Cost to Travel in Corsica, Our 2024 Budget breakdown

Cost to Travel in Corsica: Introduction

Hello everyone, in this article, we will share with you our comprehensive budget breakdown and the costs associated with traveling in Corsica, located in the south of France.

We spent 13 days road-tripping all around Corsica, and we loved it. We never expected to fall in love that much with the island of beauty. For us, Corsica had a touch of the Maldives with crystal-clear waters and white sand beaches.

But instead of a jungle in the background, we had mountains. It was amazing.

Our trip started and ended in Bastia, and we made a loop to visit this magnificent island and its winding roads. Our itinerary followed the coast from North to South and back again, stopping at some of the most impressive sights we had ever seen.

As Corsica is part of France, we knew what to expect in terms of the cost to travel in Corsica, but we must admit that in the end, we spent less than anticipated.

Anyway, let’s get to the cost to travel in Corsica.

Read: The Ultimate Corsica Itinerary, 13-day Corsica Road trip

What’s included in our budget

Our cost of travel in Corsica and complete budget breakdown covers what we spent on accommodations, transportation in the country, food, activities, and other side costs.

We do not include our flights to Corsica as it is something that will vary significantly based on where you start your travel to Corsica.

However, all the costs in our cost to travel in Corsica article are for a couple, as this is how we traveled there. 

The amount in our cost of travel in Corsica article is euros (€), which is the local currency.

Our complete itinerary

To get some perspective, our detailed itinerary was the following:

• Day 1: Arrival and exploration of Bastia
• Day 2: Road trip around Cap Corse
• Day 3: Visit the secluded beaches of Saleccia and Lotu
• Day 4: Road trip through the Balagne region, ending in Calvi
• Day 5: Road trip from Calvi to Porto and a boat tour of the Gulf of Porto
• Day 6: Road trip from Porto to Ajaccio
• Day 7: Road trip from Ajaccio to Bonifacio
• Day 8: Exploration of the Lavezzi Islands
• Day 9: Beaches and Bonifacio
• Day 10: Beaches and Porto-Vecchio
• Day 11: Hiking in the mountains
• Day 12: Visit Corte
• Day 13: Return

This itinerary is a loop going around the island and the best spots in Corsica. You can, of course, do the opposite. And we could easily shorten it by a few, but that wouldn’t be interesting and too rushy. Even as it is, it was intense.

Now, let’s talk about the real cost to travel in Corsica.

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Cost of Accommodation in Corsica

Let’s start our cost to travel in Corsica breakdown with accommodation. We booked most of our accommodations in Corsica on booking.com, but as we traveled last minute there, we also used Airbnb once or twice as most of the accommodations were taken.

We found various types of accommodation around the island of beauty, from hotels to camping, guesthouses, and luxurious stays. Corsica has everything for everyone.

What we appreciated was the friendliness of the local people. In mainland France, we heard lots of things about Corsicans, as in the past they wanted independence. But in truth, they are open to tourists.

To be honest, we were always looking for accommodation ranging from 80 to 120€ depending on where we were. Sometimes, we managed to find cheaper but also more expensive.

Here is what Corsica’s accommodations cost us:

• Bastia: 104.33 €/night
• Saint Florent: 90,19 €/night
• Calvi: 56,65 €/night
• Porto: 79,40 €/night
• Ajaccio: 128,83 €/night
• Bonifacio 1: 144,00 €/night
• Bonifacio 2: 97,00 €/night
• Porto Vecchio: 123,10 €/night
• Corte: 85,09 €/night

The only way you could reduce the cost of accommodation in Corsica would be by staying in campgrounds everywhere.

Here is a list of accommodations we recommend based on your budget.

• Bastia: Hôtel Des Gouverneurs
• Saint Florent: Hôtel Flor
• Calvi: Hôtel Maria Die
• Porto: Hôtel Bella Vista
• Ajaccio: Cala Di Sole
• Bonifacio : Résidence Casarina
• Porto Vecchio: Chambres d’Hôtes U BARRACONU
• Corte: Hôtel U Frascone

The total accommodation cost to travel in Corsica was 1160€ for two. This represents around 96€ per night for two.

Here are all your accommodation options in Corsica

Cost of Transportation in Corsica

To continue with the cost to travel in Corsica, let’s talk about transportation. Transportation around Corsica is not that easy, especially if you plan on visiting all its unique and stunning places.

There are public trains and buses, but they will not get you everywhere. And you may have to add taxi costs on top of it, and you will have to skip most of the sights.

That’s the reason we opted for and recommend a road trip around Corsica. It gave us so much freedom, and driving in Corsica is super easy. The roads are in good condition, but winding. This makes the average speed around 30km/h.

