Corsica 2025

Our parental leave trip 1. Road trip with 2 kids begins.

Part 1

Corsica

On Tuesday, 22.04., we picked up the Easter Bunny from kindergarten, and on Wednesday, 23.04.2025, we set off.

We started with our car around 5 AM. After a short fuel stop in Innsbruck, we took another break at the parking lot near the Limburg West exit in Italy. The restrooms here are clean, and there is a small fenced playground with spring animals and a climbing frame with a slide. Then we continued driving to Lake Garda to Lazise. Here we made a longer lunch break. We parked in the large parking lot. As the market was closing down, we didn’t have to wait long for a parking spot (the barrier only opens when there’s enough space, or a car leaves). We visited the playground briefly, including a small fair. It is right next to the main entrance to the old town, where the market always takes place on Wednesdays. After lunch, we naturally had some ice cream. Then a short playground interruption before we continued directly to Livorno while the girls slept.

Here we settled into our holiday apartment (via booking.com). We walked to the supermarket and then had a snack.

Day 2: Today we drove to Pisa. There is always a lot going on here, but since the Easter holidays were still in effect, I guess it was even busier. We parked in a large, free parking lot (Parcheggio auto per la Torre di Pisa). There’s also a small train here, but we didn’t want to wait. In front of the Pisa site, there are many street vendors. It was super crowded on the site itself. We only took photos and had a little something to eat. Since it was already quite late, we only found a tourist restaurant. You can only climb the tower from age 8 upwards. I just wanted to take a look at it. Afterwards, we returned to Livorno and briefly visited the aquarium along the promenade (paid parking). Right next to the aquarium, there’s a great playground. At the Gazebo Terrazza Mascagni, there was also a small children's carousel, and you could borrow ride-on toys (for slightly older kids). Across from the carousel, there was a super delicious ice cream shop.

Day 3: In the morning, we had to head to the ferry, which took less than 5 minutes from our apartment. Then, of course, we had to wait until we could board. We had a day ferry to Bastia. We looked for a table next to the playroom (it was only a small room) for our trip. L. went off to play with a French girl and to make glitter tattoos. They didn’t speak much with each other because the girl did not speak German. In the end, she played tag with the girl, a German girl, and a smaller French boy. After arriving, we drove directly to our campsite, Camping Domaine d'Anghione (about 30 min.). As we arrived at lunchtime, we visited the large supermarket (E.Leclerc FOLELLI – also open on Sundays from 09-13).

First, we got a small stone house; since it was low season, I asked for a larger accommodation, which we received without extra charge. The campsite has 1 children’s pool, 1 standard pool, and 1 rooftop pool, which was a bit warmer, but it was still too cold for L. There is also direct beach access. A small mini playground that is best suited for about 1.5-3 year olds. Mini-golf, a few training devices, but there was no animation during our time. Otherwise, the campsite was quite spacious. There were the stone houses, mobile homes. I didn’t see any pitches for motorhomes or tents. They might have been hidden.

Day 4 Today we drove to Bastia, where we parked at a paid parking lot directly at Place Nicholas. First, we wandered around ourselves and then walked a bit along the promenade. Here, there was a small climbing area and a net swing (Aire de Jeux). Then we returned to Place Nicholas, where we had lunch. There were 3 bouncy castles set up (for a fee). Then we took a ride on the little tourist train through Bastia, and L. was allowed to go on the children’s carousel again at Place Nicholas (right next to the Tourist Info).

Day 5 Today we took a trip to Corsica Zoo. It’s not very large but nicely made. There is room for improvement here and there. There was a playground, and animals. That is, after all, the most important thing for kids. You could get very close to the little kangaroos. They just wanted their peace. You could also get quite close to the lemurs, especially when they were being fed. We used the sleeping time in the car to make a quick detour to Saint-Florent and briefly drove through the town and to the Citadelle.

Day 6 Today we drove to Corte. It was the worst day in Corsica. It was the longest drive. Since we didn’t understand a road closure / didn’t think about it, we had to drive over the old undeveloped road. Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic, and even my husband was relieved when we returned to the developed road. On the way back, we timed it so we could drive normally. -> Much faster and less heart fluttering. Upon arrival, we first had something to eat. Jars for M. and L had dinner with us. In the end, we had ice cream. Afterwards, we went to the little tourist train. We were a bit too early, but it was great because it started to pour while we waited for the departure in the dry. When we set off, it stopped raining again, and we could enjoy the ride.

