La Corse en Camping-Car : advice, areas, routes

How to visit Corsica by camping-car or in furnished van?

Cap on Corsica! Visit Corsica in camping-car , van or fitted van allows you to explore freely the wonders of this region called "Island of Beauty", where you live outside day and night. While accommodations are expensive in Corsica, especially in the summer, sleeping in its vehicle is a travelling way in nature, offering the possibility to get out of its daily comfort, without booking hotels or accommodation in the city.

Corsica does not lack spots where to sleep peacefully in the middle of nature, in the mountains or by the sea in a heavenly setting. Visiting Corsica in a fitted van or in a van will nevertheless be easier than camping-car, as some sites are difficult to access large vehicles.

Peated by only 330 455 permanent inhabitants, Corsica receives more than 3 million tourists each year. In summer 2019, we went to visit Corsica in a van for a dozen days: from Agritas desert to Bonifacio by the Calanques of Piana, the reserve of Scandola, the hikes in the Regional Natural Park of Corsica (covering 40% of the area of the island) or the sublime coastal beaches From Corsica-du-Sud, you can only want to go back there several times!

Here is our mini-guide to visit Corsica in motorhome, van or van equipped!

Ideas of itineraries in Corsica by camping-car

Corsica, well known as "Island of Beauté", houses an environment still relatively preserved despite tourism: a Marine park , natural reserves and unique landscapes composed of vertiginous cliffs diving into the deep azure of the sea (Propriano, Piana, Cargesis, Girolata, etc.), rainy mountains - privileged land of hikers (especially for GR20) - and finally, Paradise beaches where to swim in turquoise, translucent and heated waters at more than 25°C in the summer.

You don't know where to go to visit Corsica in a camper or in a furnished van? First, it is important to know that crossing the island from long to wide and across can take a lot of time. The roads are windy, sometimes narrow, and so frequented that there are many slowdowns. So you have to confine yourself to a particular area, especially if your stay is short. Everything will depend on the port or the arrival airport.

From Bastia we will logically visit Haute-Corse first, while since Ajaccio or Porto-Vecchio, we will first explore Corse-du-Sud . Everything also depends on the duration of the stay: if you come to visit Corsica in camper or van for 7, 10, 15 days or a month. Here are some ideas of possible routes in Corsica:

• 1. In Haute-Corse: Bastia (Place Saint-Nicolas, Vieux Port, Citadelle), Cap Corse (Erbalunga, Nonza), Saint-Florent and Nebbio (plages of Saleccia, Loto, Ostriconi), L’Île-Rousse et la Balagne, Calvi (old city), Calenzana, Porto and the Calanches de Piana (Gorges de la Spelunca in Ota

Photo credit: Caramaps

• 2. In South Corsica: Ajaccio, the Sanguinary Islands, the Cap di Feno, the Gulf of Sagone, the valley of Gravona, beaches of Campomoro, Sartène, Bonifacio (city, stairs of the Roy d’Aragon), the Lavezzi Islands, Porto-Vecchio and the beaches (Santa Giulia, Palombaggia, Rondinara, etc.), Bavella needles, Zonza,

Photo credit: Caramaps

• 3. Tour de Corse : same itineraries plus the villages of Haute-Corse, Moltifao, Asco, Clacuccia, Albertacce, the pass of Vergio, Evisa, Ota, Porto and Piana (the beach of Ficaghjola), Cargesis, Ajaccio, Pietrosella, Propriano, Campomoro (gentian turn), Figari (plages), Bouches de Bonifacio, Porto-Vecchio

Photo credit: Caramaps

These steps are only informative and are far from exhaustive. It all depends on whether you want to visit the cities, dine on the beaches, hiking, looking for rivers and waterfalls rather than the sea, visiting the south and/or the north, etc.

In any case, it is best to recommend that you go to the beaches very early in the summer, especially because the beach will be crowded in the middle of the morning and because after 10 a.m., the beach in the middle of the sun is relative to a roaster.

How and where to rent a motorhome in France?

Would you like to leave France hexagonale and join Corsica by ferry with your camper or van for example? It is now easy to rent a motorhome in the Hexagon. How? Using interrelationship platforms between tenants and particular camper owners as Yescapa For example.

How does it work?

• At first, you have to choose the motorhome in your city (For example Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse, Paris, Montpellier or Marseille).

• Be careful choose unlimited mileage, to check the number of beds available and if travel abroad is possible.

• Do your work online rental request and share your travel information (dates, rental options, mileage, etc.) to the owner.

• If your request is accepted and after payment, you will have access to the owner's contact information to organize a First meeting.

• Day J, present your driver's license and pour bail.

• One. status of premises is executed and a lease is signed between the two parties. When you return, after shaking the Greek roads, sign the state of the places of return and the tower is played!

How and where to rent a motorhome in Corsica?

Would you like to discover all the different facets of Corsica, all on a camping car? If you prefer to rent it directly on site, it is recommended to make an online reservation in advance to ensure that there are vehicles available on arrival.

