into the city is a real feat, you must agree! This means that there will be no mobility to which we are so accustomed!

The second disappointment came when we visited the local tourist office, where we immediately appreciated the scarcity of excursion offers (there are no boat trips at all !!!), the limited local bus routes and their inconvenient schedule! You know we're horseless, so it's probably not for nothing that you constantly scold me for not getting my license yet! Okay, let's deal with this issue. Then...

In short, the third disappointment was also not long in coming: we did not find any beaches in the center of Bastia! Is it normal at all? Only a huge port and that's it! Can you imagine how we oh our state? It was almost a shock! We did not understand what we were going to do here for nine whole days! Without a car! No beach!

Where in this state? Of course, the restaurant! Having drunk some cognac Having recovered a little from disappointments that had fallen there, we tried to think constructively: since we have arrived, we must adapt to the proposed conditions!

The first thing we did was to walk around the city center, ride a tourist train (a waste of money), somehow orientate ourselves on the ground and, just in case, look into a couple of small private hotels located really in the historical part of the city. And, oh miracle! There were empty rooms everywhere!

In general, my friend, the next day we moved to the amazingly conveniently located Univers Hotel. An ordinary average room with all amenities, air conditioning and a fat, fat, hospitable Corsican hostess (you would like it) at the reception cost 70 euros (by the way, cheaper than Best Western). Life began to improve! We read the guidebook, carefully studied the bus schedule, sketched out a plan of our trips ...

By the way, there is a beach in the city! I think it's called Toga. From Piazza San Nicol, about 20 minutes on foot. There is a lifeguard station, showers. We did not notice the rental of sunbeds and umbrellas. The beach is rocky, like in Nice, the water is the cleanest, like everywhere in Corsica, but, alas, not azure (see the postcard attached to my letter).

What else has been found? A free (estimate!) bus, which twice a day (in the morning and in the afternoon) takes those who wish (mostly local youth and horseless freaks like us) to the civilized nearest to Bastia sand beach Arinella, well, and brings, respectively, back to the city. We went there once and never went again. No, it’s not bad: huge, wide, there are already bars, restaurants, water activities, sun lounger rentals and more. The water, alas, is not azure, although clean.

Why didn't we go more? Agree, being tied to a bus that runs only twice a day (you can’t walk to the city) is not ice at all! So I had to choose the naturally paid shuttle bus number 4. It leaves from the Tourist Office every half an hour on weekdays and follows along the coast, making stops (on demand) in seaside villages, and each of them has its own small beach, in some places even with azure water. Hooray!
Well, now I'll tell you a little about Bastia.

I read in the guidebook that the name of the city comes from the word bastiglia (bastille, watchtower). This tower was erected at the end of the 14th century. A settlement gradually arose around it, which grew into the most significant city of Corsica. I know that you are not particularly fond of history, so I will limit myself to this fact! Anyway, bastard, forget everything!

In general, the life of Bastia is concentrated around several streets (shopping streets of Napoleon, Caesar (or Cesare, hell knows) Campinca and Paoli Boulevard) and several objects: Place Saint-Nicolas (there are restaurants around the edges), the Old Port (restaurants) and the Citadel ( not without restaurants). All together is the historical center. By the way, it is quite large (much larger than Ajaccio) with a serious elevation difference (the Citadel and the Upper Town are located on a rock), so walking around Bastia was oh so hard for me personally! At my age!

Let me use the stamp number 555 something about colorful coastal cities! So, my friend, Bastia, very colorful. In some places, even some kind of dilapidated and even neglected, but is this the so-called flavor?
I included many, many postcards in the letter. Look them up. Somewhere on the reverse side I made explanatory notes. Read it, don't be lazy, damn it! Tried for you!

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This is a piece of the Old Port and the New Port. It is in the New Port that numerous ferries arrive. Estimate, they bring here about two million French passengers a year and up to 30 thousand cars a day!

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An automobile tunnel has been laid under the Old Port. Traffic there hoo! The photo shows the tunnel. In any case, it seems to me that this is it. Take a closer look!

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Bastia, of course, dilapidated! And so that the Corsicans more often engage in sex feelings local residents not dilapidated, like their city, there is a real sekas shop here!

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Do you know that there was a vendetta in Corsica? Wah! Proud Corsicans!

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This is the Upper City or Novaya Zemlya.

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This is a small square on the territory of the Citadel... Admission is free...

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View from the side of the Citadel to the sleeping modern districts of Bastia...

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And this is the lower road, which then dives into the tunnel under the Citadel, and emerges already in the area of ​​the New Port ...

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Cathedral of St. Lourdes in the area of ​​the New Port in the Lower City (Old Land). Confused you? Okay, I'll try not to do that again.

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There is a lot of greenery in the city...

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Church of Saint Charles...

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And this is a Dragon!

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City Hall Square...

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Place Saint-Nicolas...

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And this is a street of the Old Town and a Corsican woman tired of the heat. I wonder if the locals are used to the heat? What do you think?

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Old port...

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The old port and the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste...

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View of the mountains...

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Upper town and Sainte Marie...

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And this is already inside the Citadel itself ...

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View of the New Port (on the maps of the city it is marked as Commercial)...

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Classic panorama of Bastia...

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Corsican? Moor?

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City Hall Square...

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Monument to Napoleon on St. Nicholas Square...

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View of the Upper Town from the Old Port...

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I hope you understand that it is difficult to visit the surroundings of Bastia or the "Corsican finger" (Cape of Corsica) without a car. Buses do not go to all places, and some of them go very rarely and according to not so hot what a convenient schedule. We only have one hope! Bus number 4! He goes regularly and quite often! Here, I took a picture of the tickets. Girls, cheap!

