This week’s dream: the world’s most glamorous ferry ride
There is a new sea journey that takes you from “France’s sexiest shore” to “Italy’s coolest coast”, says Tristan Rutherford in The Times. Yes, it’s a ferry trip, but not as we know it. The vehicles rolling off the ramp of this vessel are Ferraris, not Ford Fiestas, on overnight hops from the Côte d’azur to Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda. “And the cruise-like views are first class.” Departures for Golfo Aranci leave from the Port of Nice at 8pm, which means you’re “sipping spumante on deck” as the sun dips beneath the French Riviera. The cabins are excellent, and there’s a “cracking” Italian restaurant serving set meals for £19, including an aperitif.
Morning brings strong coffee and “dolphins off the prow” – a pod of about 50 swims in the protected waters off Cap Corse, the first land mass spied since Nice. The islands of Capraia and Pianosa – “frequented by wealthy yachties” – are visible in the distance, as are the seven Maddalena islands between Corsica and Sardinia. The rest of the journey skirts the latter’s sparkling coastline until, at around 10am, “the ferry puffs into Golfo Aranci”.
The road that runs north along the Costa Smeralda is the same one along which Roger Moore, as James Bond, was chased in The Spy Who Loved Me: there are “wild, white” beaches along the way. From Sardinia’s northern tip, it’s a 20-minute ferry to the Maddalena islands, home to around “a third of Sardinia’s flora”, as well as sea turtles and swordfish. Only three islands are inhabited, so you can hire a speedboat for the day and drop anchor on “footprint-free sands”. On Caprera, walking trails wind through forests of umbrella pines to take you to yet another “priceless” deserted bay. Despite the ferries, it’s still satisfyingly exclusive and secluded. “Rare is the Brit who knows about this archipelago” of “beach-trimmed jewels”. Corsica Ferries (+33 495 32 95 95; www.corsica-ferries.co.uk) run from 8 April. Tickets about £140 for a family of four with a car.