Sardinia & Corsica 2026

As part of the cruise to celebrate Marella's 30th Birthday we visited two Mediterranean island that are just 7 miles, separated by th Strait of Bonifacio. Sardinia and Corsica may be close to each other but they are owned by different countries. 

Corsica is French, sold centuries ago to cover Italian debt whilst Sardinia remains part of Italy.

Our first visit was to Sardinia; we have visited the island before on our Olives and Old Towns cruise in 2024. Our port of call then was Cagliari, the capital, and we had a trip to a vineyard, olive oil factory and ancient church.

This trip our port was Olbia, the busy gateway to the island with ferry links to Italy and Corsica.

We decided not to take an excursion but to explore the town. It was a lovely walk from the ship along the waterside with an abundance of fish at the water's edge.

A beautiful Italian town with narrow streets and painted buildings. It was lovely sitting outside enjoying a coffee under blue skies.

Sardinia was lovely, we enjoyed this short visit as well as our previous longer experience however Corsica was our favourite stop of this cruise. In fact most of our fellow cruisers said Corsica was their favourite place.

We did arrive on the actual birthday celebration day so lots was happening and it was made extra special with an amazing sail away. 

Corsica is the birthplace of Napoleon Bonapart and the island is very proud of their historic son.

We docked in Ajaccio, the capital of the island, and it certainly felt French as soon as we began exploring. The city had busy shopping streets a well as small alleyways. There were plenty of cafes with outside tables, a French espresso was a must, as was a Pastis at a little bar on our way back to the ship.

We were docked alongside an amazing tall ship, it looked beautiful under bright blue skies.

Two superb islands, a cruise is certainly a great way to see the world. Corsica is on our revisit list, maybe a long road trip holiday.