Cheap ferry to Corsica: what really lowers the price

The month outweighs everything else

In our readings of 19 September 2026, the calendar is the leading price factor — but the expensive month is not the same one from route to route. For a foot passenger in a reclining seat on Marseille–Ajaccio, the average stands at €45.57 in September 2026, falls to €42.32 in November 2026, its low point, then climbs back to €55.60 in June 2027, its high point, in the last month of a window that now runs that far. Marseille–Bastia drops in one step: €63.04 in September 2026 against €56.37 in January 2027, over a window that also runs to June 2027. Toulon–Ajaccio, whose window runs further, to summer 2027, puts its low point in the same month as Marseille–Ajaccio, €36.98 on average in November 2026, and its high point in July 2027, at €54.68.

On Marseille–Bastia, the peak is therefore the first month of the window still open: past October 2026, the average settles and no longer moves until June 2027. Marseille–Ajaccio and Toulon–Ajaccio run the other way round, with their trough in November 2026 and their peak on next year's departures — June 2027 for the former, high summer, July 2027, for the latter. Toulon–Ajaccio, whose window takes in summer 2027, is where the distance between the dearest and the cheapest month is widest of the three.

Two adults, two children and a car with a cabin on Marseille–Bastia pay €298.64 on average in September 2026, against €244.97 in January 2027. The monthly average does not tell the whole story: September 2026 is also when the lowest reading of the window lands on this profile, €233.97 for a departure on 29 September 2026. The dearest month on average carries the cheapest departure on the route.

The day of the week: a quieter lever

The day matters, without ever rivalling the month. On Marseille–Ajaccio, Tuesday comes out cheapest on average for the foot passenger, at €46.14, against €49.15 on Saturday. Marseille–Bastia has its trough on Tuesday (€56.29 on average) and its peak on Sunday (€58.23). Toulon–Ajaccio drops on Wednesday to €40.63 on average and rises on Saturday to €45.81. On both routes to Ajaccio, picking your day shifts the average by only a few euros; Marseille–Bastia is still where the day carries the most weight.

The departure port changes everything for the same island

For the same island, the port you board at weighs as much as the date. Here is what entry costs on each destination, port by port, for a foot passenger in a reclining seat.

The ranking by minimum is not the ranking by average: the cheapest port to get in is not necessarily the one holding the lowest prices across the whole window.

For Bastia the range is wider, and the floor goes to Savona, with Nice and Livorno close behind and Toulon just after. Worth noting: Marseille closes the list and Genoa sits in the dearer half of the table — the two ports on this destination served by a company other than Corsica Ferries.

The company matters, even on the same ship

Marseille–Ajaccio is the only one of the three routes served by two companies, La Méridionale and Corsica Linea, which share the line under a public service delegation and sell each other's crossings by allocation. For the foot passenger in a reclining seat, La Méridionale shows €35.82 at the minimum and €46.15 on average, and signs the large majority of the cheapest dates; Corsica Linea starts at €57.78 for €58.64 on average. On that exact profile, the gap between the two companies for one and the same crossing has reached €68.96.

The gap widens on heavier profiles. Still on that shared route, for the crossing of 18 October 2026 with two adults, two children, a car and a cabin, Corsica Linea was showing €266.40 against €551.65 at La Méridionale — €285.25 apart, one-way. Toulon–Ajaccio (Corsica Ferries alone) and Marseille–Bastia (Corsica Linea alone) offer no such comparison.

Among departures still ahead, the lowest foot-passenger fare across our three routes remains Toulon–Ajaccio at €28.73 on 23 October 2026 with Corsica Ferries; on Marseille–Ajaccio, the recorded floor is €35.82 on 9 October 2026 with La Méridionale.

These levers only matter, of course, if the ferry is the right mode for your trip. The full calculation — car taken along, rental avoided, carbon footprint — is set out in getting to Corsica by ferry.

One last lever, often the heaviest: almost nobody travels in one direction only. On a return trip, the reclining seat, the cabin and the car are all paid twice — we have set out what that changes, route by route, in what a return trip costs.