If you decide to travel to Sardinia by car, or on foot, unless you have an amphibious vehicle, or you are a very good swimmer, you have only one option, how to get to the island.
Take a ferry ...
If you want to skip our story and looking just for useful information about roads and country search for 💁 emoji.
Arrival
After we got supplied by tasty panini, we headed to the port. The way to port was well marked and also my navigation (I am using waze.com 90% of the time) was directing use straight to Corsica Ferries platform.
After entering port, we have been briefly stopped by the port worker. He asked the company with which we will sail and directed us to the correct gate. There, at the gate, we have been asked to show the ticket (which we had on the phone) and let us through.
Some cars were picked for security check. Seems to be quite random so we had the luck to skip these "pleasantries" (on way back we were picked but was pretty simple and fast. Show IDs, check the trunk and check under the car) and headed to the embarking platform.
Inside the port, roads were well marked and signs lead us through the whole port. Since for all of us was this for the first time, traveling on sea ferry, right after gate we have been stunned by the enormous size of the two ferries parked there.
After a short drive, we stopped at check-in. The ferry company employee scanned our ticket, gave us a ticket with cabin number (or seat if you book one), a sticker on the front window with the parking deck, and pointed us to the line to park.
Cars here were lined up and waiting for loading. Usually, loading starts while the last cars still disembarking from the boat, but because our boat was delayed, we had time to take a short stroll around.
In Livorno, directly in port, just a few steps from where we have been parking is nice medieval fortress Fortezza Vecchia. If you come early enough before departure, you can park your car on the boarding platform and take maybe a two-minute walk to the entrance and visit the fortress from inside as well.
Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time and after preparing our cabin bags and finishing panini with prosciutto, the boarding started.
Preparation
Let's go back to the time before the trip for a moment and let me tell you, how we choose the company and planned the trip.
When you choosing your ferry crossing, there are few things you have to consider.
Ferry departure and arrival port
There are several ports with ferry service to Sardinia in Italy, but if you not planning to drive too much to the south of Italy, most likely you will end up either in Livorno or in Genoa.
The trip to Genoa was around 2 hours shorter for us.
The same goes for the arrival port. Most of them are in the north of the island, so you can choose between Porto Torres, Olbia, or slightly less know Golfo Aranci.
Our destination on the island was Castelsardo, so Porto Torres, being only about a 20-30 minute drive from there was an obvious choice.
Time of ferry sail
The time of sail depends on ports and also the company. The shortest sail is 8 hours and the longest is almost 13 hours.
Price of ferry
Prices between companies and between routes are different and sometimes it can be one or more hundred euros.
Different is also the selection of extra services, like wifi, premium cabins, meals, etc.
Prices are different for different departure days.
Buying a ticket can be pretty overwhelming especially if you doing it for the first time. For me it was. We spent almost a week searching, planning, and comparing. Most of the time we have been using pages like directferries.com to search and compare prices and services.
In the end, we decided to go with Corsica ferries - Sardinia ferries and sacrifice a longer drive for a smaller price and shorter sail.
The price for the trip from Genoa to Porto Torres would cost us around 640 euros (3 adults, 1 kid, 1 dog, and car, plus pet cabin), but the trip from Livorno to Golfo Aranci with Corsica ferries - Sardinia ferries was just slightly over 350 euro. And the cost of fuel for extra driving was too small.
Boarding the ferry
After our line was waved to start the drive to the boat, crewmen kept point us to the correct ramp, floor, and eventually parking spot. Parking was not hard, even it might look intimidating.
You can park the way that you have still enough space to open doors. If unsure how much space you have around or on the side, wait for a moment and some crewman will hand signal you and help you to park well.
After we parked, first in line, all the way in front, we took our bags and walked to staircase doors.
A bit of advice here. Wait for cars around to stop. Can be a bit dangerous walking between moving car in a dark and tight place. Also, watch out for your head as the ceiling is quite low and for your legs to not trip over some metal construction.
Don't forget to lock your car and close mirrors if they don't automatically.
The ferry cabin
My wife was initially against booking a cabin, as she heard, that they are messy, ugly, and small.
But, because of our dog (who likes to bark on other dogs) and a long trip here, we agreed to book a cabin with beds so we can take a nap.
To our surprise, the cabin wasn't that bad. I mean... It wasn't the most luxurious place, but was fairly clean, with outlets, a toilet with a shower, and enough space. And there was also working air-condition.
After sleeping in the car and driving for two days, taking shower, and getting in bed without going through complicated yoga poses was heaven for me.
On the trip to the island, we had a cabin in the middle of the ship, so it was pretty smooth without feeling too many movements.
One downside was the noise. The ship's engines produce a lot of noise and vibrations. But this was a problem almost everywhere on the ship.
Since our departure was again delayed, the rest of my family get bored and went to the cabin.
I stayed on the outer deck for a while with a cold drink and my IQOS (yes on most of the outer decks is allowed to smoke and there are bins for cigarettes) and watched the departure. After the ship gets out from port, from the side deck was a great view of the port, but also a historic part of Livorno and the fortress.
