Thinking about where to go on vacation in April 2025, I couldn’t easily decide where to go. Since I like to travel in April, during the Easter holidays, when I have more days off, and when, I get tired of the cold, rainy, brown-gray weather, my choice was Southern Europe. In April, Scandinavians rush south to cure the winther depression and enjoy the calm, sunny weather, without strong wind. Corsica, came to my mind. I have alredy been to Sardinia and Sicily and only Corsica remains, the last of 3 island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, I haven’t visited.

Corsica is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the French mainland. There are many small cities on Corsica, some are only turististic, while some are ferry hubs connecting Corsica with Italy, France and Sardinia. Bastia is one of these cities that connects ie. Nice and Genova with Corsica. Bastia is located on the eastern part of the island. The capital of Corsica is Ajaccio, also the largest city, located on the western part of the island.

I have decided to visit both cities. I would fly from Copenhagen to Bastia and back to Copenhagen from Ajaccio. The question was, how will I get from Bastia to Ajaccio. I didn’t want to rent a car and flying is possible but expensive, I decided to take the local train. Let’s make it an adventure. The local train connects Bastia, Corte and Ajaccio and goes throug central Corsica. There are 3 trains a day and the journey takes about 3.5 hours. Departures are every day at 8:25, 11:45 and 17:22. Local trains connect all cities in Corsica and the timetable can be seen at https://cf-corse.corsica/. The site is in French, like everything else on Corsica. The ticket costs around 21 euro and cannot be purchased online. You buy a ticket half an hour before train departs at the train station in Bastia.

Planes fly to Corsica from Scandinavia regularly from May (Norwegian), so I couldn’t fly directly from Copenhagen, I had to find another way. I could fly via Germany, Switzerland or France. I chose to fly with Easy Jet, via Geneva, directly to Bastia. I have never been to Geneva before, so let’s take a day in Geneva. For the back home flight, I chose SAS via Nice. Air Corsica flies from Ajaccio to Nice 3 times a day. You can check departures times on their website https://www.aircorsica.com/. They connect Corsica with almost all cities in France, Munich, Rome, Florence and Vienna. Air Corsica’s planes are small and with propellers and are an experience in themselves. These propeller planes allow for lower-altitude flying over the Mediterranean, providing exceptional views of Corsica’s coastline.

Bastia is a small port-town where ferries arrive from French and Italian mainland. We were staying in the 3 start Hotel Continental (https://www.hotelcontinentalbastia.com/) in the center of the city. The hotel is not close to the marina, but it is close to the train station. It is a simple little hotel with good French breakfast. A French breakfast always includes a lot of pastries, especially large and delicious croissants, jam, cheeses and ham. A few meters from the hotel is Place Saint Nicolas, where every Sunday morning is a market where you can buy souvenirs, towels with a drawn map of Corsica, fragrant French soaps or, like me, brandy glasses with Corsican motifs. For other information, see the website https://www.bastia-tourisme.com/. Bastia has a small city beach, the nearest large beach is called Arinella (Plage de l Arinella) and is located 3 km north of Bastia. The beach can be reached by walking along the coast in 1 hour. There are also buses that go to the beach, see on the website of the tourist organization Bastija. Arinella is a wide sandy beach. For those who like swimming, it is also possible to swim in April.

When you go north and pass Place Saint Nicolas, you get to the marina. Around the marina there are a large number of cafes and restaurants, and the menu is only in French. If you don’t speak French, like me, then understanding is difficult because Corsicans do not speak, or avoid to speak English. So, everything is in French, from restaurant menus, road signs to inscriptions under paintings in museums. It is best to choose the daily menu, which costs around 25 euros per person and includes an appetizer, main course and dessert. The dishes are very tasty. As an alternative, you have bakeries, where you can buy French quiche: such as quiche with ham (Quiche Lorraine), salmon and broccoli (Quiche broccolis saumon) or vegetables (Quiche aux legumes). The bakery is called Paul (https://www.paul.fr/). For dessert, you can buy an apple or apricot tart (Tarte aux abricots).

