Bonifacio Boat Trip from Ajaccio

Ajaccio and the Quai Napoléon departure

Ajaccio is the capital of Corse-du-Sud and the largest town on the island, spread around a deep bay with a Genoese citadel on its point. The quay where you board is named after Napoleon Bonaparte, who was born in the town in 1769, and it sits right in the old port beside the fish market and the cafés of the harbour front. Most travellers looking for things to do in Ajaccio end up asking about a Bonifacio day trip, because the town at the southern tip is one of the most striking places in the Mediterranean.

By road the drive from Ajaccio to Bonifacio is long and full of bends, so going by sea is the relaxed way to do it. You leave at 08:15, cross the bay with the Sanguinaires islands behind you, and the coast opens up as soon as you round the southern headland.

The south-west coast and the Lion of Roccapina

South of Ajaccio the coast is almost empty: granite headlands, maquis-covered hills that smell of myrtle and rosemary, small coves with clear turquoise water and Genoese watchtowers built in the sixteenth century to warn villages of pirate raids. This is the stretch that makes a Corsica boat tour worth doing, because most of it cannot be reached by road.

The best-known landmark on the way is the Lion of Roccapina, a pink granite outcrop above a white sand beach that really does look like a lion lying down with its head on its paws. A Genoese tower stands just behind it, guarding the bay. The boat slows down here so you can take photos from the water, the angle from which the lion is clearest, before continuing south towards the limestone plateau of Bonifacio.

The cliffs of Bonifacio and the King of Aragon Staircase

Bonifacio is built on top of a narrow promontory of white limestone that drops about 70 metres straight into the sea. Waves have carved the base of the cliffs into overhangs, arches and caves, and the old houses of the upper town lean right over the edge. The Bonifacio cliffs cruise is the moment most people remember: the boat sails along the foot of the cliffs and, sea permitting, into the caves where the water turns electric blue.

Halfway along you see the King of Aragon Staircase, a long flight of steps cut diagonally down the cliff face to a spring at sea level. Legend says the soldiers of the King of Aragon carved it in a single night during the siege of 1420; in reality it is older, but the view of it from below is spectacular. The Grain de Sable, a block of limestone that broke away from the cliff, stands at the entrance to the harbour.

Bonifacio marina and the citadel

The boat docks in Bonifacio marina, a natural inlet more than a kilometre long that slips between the cliffs and is invisible from the open sea, which is why the town was such a strong fortress. Your mini-train shuttle climbs from the quays to the upper town, so you save the steep walk and arrive straight at the gates of the citadel.

Inside the walls the old town is a maze of narrow lanes, arched passages and tall stone houses. Walk to the Bastion de l'Étendard, the marine cemetery on the plateau and the viewpoints over the cliffs, where on a clear day you can see the coast of Sardinia across the strait. The free time is long enough for lunch in a terrace restaurant and a relaxed look around. If you want to visit Bonifacio but are wondering how to get to Bonifacio from Ajaccio without a car, this trip answers both.

The Strait of Bonifacio and the return cruise

The Strait of Bonifacio separates Corsica from Sardinia by only about 12 kilometres, and the area around it is protected as a marine nature reserve. From the deck you see the islands and reefs at the mouth of the strait, the lighthouse at Pertusato and the long white wall of cliffs stretching east of the town. It is one of the most important crossing points for ships in the western Mediterranean, and the water is usually a deep, clear blue.

The return to Ajaccio follows the same coast in the afternoon light, which brings out the pink of the granite and the green of the maquis. Many passengers simply rest on deck after the walk in Bonifacio. The best time to visit Bonifacio by sea is from May to September, when the sea is calmest and the caves are easiest to enter.