So this is nothing to do with ‘skiing’ flight free (unless you are thinking about discovering one of Corsica’s ski resorts this winter), but regular readers will recall that I have taken the Flight Free Challenge for 2024…and that means summer family holidays as well.


Brighton to Corsica by train and ferry

That meant that our family holiday to Corsica last month was our first flight free ‘family holiday’ (excluding driving to the Alps). Considering we were travelling with two potentially moody teenagers, it went remarkably well.

The outbound route

  • Brighton to St Pancras train (dep 13:02, arr 14:12)
  • Eurostar St Pancras to Paris (dep 15:21, arr 18:50, dinner in Paris)
  • Overnight Intercities to Nice (dep 20:30, arr 09:00+1, breakfast & lunch in Nice)
  • Day ferry to Ile Rousse (dep 16:00, arr 21:30)

Arriving in Ile Rousse

The inbound route

  • Bastia to Toulon overnight ferry (dinner in Bastia, dep 20:30, arr 07:15+1, breakfast in Toulon)
  • Toulon to Marseille train (dep 08:58, arr 09:58)
  • Marseille to Paris train (dep 10:45, arr 12:50)
  • Paris to St Pancras Eurostar (dep 15:12, arr 17:30)
  • St Pancras to Brighton train (dep 18:00, arr 19:16)

Total Cost

The total cost was £1306 for four people, including two nights’ accommodation. I booked direct with Eurostar, SNCF Connect and Corsica Ferries.

Beautiful Corsica

Would I do it again?

Absolutely. The kids (17 year olds) would have preferred to fly, particularly on the return, but overall they gave the trip a thumbs up.

It seems self-evident to me that you see so much more when you take your time. We enjoyed meals in Paris, Nice, Bastia and Toulon – all destinations that we would have skipped entirely if we had flown. The holiday felt like an adventure, was something we all shared as a family, and won’t forget instantaneously as we would have done with a flight.

NB: We were lucky in that our return via Paris was on the opening day of the Olympics – when various train lines were sabotaged – but our services were unaffected (the Eurostar actually took an hour longer than usual, but we were moved forward to an earlier service, so we arrived exactly as scheduled).