How about Milan, Sardinia and Corsica? You can easily find a flight to Sardinia from Milan, and then move on to Corsica.

Or how about Paris, Corsica, ferry to Italy, train to Milan and fly home?

I think there are ferries to Genoa and Livorno from Corsica, but I'm not sure. Or you could go from Corsica to Sardinia and fly to Milan.

For a combo with the least number of tourists, then Lyon/Corsica/Milan.

Maximum tourists: Venice and the lakes.

I think you will find Barcelona and Nice more crowded with tourists than Marseilles, and while Paris gets a lot of tourists, at least it is huge and so it is easy to get away from them so long as you are willing to walk away occasionally from places like the Lourve, Eiffel Tower, Notrie Dame, etc

If you do a bit of research about Corsica you should be able to figure out which spots are more low-key and not cruise-shippy.

Hey thanks, goldenautumn! We actually just started looking at Sardinia since it was so close by.

I have some concerns on ferries since it appears that could significantly eat up time on the ground in some of these places. Would you recommend overnight ferries for a Paris/Corsica/Milan itinerary or Milan/Sardinia/Corsica itinerary?

And appreciate you weighing in on the potential tourist crush too. I mean, I realize that we too will be tourists, but if we can mitigate even an iota of the overwhelming feeling of being surrounded by tourists, that will help tremendously.

I think we'd be perfectly fine to go to Paris and simply eat and stroll, and try to avoid most big time tourist attractions. (If we chose Paris, I would have to see the waterlilies at Musee de L'Orangerie though, that's non-negotiable.)

You should certainly check out the overnight ferries. They might not be cheaper than flying. And going in some directions, they might not be overnight.

How much time do you have?

PS: I got curious and looked up ferries, and there are several ports connecting Corsica to Italy, with travel times of 4hrs or 6hrs, about 60 euros one way in high summer. All of the Italian ports (Genoa, Livorno, Savona) have fairly quick ways to get to Milan by train, under 4 hours. So depending on how much travel time you have altogether, you could have Milan + Corsica, or Milan + Corsica + one other destination with connections to Corsica by air or boat.

I also meant to add that if you go to Paris, you should also non-negotiate a trip to the Marmottan museum for the rest of the water lilies

Goldenautumn, you are awesome! Thank you for looking up the ferries!

Those travel times from Corsica to Italy are much lower than I expected: 4-6 hours is totally doable. And 60 euros one way isn't that much more expensive than say EasyJet, and at least we'd be spared the extra time in the airport, security, etc.

And good tip on Musee Marmottan: I'd probably insist overall on a mini ode to Monet moment in Paris, but sensibly leave Giverny for another trip.

We will have probably 9 or 10 nights total to divvy up.

Ok looking at more options for ferries from Italy to Corsica, it looks like Livorno has the most convenient and quickest ferry to Bastia. So we could potentially spend time in Florence and make our way to Livorno before heading to Corsica.

Where would you rank Florence on the tourist crush-o-meter in July versus Paris / Milan / Marseille?

I think my next step is to figure out where we'd want to base ourselves in Corsica: with only 5-6 nights, it might be most time effective to stick to one coast or area of the island, since previous trip reports prominently mention the serpentine roads and extra driving time in peak season.

I hate to keep coming back with more thoughts/questions, but if we change the trip from July to June, is there a significant difference/drop in the number of tourists in Corsica and any of the more urban areas we'd start/end our trip in?

July would be easier to pull off, but if going earlier would significantly decrease the fighting for space and moving through crowds, then we'd make June work.

Thusspake -

Yes, there will be a noticeable drop in tourist in Corisca in June relative to July. This is true any year, but particularly 2013 as the Tour de France will be coming to Corisca for the first time ever. If you could swing a Corsica end June and then on to Paris, beginning of July, I think you'd have a great trip in the making.

- Kevin

Thanks Kevin! I think that's what we'll shoot for then: would definitely prefer to beat the Tour de France crowds!

Thanks everyone for your help with plotting.

Agree June is better and to answer your other question, Florence will be slammed wall to wall with tourists.

Do some careful investigation about spring rain in Corsica and how long it lasts to make sure it is reliably on the dry side by the time you arrive

You might find this interesting:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2013/jan/04/marseille-france-art-shopping-culture-capital-2013