From Sardinia...+ 2 days in Corsica or +2 days in Tuscany?

Corsica is a bit more lush than Sardinia, which is drier. Culturally is a bit different in the sense it is French.
The problem is flying back to Rome. You should be able to fly back to Rome from Olbia (Sardinia) easily, but from Corsica there are no direct flights to Rome. In most cases you'd need to have a layover in France. Obviously you can always take the ferry back from Bonifacio to Santa Teresa, which is what I did.

Whether you'd rather go to Tuscany is up to you. Not sure when you are going, but I think the only direct flight OLB-FLR is in summer (end of June-August/early Sept), but of course you can always fly to Pisa or to Rome itself, then drive around. 2 nights is kind of short for anything in Tuscany, but it's your honeymoon, so you should do as you please.

The short answer is:

I do not think this is a realistic plan, and it would probably be a big mistake to try.
I'm sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear.

Longer answer:

I've been to Sardinia (loved it, it may be my favorite place I've ever been). I have not been to Corsica yet, but will be going in September 2024, and have been planning that trip in great detail for months, so I have a pretty good (and current) knowledge of what's possible in terms of getting to/from Corsica.

I suggest you change how you are thinking about going to "Corsica" and getting back from there: "Corsica" is not a single place, it's a large island (not as big as Sardinia, but big enough to matter). You don't fly from "Corsica", of course you would (in theory) fly from a city/airport in Corsica. There are four of those with commercial air service, but all of them are very limited. None are particularly big. Three of the four airports do not have any flight that will help you get to anywhere in Italy (unless you want to make a couple stops in France on the way and spend a fortune).

One airport actually could get you to Rome: Bastia (BIA). Bastia has the most air service. But even that is quite limited - just 2 flights a week. You actually could try to do this from Bastia, but only if a single flight on a Monday or a Thursday would work for you. And then there's a geographical inconvenience...Bastia is near the northern end of Corsica - the opposite end where you would get off that convenient-looking ferry from Sardinia.

You would be coming from Sardinia (in theory). Yes, there is a ferry from the northern end of Sardinia (Santa Teresa Gallura) to the southern tip of Corsica (Bonifacio). But Bonifacio is a long way from the airport you would need. Will you have a way to get from the ferry port in Bonifacio to the airport in Bastia? (For that matter, where exactly in Sardinia are you planning to be? Will you have a way to get to the ferry port in Santa Teresa Gallura?). The distances involved here are not insurmountable, but they are not close-by, and there are few good and simple options for accessing these places - especially on a trip that's already way too short.

I consider (and sometimes successfully complete) some crazy, thread-the-needle itineraries (and I've got some of those built in to my trip to Corsica next September). But what you are proposing here (hop over to Corsica and fly to Rome from there) is not something I would try. I would urge you to reconsider your plans, as I do not think a quickie 2-day taste of Corsica will work at all, and even if you can pull it off (I'm skeptical anyone could), I think trying to do so would be a mistake. Because...

I have not followed your previous posts, don't know anything about your plans other than what's posted above in this thread. But...you are planning just 6-7 nights in Sardinia. That is far too-short a trip to this destination. I spent almost 3 weeks there and we only scratched the surface, felt like I really wished we had had more time there. There is a lot to see and do in Sardinia. If you slice off a couple days to blow through a corner of Corsica, you would be further short-changing yourself by cutting into what's already way too little time there, IMHO.

Having loved Sardinia myself, I would suggest you skip the idea of hopping to Corsica (or the idea of adding a couple days in Florence or Tuscany, too). Either of those plans will just further shorten your time in Sardinia, which would be a crime to me.

I'm sorry, I know this is not what you hoped to hear, but I do not think your proposed itineraries are realistic or wise. If (as it sounds) you have a flight home booked from Rome, then get yourself to Rome the day before your flight, spend the last night there and make sure you don't miss your flight home.

I hope this is useful in making your choices. Good luck.

Sardinia is not one destination but a large island. What time of year are you planning to go and where are you planning to stay? Staying in a city is different from staying in the countryside or near the beaches. And Cagliari, for example is very different from Alghero (my two favourite cities in Sardinia.) I don't see the point of wasting a lot of time travelling to go to Corsica (another larger island) or "Tuscany" a large region - what can you see of either in two days?
Sardinia has a host of different environments....

