Driving from Ajaccio to Cap Corse

Hi folks!

I plan to drive from Ajaccio to Cap Corse. Any tips or advise?

In detail, our plan is to hire a car from Ajaccio for 6 days and drop it off at Bastia airport.

We want to travel around Ajaccio and drive along the east coast up to Cap Corse.

Now, I want to ask if the roads are dangerous, car rentals, things to know etc.

Any reply would be helpful!

Thanks a lot,

Maya

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Maya, you will find there are good roads from Ajaccio as far as Bastia. Why go via the East Coast? My advice would be to go via Vizzavona, Corte and Ponte Leccia - quicker, and much more scenic roads most of the way. After Bastia, depending where you are going in the Cap, you%26#39;ll find the roads get narrower.

The cheapest car hire deals will probably be if you use Carrentals or Holiday Autos, both of which operate in Corsica. There%26#39;s no problem about picking up in Ajaccio and dropping it off in Bastia. There%26#39;s a page on driving in Corsica on www.corsicaholiday.com, which has links to most of the main people who rent cars here. By the way it is much cheaper to book it up in advance online.

Final suggestion is to leave yourself plenty of time for the journey. Most roads in Corsica are quite windy and you%26#39;ll want to stop every now and again to take pictures!

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Many many thanks Derekthered!

I will follow your advice as for the route!

How about the roads around Ajaccio?

We%26#39;ll stay in Porticcio for 4 days and we want to travel around the coastline from Ajaccio to Bonifacio.

Do you have any tips for keeping it safe?

Cheers!

Maya

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Sorry for the delay, Maya, I%26#39;ve been really tied up. There are some really good roads around Ajaccio (dual carriageways, even) and some pretty poor ones. But don%26#39;t forget the Corsica Rally is held in those parts each year, and this race is well-known for being particularly arduous!

There are good, quite fast roads between Ajaccio and Bonifacio all the way if you go via Cargese, Propriano and Sartene, and much of this goes along the coastline, but if you hug the coast and go round all the smaller roads you%26#39;ll get the usual Corsican mixture of hairpin bends, goats, landslides etc and it will take you days. Need I say more? If you leave plenty of time and take it easy, however, you%26#39;ll be fine.

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Sorry again - ignore my suggestion that you go to Bonifacio via Cargese. Your route from Ajaccio to Bonifacio will take you through Propriano and Sartene, but not Cargese - which is out of your way.

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I just thought I would be public-spirited and warn you that if you intend to drive up the western coast of Cap Corse above Nonza it is a living nightmare. We got caught on it three weeks ago. They are carrying out roadworks along about 15miles. You are driving on rough, bumpy gravel, no edge and unbelievable drop. We couldn%26#39;t turn back as we would have been on the drop side, not that it made much difference as the road was so rough and narrow. The previous day I had met an English woman on the beach who had just driven it. When I asked her what the roads were like she did not tell me honestly. So I feel it my mission to warn people. Admittedly at the beginning of the route there was a sign saying %26quot;Soyez Prudent%26quot; along the part of the road where they were working, but I had not idea it would be that bad and still open. I still have flashbacks.

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Thank you Irish Rover for your public spiritedness which is in tune with the whole idea of tripadvisor. The journey you describe sounds a complete nightmare. We are driving from Calvi down to Bonifacio later this year and had toyed with the idea of including a detour to see part of Cap Corse but will now see if the roadworks have been completed (unlikely).

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The Eastern side of Cap Corse from Bastia to Luri is all good road. Although there are drops, it%26#39;s not so high and the road is wide and smooth.

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