To get you a motorhome, we recommend you go through a rental platform for motorhomes and vans arranged online. These sites are now legion on the road trip and wild camping market. The principle is simple: you choose the desired vehicle – depending on the daily price, the type of camper/van/van fitted, the equipment of the vehicle -, and you send an inquiry to the owner.

A final step awaits you: the receipt of a confirmation email after your online payment. You can then leave safely for a Road Trip in Corsica!

Driving in Corsica by camping-car : the traffic rules to know

Roads

Corsica is a metropolitan region of France, therefore, traffic rules are the same as on the continent. However, you will need to adapt your speed and be careful on mountain roads, which cover 80% of the island’s area. On heights, roads can be narrow, winding and damaged in places. So if you come to visit Corsica by camping-car, you will sometimes be too wide to cross in the opposite direction.

In addition, Corsica is an island and we feel the island calm of the Corsicas that klaxonnent little, prefer to wait courteously rather than get mad at the wheel. Do not hesitate to klaxonner before a pin turn on a narrow mountain road. Avoid engaging on the small roads (white on the map) with a motorhome, they will be too narrow for you. In a van or fitted van, you can venture on the dirt roads on the margins of concrete roads, especially to find a spot where to spend the night.

Priorities and overtaking

In view of the vehicle’s template, you will have priority on the side and motorists will have no choice but to put themselves on the right upstream. With regard to overrun with a camper in the mountains, we forget. Some Corsicas like speed and roll "open tomb". Do not hesitate to let them pass, even with a fitted van. They know much better the roads than you, though the two Corsican departments are the ones that count the most fatal accidents on the road in France.

Circulation

A good news: Corsica has no highways and there is no toll to pay on the entire island network. In the summer, the roads are crowded due to the tourist season that is full in early August. Access to the beaches and unmissable sites can be bottled, parking lots of saturated beaches. Many slowdowns are therefore to be expected, so do not rely on the estimated time of the GPS to cross the island of Calvi or Bastia in Bonifacio, or Ajaccio in Bastia. Beware — in the mountains — of the buses of tourists, of the bikes that derive the slopes at all speeds, and of the herds of animals (hairs, wild pigs, cows).

Basic rules of the road code in Corsica

• Speed limits: 50 km/h (agglomeration), 80 km/h (excluding agglomeration)
• Maximum allowed0.5 g/l
• Yellow jacket (not for manif), signage triangle mandatory
• Maintain them safety distances 50 metres
• Have driver's license (permit B), grey card and vehicle insurance
• Safety belt for all passengers on the wheel.

In the interior of the land, one cannot in any case exceed 50 km/h.

Campsites in Corsica: where to park?

Camping Sauvage

Let’s say from the outset that travelling on a motorhome is much more complex than in a small van. While a small van can be hidden away from police eyes on a parking lot or flat pitch, it will be much more difficult to go unnoticed by parking with a motorhome on a non-regulated space. And to cross the narrow roads, the motorhome can be a real limestone. The wild camping in Corsica is, as on the continent, strictly prohibited . But we can find "spots" away from homes, where the police are less likely to pass. In summer, hunting for wild campers is declared, especially on the shores of the beaches and in the regional natural parks.

Parking area

A motorhome can park on all regulatory parking pitches, but it is forbidden to settle for camping. We're counting 57 areas for motorhomes in Corsica and 177 campsites spread throughout the island. Even in high season, campsites are cheap so it can be a good rempart against fines!

If you have the taste of risk, application Park4night will help you find the isolated "spots" (do not hesitate to ride on the dirt tracks on several kilometers) where to spend the night. This application is a tool for sharing spots where to park between travellers (parkings, places in the middle of nature, pitches, beaches, camper areas, etc.). The travelling Bible!

How to get to Corsica by camping-car?

The Island of Beauty is a dream place to go by camping-car. From the continent, Corsica is easily accessible and, of course, the journey requires a ferry crossing.

Many ports allow access to Corsica. Depending on the destination, you must choose your departure port. Ajaccio and Bastia are served by Nice, Marseille and Toulon. Smaller cities such as Île Rousse, Propriano or Porto-Vecchio are served by the French ports previously cited, except Propriano by Marseille only. Finally, for travellers arriving from the Italy , you can also access Bastia from Livorno or Genoa.

The vehicle's turnover rate is variable, ranging from 100 to 300€ depending on the size of the vehicle, the city and the company chosen. For example, since Marseille, the crossing of the only motorhome is priced about 300€ for a return trip .

What is the best time to travel by motorhome in Corsica?

When do you visit Corsica in a camper or in a furnished van?

Thanks to the Mediterranean climate from the island, you can visit Corsica by camping-car from spring to autumn! In the summer, the rates fly and with them the temporary population of the island. Temperatures can frequently exceed 35°C in July and August. This is the best time to go to the beaches.

For mountain hikes , the best period is the end of spring and the beginning of autumn (May, June, September): it is still fresh (15°C in the morning, up to 25°C in the day), prices are still affordable and the island is almost empty of its tourists. Also, Corsicas will be much warmer and welcoming in low or medium season than in summer!

In our view, we must avoid the period that spreads from the 10 July to 15 August . But we rarely have the choice of his vacation dates!