Tour advice - Corsica

waltho bum gravy

It's that time of year when I start to think about my spring tour. After a bit of research I've decided to have a serious look at Corsica. The route I'm thinking about would involve flying into Bastia and flying out of Ajaccio.

I've also done a little bit of route planning, (an inverted "v" looks likely for the profile), and wondered whether anyone here had toured Corsica in the apst and could pass on any advice, places to see, places to avoid and places to stay.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks.
Gravy

cycladelic

I was there in May and spent 2 weeks touring around. I got a ferry from Nice to Bastia, went north around the Cap - which is a must - and then down to Calvi. All of that is fantastic.

Going to Ajaccio was also a blast, although the center of the city is a bit too busy.

How much time do you have?

I took a boat from Ajaccio down to Bonifacio and then cycled due north - great scenery! - and made my way back to Bastia along small mountain roads, via Corte.

You can't really go wrong.

andymiller

I'd highly recommend it.

The coast road from Bastia round to Ajaccio is absolutely excellent (if that's what you have in mind when you talk about an inverted 'V'), and would probably be on anyone's list of greatest rides. Take the time to enjoy it.

The traditional route is to go anti-clockwise. This has some definite advantages (the route out of Bastia is easy and you are on the side of the road nearest the sea and the view) on the other hand most of the tourist traffic (which includes a lot of big campervans) tends to go anti-clockwise.

Bastia itself is worth a day or so if you have time. I found Ajaccio and Calvi pretty dull in comparison. Corte is well worth a day (you could do it on a day trip by the train from Ajaccio).

I stayed at a nice camp site near the (IIRC) Plage de Verghia on the opposite side of the bay from Ajaccio. Nice site with a couple of lovely white sandy beaches and a couple of nice restaurants nearby. Reasonably convenient for the airport (although if you have an early flight you might want to stay somewhere like Porticcio).

Some general comments for anyone thinking about touring in Corsica.

As with any part of France, it's worth avoiding the routes nationales if you can. In Corsica the RN are OK, but often a very dull in comparison to other routes. This is especially true of the RN going up the east coast. If you can it's worth trying to find routes higher up (these have the advantage of being cooler as well).

Bear in mind that inland Corsica can be very depopulated. If you are going off the beaten track make sure you have enough money to last a couple of days. I also made sure that I always carried a jar of paté and some bread just in case.

Also bear in mind that much of Corsica could, without exaggeration, be described as a mountain range sticking out of the sea: so make you take the amount of climbing into account when you plan routes and daily distances.

There are some really nice gîtes d'étapes - but the ones on the busiest walking routes can be booked up if you are unlucky enough to arrive at the same time as an organized group of walkers - so it can be worth ringing ahead.

There are ferry services to and from Ajaccio and Propriano as well as Bastia - so you can go into one port and out of another.

There is a direct train from Lille Europe to Marseille so it's possible to get from London to Marseille in about 8 hours. Unfortunately (IIRC) there are only a couple of trains a day and you need to get an early departure from London to connect with the overnight ferries.

EDIT: one further thought. If you wanted to make an abbreviated circular tour, one option would be to go as far as Piana and then go back down to Porto and then take the road via Ota and Evisa towards the Col de Vergio and then to Corte, or alternatively go on to Cargèse and then turn east at Sagone. The Calanches de Piana are probably the most spectacular bit of the coast route so definitely not to be missed. Cargèse is also a lovely village with a fascinating history - after that it's a bit of an anti-climax although there are some fabulous deserted beaches around the Gulf of Sagone.