At the end of the marina there is a lighthouse and a further walk takes you to the Arinella beach.

I can recommend two restaurants for lunch or dinner. The first is called Terra Di Catoni (https://www.terradicatoni.com/pages/boutique-restaurant-de-bastia). It is a small family restaurant where you can not only try Corsican food, but also cheeses and wine. The restaurant has a shop with local products. I tried the local red wine from the Patrimonio region (https://www.vinlex.dk/Vinlande/Frankrig/Korsika/Patrimonio.aspx). It’s great.

The second restaurant is located in the very center of the city on the Place du marche and is called Mare og Gustu (https://www.latabledemaregustu.fr/en/). Here you can try seafood such as spaghetti and shellfish as the dish of the day. Both restaurants serve Corsican food.

The train ride goes through central Corsica. There are several stations in small towns with about a dozen houses and the largest city where the train stops is Corte. If you like to enjoy nature, mountains, forests and waterfalls then this is the ride for you. The ride goes through The National Park of Corsica which is protected.

Ajaccio is much bigger and more beautiful than Bastia, although Bastia has its own charms. Ajaccio has a large town beach, another large beach that extends after the town beach and across, a large beautiful beach in Porticcio. Porticcio can be reached by boat from Ajaccio for 5 euros. I recommend going to Porticcio as the beach is big, sandy and clean, and the sea is azure. For those who are brave like me, you can take a bath in April. The ticket to Porticcio is bought at the pier and you can see the timetable here https://porticc.io/transports/bouger/navette-porticcio-ajaccio/.

Ajaccio itself, offers excursions, museums, you can visit Napoleon’s house or the cave, restaurants, even Michelin restaurants and numerous cafes. Everything is in French from the menu in the restaurant to the captions under the pictures in the museums. You can only speak English at the hotel reception. We were accommodated in a 3-star hotel near the beach called, you won’t believe it, Hotel Napoleon (https://www.hotel-napoleon-ajaccio.fr/). A small, clean hotel with a good breakfast.

I would recommend a day-trip to the Sanguinary Islands (Les Iles Saguinaries), an archipelago consisting of small magmatic islands. You can reach the archipelago by boat (sunset with champagne), car or local bus. See the Les Iles Sanguinaires – Ajaccio Tourisme (https://www.ajaccio-tourisme.com/visites-loisirs/les-iles-sanguinaires/ )website. The starting station of the train is in the city center and the train has several stops that represent the sights of the city. The easiest and fastest way to get there is by local bus. One can walk around the island and have lunch at a local restaurant.

As for museums, I would recommend Napoleon’s House and Palace Fesch. The Palace Fesch (https://www.musee-fesch.com/) was founded by Napoleon’s uncle. The museum has a large collection of paintings by French and Italian authors, as well as Corsican ones. The most important is the collection of paintings about Napoleon as well as the collection of sculptures and busts of Napoleon.

If you have the chance, listen to polyphonic singing in the local cathedral (La Catedrale Santa Maria Assunta). It is a group of 6 male singers who sing a cappella traditional Corsican songs. Polyphony means “different voices”. The singing is very emotional and causes great applause from the audience, who sing along with them. The concert lasts about an hour and the tickets costs 10 euros.

If you have time, you can take a boat to Bonifaccio, a town in the south that overlooks Sardinia. And if you still have time, take the ferry to Sardinia.

Corsica has a special charm in April. I guess it’s a lot different during the summer when the other tourist spots in Corsica come to life, such as Calvi, Ille Rousse, Porto Veccio, Propriano. It is quite similar to Sardinia, especially Bastia. You can recognize the same architecture and colors of the buildings, the same vegetation, but the color of the sea is more azure. I enjoyed it and I hope you will too. And don’t forget, the sea is fresh, but you can swim in the sea and sunbathe even in April.

On the way home if you fly via Nice, choose an early morning departure from Corsica and a late evening departure from Nice, so you can spend a few hours in Nice.