Refueling was as easy as in France and Europe, but was a bit more expensive. A full tank costs us around 67€.  

Not to mention that parking was easy. Especially with a small car and off-season. In the summer, it can be a bit trickier.

We rented a car for 13 days in Corsica. We used rentalcars.com and booked it a few days in advance. We rented the cheapest car we could find but in the end got a brand new Audi A1 automatic. What luck!

Altogether the rental car costs 283€, so 21.8€ per day (Even cheaper than renting a car in Morocco.

If we add the fuel, the parking, the cleaning, and so on, the cost to travel in Corsica, when it comes to transportation costs us in total of 470€, which means around 36€/day (which is a bit more than Morocco).

Read: The Ultimate Corsica Itinerary, 13-day Corsica Road trip

Cost of food in Corsica

Let’s get to the yummy part of the cost to travel in Corsica. We like to cook our own meals; that way, we reduce costs and do not need to worry about finding whole food, plant-based food, or vegetarian food. While traveling, we are more flexible with what we eat.

In Corsica, we mixed things a little. We tried to make our meals for breakfast and dinner, and eat at restaurants for lunch. And it was easy, as there are many supermarkets everywhere in Corsica.

We loved the food there, and some of the best things to try in Corsica are:

• Brocciu: A fresh cheese made from sheep or goat’s milk, Brocciu is used in both savory and sweet dishes.
• Canistrelli: Small, crunchy Corsican biscuits flavored with lemon, almonds, or anise, perfect with coffee or as a snack.
• Fiadone: A delicious Corsican cheesecake made with Brocciu, eggs, sugar, and lemon zest.
• Pietra Beer & Corsican Wines: Try Pietra, a Corsican beer brewed with chestnut flour, or local wines from Patrimonio, Ajaccio, or Sartène.

Our meals in restaurants cost between 35 and 55€ for two. With most of them being between 35 and 45€ for two.

In total, with all the groceries and everything else, the food cost to travel in Corsica was 665€ for two. Which is about 51€/day.

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Cost of Activities in Corsica

Traveling to someplace new means that you will be doing some activities. The activities cost to travel in Corsica isn’t that high actually, as most of the best sights are historic villages and stunning beaches.

Our favorite things to do in Corsica were:

• Cap Corse Road Trip
• Saleccia Beach
• Bonifacio
• Balagne Villages

The boat tour of the Gulf of Porto was also a unique activity.

Here is a breakdown of some of the costs: (Always for 2)

• Boat transfer to Saleccia/Lotu: 56€
• Gulf of Porto boat tour: 120€
• Filitosa: 18€
• Stair of Arangon in Bonifacio: 10€
• Lavezzi islands boat transfer: 78€

And the total activity cost to travel in Corsica goes up to 282€ for two. Representing about 21€/day

Check our Google Map of Corsica

Other cost in Corsica

For that final section of our cost to travel in Corsica breakdown, we have:

VISA: As far as we know, some people will need a VISA to enter French end Europe. As French, I didn’t need one. Tina as Serbian living in French as a resident card, so she can freely move in Europe.

Souvenir: We love to bring some little souvenirs. In Corsica, we didn’t get that many, only some local soaps for 7€.

SIM Card: One of our least favorite things to do when we arrive in a new country is to have to figure out how to get a good SIM card. From finding where the shop is, in the airport, or in the city center? To deal with the registrations, giving ID, and even finding which operator is the best… Well, it’s a true headache.

If you don’t want to be bothered anymore, you can get an eSim from Airalo, Airalo is the world’s first eSIM store that gives you access to eSIMs (digital SIM cards) for 200+ countries/regions to be connected anywhere in the world the second you land.

Travel Insurance:  Frankly, we did not take travel insurance. Our French credit card company is offering a full travel package that we have. So, if something happens to us, we are covered.

However, if you don’t have such coverage, travel insurance is recommended for all. WorldNomads offers excellent travel insurance and covers most, if not all, that could happen during your time abroad.

Total Cost to travel in Corsica

It is time to sum up everything and end our cost to travel in Corsica breakdown. In total, for 13 days in Corsica, for two of us, it cost us 2,586€, which is 1,293€ per person and 206€ per day for two.

In detail, our cost to travel in Corsica is:

• Transportation: 470€ in total, 235€ per person, 36€ per day.
• Accommodation: 1160€ in total, 580€ per person, 96€ per night.
• Food: 665€ in total, 332€ per person, 51€ per day.
• Activities: 282€ in total, 141€ per person, 22 per day.
• Others: 7€ in total, 3,5€ per person, 0,5€ per day.

Read: The Ultimate Corsica Itinerary, 13-day Corsica Road trip