The sail
After few hour sleep, we woke up and since we had still around two hours until landing, we went exploring the ship.
The most excited member of the group was our dog. He was allowed to walk almost everywhere, so he did enjoy exploring and mainly sniffing the whole ship. It was very entertaining watching him jumping and climbing those big stairs. After every set of stairs, he stopped and looked at us with pride in his eyes.
The rest of us was more interested in getting a good cup of coffee, than sniffing around, so we headed to the upper deck for "beach bar".
"Beach bar" was a bar on the upper outer deck with a small pool, a view of the sea, and a bar with snacks and drinks.
Three cappuccinos, please.
We hung out here for a while, but eventually, the hunger came, so we went to check the "local" food selection.
There were several restaurants with different styles of food and few more snack and drink bars inside the ship. We choose to try a cantina-style one. The selection was really big and was hard to choose from. And the food itself was really good and with pleasant and willing staff.
A big downside of this one was the number of people here. After getting food on a plate, took a while to get to pay for food and find a free table.
Disembarking the ferry
While watching the amazing sunset, we kinda forgot to go pack our stuff and free the cabin.
The crewman was a bit upset, so we hastily packed and headed for a staircase to car decks.
This was the worst part of the sail. Since we had to leave the cabin and everyone else too and the ship was not docked yet, we didn't have access to the car yet. We had to wait in corridors with everyone on board.
After around ten minutes the first deck was called to go to the car and finally after another ten, maybe fifteen minutes was our turn. And of course, we forgot which deck is ours and where we park so took us a while to get to the car. And my shin got to know the metal frame of doors on the car deck, very intimately. In the end, we found the car. But because we were parked all the way in front of the ship and to the side, we had to wait for others to drive out.
While getting into the boat was good, getting out was the exact opposite. The situation was the same as on roads in Italy. The main slogan here was "Me first and only me". Again no concept of zipping cars, everyone was pushing and trying to get out of the boat earlier, driving from side to side. Too many close calls for my comfort. And between all the cars, few kamikaze bikers were just cherry on top.
The same situation was outside the ship and the whole time through the port. But eventually, everyone drove away and we could stop on parking near a small beach and enjoy the rest of the sunset and the first island's evening breeze.
We are finally here!
💁
- When buying a ticket for the ferry, you can either go directly to the company page or use a page like directferries.com to compare prices and buy tickets.
- If you choose Corsica Ferries you can buy tickets on their page directly slightly cheaper: corsica-ferries.co.uk
- If you register on their page to Corsica club, you get an eight euro discount for you first trip and if you will use their service again, you can collect points to use them later.
- When adding a car to your registration, make sure you add the correct length, width, and height.
- Sometimes it's not the number you will have in your car registration papers.
- For example on my Skoda, in papers, car width is measured between wheels. But because the bodywork and mirrors are sticking out. I have to use the distance between mirrors opened.
- For bigger cars, the price is bigger. Especially width over two meters makes the difference.
- If you use the wrong numbers you can be denied boarding!
- Usually, you don't have to book a cabin. You can get a pullman seat which is cheaper and feels kinda like in train and are much cheaper. Or you don't have to take even the chair and spent time on deck.
- If traveling with a dog or car, you need to choose a pet-friendly cabin or a pullman seat.
- Select the cabin in the middle of the ship if you are afraid of seasickness. Outer cabins have windows, but when the sea is not calm can be unpleasant for you.
- The sail is between 8 to 13 hours from the mainland to the island, depending on the ports you choose for departure and arrival, and company.
- You don't have access to your car during the cruise. So take your bag with items you might need.
- You will not have access to the cabin immediately and you have to leave the cabin before landing, so don't take too many things.
- It's a good idea to take a jacket even in summer. In the evening can be chilly on decks.
- Bring a beach or fishing chair with you if you want to stay on the outer deck and enjoy the sea. On other decks can be hard to find a sitting place.
- Be aware of mobile data! If you are lucky, when ships sail near land, you can have normal roaming data. But on the open sea, your phone can connect to a satellite network and it's expensive (we learned that hard way 😐)
- You can pay for wifi access on ship.
- Traveling with your pet is easy. Ships have cabins and areas for pets (mainly floors without carpet) and pets toilets on outer decks. And usually, they are allowed to enter almost all areas. Make sure you have poop bags and some wet wipes to clean small "accidents". Don't forget the leash and bowl for water.
- Ships have restaurants, bars, entertainment areas, shops, and even pools.
- Due to covid-19 pool and entertainment areas were closed.
- Prices are higher, but not completely ridiculous.
- If you can order a meal in advance, it's cheaper.
- You can pay by card, but most likely not contactless (no apple pay, etc as well)
- When boarding with the car, just follow the instructions of the ship crew. They will point you to the correct parking spot so no stress.
- Remember on which deck you park and which place ideally (look for markers on walls).
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