Corsica 2023

Three weeks of Corsica with our camping oldie Citroen HY, called AscHY, lie ahead of us.

On Friday afternoon we drove to Kandersteg and onto the car train. In Gampel we quickly bought the last things we were missing and then we drove to the car train in Brig. Since we wanted to spare the AscHY the hassle of crossing the Simplon, we were happy to accept the 1.5 hour waiting time at the car transport to Iselle. That evening we drove 20 minutes from Genoa and found a place to spend the night at the motorway service station next to the trucks. At 7 a.m. nothing would keep me in bed, even though it was actually quite comfortable. I wanted to get going because we were supposed to be at the Genoa ferry port at 9:00 a.m. Luckily we only had a café and were early because we couldn't find the right place straight away and wandered around the area a bit. However, the inability was not just ours. In their directions, the Italians first only described the way to the terminal for passengers without a car. So we weren't the only ones who had to search a little longer. Nevertheless, we got there on time and had to wait. So we had time for breakfast and to answer questions from other travelers about our travel vehicle. Loading started around 10:00 a.m. and our column was among the first. The loading master wanted to let us drive forward into the ship and then turn around at the back and be ready again to drive forward out of the ship. However, I was convinced that the headroom was not enough. So Cathrine had to climb up the ladder at the back and see whether it worked or not. We decided: it doesn't work! The loading master finally reluctantly accepted and I was able to stand at the edge of the loading area while everyone else had to maneuver around us. But no problem at all. With a quarter of an hour delay (I assume not because of us) we set off from Genoa, bound for Bastia.

After a good 7 hours of crossing, our ferry docked in Bastia. Because the headroom was too low, I had to turn around in order to be able to leave the ship forward. The loading master was impatient, but was still happy about our extraordinary vehicle.

We parked our bikes in the old town and visited a few sights on foot. Later we went on a guided tour with the "Petit Train", where a tour guide told us a lot about the city and its residents in English and French. Back at the campsite we cooked a delicious meal, had fun with the other campsite residents and the campers, some of whom were much too big, and organized the next day.

Cathrine has read that there is a beautiful train route over the hills to the other side of the island to Aiacciu. The train station wasn't far from the campsite so we were able to walk.

The leisurely ride on the actually modern train took almost 4 hours, as it had to let locals and many hikers get on and off at countless small stops. At many stops there was only “stop on request”. The locomotive with the apparently large diesel engine was surprisingly quite loud from the outside and surprisingly quite quiet from the inside. As already mentioned, the train was quite modern, but that couldn't be said about the tracks. So we were really shaken up and the guests who had to stand on certain sections of the route were nothing to envy. We really enjoyed the train ride, although the beautiful view was often limited by bushes and trees.

When we arrived in Aiacciu, the first thing we asked was about a hop-on hop-off bus. Unfortunately, this offer wasn't available, but we still went on a short bus tour and took the Ajaccio Vision to the small island group of Iles Sanguinaires. Everything is beautiful along the sea and countless villas.

We stayed overnight in a well-located hotel in the city and booked a boat trip the next day. With this ship we docked at the island that we had only seen from afar the day before and took a short walk to the two lighthouses.

As for the second lighthouse, I assumed that it was still in use. There were two men working a bit and left the doors open. This is how I discovered this one:

In the afternoon we took the train back to our campsite where our AscHY was patiently waiting for us.

The next morning we started our tour north to Cap Corse. Fantastic viewpoints, empty streets, beautiful beaches, clean water, no garbage dumps anywhere, a few villages, deserted in between, photo subjects everywhere.

And what is also very special about the beaches of Corsica...

Beautiful route, but also very strenuous to drive. Especially with an AscHY, without power steering, without a brake booster, with only three gears, drum brakes, no automatic air conditioning... but it still works. And when you've done it, you reward yourself with a beer or two.