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I don’t know ... the “four”, apparently, on principle goes on a flight with a broken air conditioner (or maybe it doesn’t exist at all? Who knows.), but it’s tolerable while driving. The road goes along the sea, then up, then down. The views are amazing, but there are a million turns per kilometer, and the locals drive hoo! Swaying - Mom, do not worry!

There are a lot of villages along the way, but I’ll tell you a secret: they are all approximately similar to each other: ordinary seaside villages with beaches. Only a few are of any interest. We visited Erbalunga, Lavazina, Macinaggio (you have to go here by a special fixed-route taxi, not by "four") and Pietra Corbara. The last two villages are worth visiting just for the sake of luxurious sandy beaches with the purest azure water.

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The beach at Macinaggio...

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There are many scuba diving schools in Macinaggio...

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There is nothing else to look at ... Except maybe this little church ...

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The water is purest!

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And this is Pietra Corbara ... An ordinary village with a good sandy beach ...

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The pretty Lavazina has a nice azure but rocky beach. I want to get out of the sea with a beautiful and tanned gait of a fashion model, but as a result, you go out in a flare. Well, you understand! No effect!
But it is close to Bastia.

Taxis in France are not very popular, as public transport is excellently developed here. By bus or subway, you will most likely get to the place cheaper and faster.

There is no single color for taxis in France. They are distinguished by a plastic lantern on the roof with the inscription "Taxi". If the lamp is illuminated, the car is free; if it is orange, it is busy; if it is off, it does not serve.

How to hail a taxi in France

In France, it is not customary to hail a taxi with a wave of your hand, so stopping a car on the street is almost useless. You can take a taxi at special parking lots, which are located near airports, at bus stops, at main intersections and near metro stations. Get in the first car in line. You can only take the back seat of the car.

You can also take the seat of a passenger who has just left the taxi. The third option is to call a taxi by phone. As a rule, the car arrives within 15 minutes. Usually taxi drivers do not agree to carry more than three passengers.

Taxi fare in France

In the city, all the tariffs are the same and the fare is paid by the meter, so there is no point in haggling. The path of the car to the place of the call is also reflected in the meter readings.

* It is customary to leave a 10% tip for a taxi driver.

43.5 € – minimum budget per day in Corsica 🇫🇷. This is enough for a good budget hostel, two trips by public transport and food (the amount is equal to two lunches in inexpensive cafes).

The budget does not include travel and insurance costs. A round-trip ticket from Moscow can be found for 28-30 thousand rubles. You can pick up insurance on services or, prices start at 1 € per day.

There are five airports in Corsica: in the north (Bastia), in the south (Figari Sud) and three more in the west (Calvi St. Catherine, Propriano and Ajaccio). You can get from Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport to the city center in the following ways:

• The bus will take you to the main railway station in about 25 minutes. The ticket costs 4.5€.
• A taxi to the center of Ajaccio will cost about 12-15 € during the day and about 20-25 € at night and on holidays.

How to move around the city?

How much does public transport cost?

The main public transport in Ajaccio is buses. One ride costs 1€ and a 10-ride ticket costs 8€. You can travel between the cities of Corsica by bus or train, ticket prices depend on distances (from 5 to 25.1 €).

How much is a taxi?

Taxi fare in Ajaccio depends on the company, time of day and day of the week. On average, the landing price will be 2.5 € during the day and about 3 € at night, as well as on Sundays and holidays. A kilometer of the path will cost approximately 1.9 € and 2.5 € respectively.

How much is petrol and parking?

A liter of gasoline in Ajaccio costs an average of 1.4 €. An hour in organized parking will cost 1.5€-2€. In other Corsican cities, parking will cost a little less: about 1 € per hour.

How much does it cost to live in Corsica?

Hotels: in the off season, prices for double rooms in hotels and guest houses on the island start from 40 €, and in Ajaccio itself from 50 € (for example, ibis budget Ajaccio). In summer, housing prices in small towns rise by about 15%, in larger ones by at least 25%.

Hostels: There are almost no opportunities to stay in a dormitory in Corsica, with rare exceptions, such as the “Gites d’Etapes U San Pé” north of Bastia. A place in a shared room is offered there for 17.5 €.

Airbnb: apartments throughout the island are rented for about 60 €, but in general there are few such options in each city. There are even fewer rooms for rent and not in all cities, most of them are comparable in price to apartments.

If you don't have an AirBnb account, you can get 1,500 RUB. for the first booking by registering via the link .

So a good budget accommodation in Corsica will set you back between 20-25€ per night per person.

How much does a connection cost?

When to visit Corsica?

It is worth coming to Corsica for four or five days. In the summer in Corsica, the flow of tourists increases, housing prices increase, but more tourist services are provided. For example, many museums are open longer in the summer or only open in the summer, and some tours only run from April to October. During this period there are music festivals, rural holidays and fairs, and on August 15, for example, the birthday of Napoleon is celebrated on a grand scale. Full list activities can be found on this site.

Total. So how much will I spend?

So the minimum is:

• 17.5-25 € for housing
• 2 – 10 € for transport
• 24-30 € for food

useful links

• Prices in Ajaccio on Numbeo
• Wikitravel about Corsica (in English)
• Corsica travel guide: LonelyPlanet
• Current euro exchange rate: 1 EUR = 71.0 RUB

Air tickets Moscow – Ajaccio:

The article is constantly updated.