I’ve done Sardinia + Corsica but I had been to Sardinia before, and definitely had more than just a week for both. If you have only 10 nights in Italy, including the last night which you must certainly spend in Rome, then I agree you should devote that to Sardinia. Even that length of time is insufficient for the whole island, but maybe you can concentrate to northern Sardinia, probably the best half of the island. If you have a few days in Santa Teresa, besides the mandatory boat excursion to the Maddalena archipelago, you could also take a day trip to Bonifacio (Corsica) via ferry. Bonifacio is super quaint and can be visited in a day. The ferry from Santa Teresa to Bonifacio takes about 45 min one way. It’s a car ferry, so you could even take your car, but it’s not needed at all to just visit Bonifacio, actually parking is scarce so it’s best not to have it. Porto Vecchio is also nice, but you’d need a car to get there, and it would be hard to visit both Bonifacio and Porto Vecchio in a day and make the ferry back to Santa Teresa. So, if I were in your shoes, I’d simply visit Bonifacio by ferry for the day, then come back to Santa Teresa in the afternoon. There are also nice beaches in Corsica, but you don’t have the time and there are plenty of great beaches in Sardinia anyhow. If you stay in Santa Teresa, Capo Testa has nice rocky beaches with interesting rock formations that has a lunar landscape (in fact it’s called Valle della Luna). There is a great upscale Grand Hotel Capo Testa in the area which would be perfect for your honeymoon. I stayed at the Mirage, which is not fancy at all, but it wasn’t my honeymoon so it was ok.

Hi All,

Thank you so much for the quick and detailed replies!!

We are going in August, and after reading through comments and thinking about the itinerary further, I agree that it feels a bit forced to squeeze in Tuscany.

I still (mentally) like the idea of going to both Sardinia and Corsica while we're "in the area" - though I completely respect and wholeheartedly agree that ideally we'd be able to spend multiple weeks on both islands. I know we'll only scratch the surface of Sardinia with ~5-6 nights, and barely cover Corsica in the remaining time. Who knows what life will bring, hopefully someday we'll get back to one or both, but we still have much European ground to cover and I think our next trips might be in entirely different areas which is (again) why I'm leaning towards getting a taste of both.

As far as where we plan to stay, I haven't settled on specifics yet, but hoping to spend 2-3 nights in multiple different places on Sardinia (i.e., closer to Olbia to do a day trip to the Maddalena Islands, but also spend some time closer to the mountains), and then maybe two nights in Bonifacio (Corsica) and then fly out of Ajaccio.

I should note, I haven't booked a flight home yet but as of now it looks like Rome and Paris are the most affordable options to get back to NY, so we will likely just spend one night in Paris to break up the trip home. Looks doable from Corsica.

Again, really appreciate the feedback thus far - and I might pop back up with more specific questions as research continues. :)

Best,
Ruth

@Roberto - thank you for that additional info! I was typing my reply when it came through. Really good insight on a day-trip to Corsica.

And we're pretty low-key, so likely will look for some authentic places to stay over splashing out... open to anyone's thoughts on that!

August? That is the absolutely highest peak time of the tourist season in Sardinia when Europeans go to Sardinia by the tens of thousands. You will be paying through the nose for both accommodations and rental car (last year after Covid they wanted almost $1000 a week for renting a car in August in Olbia). That is why I never went to Sardinia after mid July, some places are booked year to year in August, so accommodations are hard to find and price skyrocket. Get on with your plans and start searching for accommodations as soon as possible.

I second what Roberto says. I wouldn't go to Sardinia at all in August!

Did you end up taking this trip? I am thinking of doing the same/similar:

2-3 nights in Southern Corsica (Staying in Porto Vecchio area)
4 nights in Northeast Sardinia (staying in Costa Smeralda)

Is this itinerary worth doing? Similar to you, we want to see different places and are OK missing some parts of Sardinia. We will focus instead on the northern region: Maddalena islands, Porto Cervo, Olgia, beaches, etc.

Hi!

We haven’t gone yet, but committed to staying in Sardinia and just doing a day trip to Corsica. We were eager to see a few different parts of Sardinia (Bosa, La Maddalena, Baunei) so it would have been a lot of driving around. Your itinerary sounds lovely though!

Best,
Ruth