Day 7 Check out and continue driving to Bonifacio. On the way, we took a playground break in Cervione. The view from the playground was super nice. The playground is a bit hidden below the road. There are a few parking spaces above or a bit along the road. Our campsite was Camping Campo Di Liccia. There was a small mini baby pool, which was not warmer than the large one. In summer, it is probably quite warm since it was just a small rectangle. Sun loungers/ umbrellas at the pool. A nice playground, next to the reception / across from the pool, fenced in, and under the typical pine trees, which provided good shade, it also had a baby swing and 2 climbing frames, 1 for small children about 1-3 years and 1 for ages 4 to 7/8 years. A few training devices and a couple of items for older kids. There was also a table tennis table. The camping market was closed because it was low season. Next door was a restaurant with a playground, but we didn’t eat there. The campsite had various camping models: mobile home (where we stayed); motorhome pitches, tent pitches, larger tents for rent. There was no beach access.

Day 8

For today, I wanted to go to a small petting zoo. It was about a 20 min drive from the campsite. The tour started at 10:30 and there was room for only a few families. Therefore, you had to be punctual. Make sure to reserve during peak season (preferably by phone in French). There were different animal stations, and at each station, the children could feed different animals. Chickens, (petting turtles), ducks, goats, pigs, guinea pigs. At the entrance, there was also a climbing frame under a straw roof providing some shade. For the children, it was a great experience. It was also not too expensive. However, the farm itself did not leave the best impression. All in all, we were there for about 2 hours. The restroom was more of a portable toilet (Ferme de Padula: Here is the link https://www.fermepedagogiquecorse.com/. But I would still recommend it for families with younger children. Afterwards, we drove to the sea. Here, there are always deviations from the main road. At our beach, there was also a toilet. Unfortunately, it was locked, so we had to go into the bushes. It was relatively windy right at the parking lot. It’s best to go either left or right, depending on the cove, so it’s more sheltered from the wind. Otherwise, the sea was super beautiful and shallow. We bought a sunshade at the local supermarket. Just before Porto Vecchio, I had seen a great beach. Unfortunately, my husband doesn’t like it that much, so time at the beach was always scarce. We took bread for lunch.

Day 9

Today we were in Bonifacio. We did another little city tour by tourist train and walked around a bit on our own. Up in the upper town, there was a great playground. Unfortunately, it was directly in the sun. The equipment was not hot due to the plastic. But it was still very warm. (Aire de jeux Bonifacio). I also walked down the steep stairs while dad took the kids to get ice cream. You can take babies in the carrier. Kids can probably walk from about 7/8 years. The stairs are really very steep, so you have to be very careful both going down and going back up. At noon, we got a sandwich to go and fries for the kids. Dinner was at the campsite (pasta with tomato sauce). Then we took the train back to the harbor and enjoyed a small boat tour. On the boat, there was also a glass-bottom window, so the kids could watch fish, which made it less boring. There are different tours depending on length and destination. Ours lasted 1 hour. We parked in the central parking lot right by the harbor (paid).

Day 10

Today we drove near Sartene to the Park: the Nature Park On Olva https://www.parc-animalier-corse.com/PBPhotos.asp. A kind of farm. On that day, we were the only visitors. There was a mini souvenir shop, and the restroom was clean. For lunch, we packed bread again. For M., there were always jars since she was only 10 months old. I had brought most jars from home. The donkeys and ponies roamed freely in the meadow, and we could pet them. A big dog also always wanted to be petted. There were also goats, pigs, and cattle. It was a beautiful path to walk. One part was a small forest path, where dad briefly walked through with L. There was no playground. A campsite is right next door. There were also riding helmets lying around, so I suspect that riding lessons or pony rides are offered here, either during school holidays or in high season, possibly from the campsite. Since we traveled quite a distance to get here, it unfortunately wasn’t worth it for us. After the return journey, we went to the playground and pool at the campsite. I also went into the pool since we had a few very warm days (about 30 degrees on May 2nd). Although there was also a public holiday here on May 1st, the supermarket, where we then went shopping, was open as usual.

Day 11

Today ends our holiday in Corsica, and we embark from Bonifacio on the ferry (about 1 hour) to Sardinia.

Regarding costs: the campsites were super cheap since we were traveling in the low season. We had great weather every day except for one. Since we took the day ferry from Livorno to Bastia, we had no overnight costs here. At first, we went out to eat a lot, but we quickly restricted that because it became too expensive. We often cooked a lot of pasta with tomato sauce ourselves. On the road, we stocked up on snacks from the supermarket. We usually ate fruit at the campsite and didn’t take much with us for the road. Then there were snacks or an ice cream. Gasoline: it was significantly cheaper in Bastia. The closer we got to Bonifacio, the more expensive it became.