Travelling to Corsica from London - how?... Seems like its a bit difficult to get to?!

[localnotail]

Hi, I was invited to visit friends in Corsica this summer, trying to work out the travel to let them know if I could come - but there seem to be no direct flights, and a lot of other options including ferries from all over the place. Really confused! Looks like its quite difficult and could take almost a day even though its not that far geographically.

Would really appreciate any advice - what would be the best way to get there? I'm not 100% sure yet what part of Corsica they are in, just need to let them know for now if I'd come or not. Thanks!

Well surely the first thing you do is ask them where they actually are??

Pretty certain you can fly direct to Corsica from the UK. We flew there from Gatwick in the 1990s.

I flew there from Gatwick in 2018. It was either Ryanair or easyjet.

Actually I think it was Stansted!

There's two airports so you need to find out which one is the correct one for your friends. When I've looked in the past it seems set up for people who go weekend to weekend - I'd like to go for 3 or 4 days but the schedule has not worked out for that. Disclaimer: haven't looked for this summer. Also, direct flights don't appear to be all year around.

EasyJet definitely fly direct, but I think it’s seasonal. You should be fine in summer!

I agree - the obvious thing to do is ask your friends. A day’s travel sounds onerous but it wouldn’t be too bad as long as you didn’t have stupid amounts of luggage.

I know I should have asked where exactly ))) really idiotic of me but I was too excited when invited to ask.

At the moment I'm just trying to work out how easy it is to get to the actual island. All I know of Corsica is that its where Napoleon went in exile )) I wasn't even entirely sure what country it belongs to.

I have not seen any direct flights, they all seem to be changes and the quickest one is 4-5 hours.

Looks like you can fly direct from Gatwick to Bastia with easyJet. Two flights per week between May and November.

You can fly direct with BA from Heathrow. Flights aren't daily, I think a few times a week. We've been quite a few times and it is one of my favourite islands.

easyJet fly direct to Bastia, at weekends

There are definitely direct flights! Easyjet has one regularly at about 5am 😴 and British Airways flies direct in the afternoons, though less frequently afaics.

Example shown. I'm sure there are plenty of other options and airlines covering the route.

Go onto Sky Scanner @localnotail and you can filter by direct only.

Corsica is part of France. You can fly directly (more flights in summer as you’d expect) or fly to nice and get the ferry for the scenic route.
ask your friends where on the island they are to plan more effectively

Great! Thank you everyone. I will try weekend flights, seems like this is why I only got indirect flights on Skyscanner.

If you're not tied to school holidays then look at travelling in June or September because it will be much cheaper.

We have flown from Stansted and city. I think the flights from city are only in peak holiday season. Check which airport in Corsica is closer though. The roads aren't great in a lot of the island so you don't want to have a long distance to drive.

Corsica is where Napoleon was born. He was exiled firstly to Elba and secondly to St Helena.

Anyway, back to the point... Looking on kayak.co.uk, for dates in late June, Easyjet fly to Bastia from Gatwick and BA fly to Figari from Heathrow, not sure how many days per week.

It looks like I'm crap not only at geography but also at history!

Seems like I will go, will contact my mates for address and start booking.

Jet 2 fly direct to Corsica

For info "direct" doesn't always mean "non- stop".

It's unlikely to make a difference UK to Corsica (unless Air France are selling something a bit bizarre) but it's a potential trap.

FWIW Corsica is amazing.

food especially so- it’s Italian cross French, with a lot of it’s own specialties.

went by accident back in the day when you walked into a travel agent and booked a last minute holiday from a card in the window 😂

we flew into god knows where (prob why it was so cheap) and were bussed to the hotel on the other side of the island. Took all day but was well worth it, drove through some amazing scenery and stopped at little places for drinks and breaks. Great way to see the place.

@notimagain, there was an approx 6hr difference between the direct and indirect flights! I'd be happy to break journey and stay a couple of nights in Nice, plus I love ferries. Someone with limited time needs to get there & back as quickly as possible, though, so she can spend time with her friends.

Yep easyJet fly direct from Gatwick to Bastia on Saturdays, we’ve been looking at Corsica for our summer holiday, been wanting to go for years since we first went to Sardinia and flew over Corsica, have heard it’s beautiful there