Corsica

isin: France Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, just north of Sardegna. It officially belongs to France, even if it is considered autonomous and independent by lots of its inhabitants, which don't feel French at all.

Hitching
Especially in the summer month you see hitchhikers in Corsica. As there are only 2 train lines and busses are slow and rare, hitching is a common way to get around. Protect yourself from the sun.

Hitching in Corsica is very easy, and even the biggest "cities" are small enough to find your way out of easily. We were three hitching all through Corsica and never waited more than 15 minutes for a ride in April 2010.

The roads in Corsica are especially in the mountainous inner of the island small and bumpy. You will be forced to drive in second or third gear. The average driving speed is (except for the national road on the east coast) around 50km/h. On the national roads there are often traffic jams during summer holidays, especially near the main touristic hubs on the southern and eastern costs.

Ferries
The cities where ferries depart (or arrive) are only Ajaccio and Bastia for the mainland and Propriano and Bonifacio for Sardegna all the year long (meaning in winter, late autumn and early spring). From mid-April to mid-October you will find connection also from/to Porto-Vecchio, Calvi and L'Île Rousse and there will be also more ferries from the other ports. The ferries can't be hitchhiked (legally) since the truck ticket are not paid by vehicle but per person, the only way you'll have if you want to take it for free, will be illegally.. There is plenty of ferries every day (minimum 4 per day in winter, imagine in summer..) with a huge variety of vehicles, so if you are patient enough for sure you'll find the right one. If you consider paying the ticket, keep in mind that French destinations are usually so much cheaper than Italian ones even if the trip is longer and the distance is bigger..crazyness of our times where a flight cost less than a train. From the european mainland there are connections from/to Marseille, Nice, Toulon, in France to/from Ajaccio and Bastia and from/to Savona, Livorno, (La Spezia, Piombino only in summer) and Genova in Italy to/from Bastia. Connections to/from Sardegna are available all year long between Propriano and Porto Torres (twice a week in winter) and between Bonifacio and Santa Teresa di Gallura (twice a day in winter).

Sleep
Wildcamping is generally strictly forbidden in Corsica. As anywhere else, try not to get caught if you do it, and avoid to light a fire. Outside of the touristic season people seem not care too much about you since you don't bother their business, only thing they seem to care of after neighbours respectability.. You have plenty of places where you can pitch your tent or find a place to lay on your mat, especially if you don't speak french (or pretend so) people won't be too much aggressif. The mountainous landscape and the often scrubby, spikey, low-growing brush environment make wild camping in Corsica quite difficult in several places. Finding a hidden, flat, comfortable spot can be tough, but more than possible if you look long enough. People in Corsica can be parnoid about wild camping because of their fear for wildfires, which make quite sense! In summer, if local people see you looking around for a campsite they start to question you, so try to keep a low profile. The official campings are often expensive, 10-15 Euros per person per night. Many of them are loud, crowded, and not very clean. There are some smaller local campsites that will charge as little as 4€/person a night, but are not common.

Eat and Drink
Everything is very expensive (especially for non locals...) in Corsica. Even in the supermarkets, prices of local grown fruits and veggies can be expensive. Everything will be cheaper if you don't come during the summer holidays and in any case if you avoid touristic places (which are more or less everywhere..)

If you do want to go for a drink, order a Pastis, You can find this for as cheap as 1,4-2,5 euro and most of the time you get a big can of water. It's cheaper than ordering a normal small water in a bar!!

Fishing is free for all on the coast except along natural reserves and inland waters.

Personal experiences
Fede found Corsican people often rude, aggressive, and really not welcoming at all. Coming from the warm and kind Sardegna it has been quite a shock for him. Maybe just because he was addressing people in French and not in Italian (Corsican language is a dialect of italian and often people are convinced to speak italian even if they don't, they' definitely prefer it to french!) but he encountered plenty of difficulties, hitchin, finding hospitality and often even just having a relationship with people! Foreigners living there (which were the only people helping and being kind to him, picking him up hitchhiking, hosting and simply talking nicely) confirmed him that feeling telling him the situation is even worse when you get to know them (corsicans) really. Pride, jealousy, small internal fights, envy, RACISM! (against arabs and africans exploited in work field as against french exploited for social aids..) and plenty of other very low feelings are just normal every day matter, in villages as in towns.. Tourists (which are usually treated quite well since they represent the main source of income, but there is no sincere respect and kindness in that, is dictated only by their craving of money!), according to what nice people living there say, don't perceive this since they get in contact only with the fake mask they put on.. Very few foreigners bear a permanent life in Corsica among its people and often fail in their attempt to move there..Hitchhikers might get and have a taste of this rudeness since they are not respecting very much what an ordinary tourist is supposed to do (spending money), even though they might find easily a lift, especially in summer when the road are crowded..

Cities

 * Ajaccio
 * Bastia
 * Bonifacio
 * Calvi
 * Corte
 * Propriano
 * Porto-Vecchio
 * Sartène