Corsica: the Southern GR20 without carrying your luggage

Excellent physical fitness is required: you must be well trained and able to sustain continuous effort over several days. Previous experience of this activity and regular practice are essential. Expect 6 to 9 hours of walking per day, sometimes more! There are frequent sections away from marked trails. Daily elevation changes exceed 1000m, and mountain trekking experience is essential. There are numerous steep ascents and off-trail sections, along ridges and across rock slabs and rocky terrain. The main challenges are the length of some stages and the nature of the terrain. Just one section, at Bavella, is equipped with a fixed handline.

Each day, you walk carrying your belongings for the day and your lunch. Your travel bag (a sports bag or similar) will be waiting for you at your accommodation each evening. Please limit this bag’s weight to 12kg.

Accommodation

Accommodation in mountain lodges (dormitories sleeping 4 to 20 people). All accommodation has washroom facilities with hot showers and toilets.

Bedbugs:
Bedbugs have appeared in recent years.
Despite pest control treatments, you should check your sleeping area by inspecting the bedding and avoid placing your bag on the bed throughout the trek.
If you wish, we recommend buying a suitable insecticide (e.g. Clako punaises).
At the end of your trek, we recommend placing all your clothes in bags (water-soluble bags are available) before machine washing them. This precaution helps prevent and reduce the risk of spreading bedbugs to other accommodation and your home.

Bathroom facilities:

Like the ageing mountain huts themselves, bathroom facilities are often very basic. Cold showers (or even washing in a river) and a lack of toilets are common. However, we choose our accommodation carefully to ensure you can take a hot shower and enjoy a basic level of comfort.

Meals

Throughout the route, you will be on full board, which includes:

• Continental breakfast* (tea, coffee, milk, butter, jam and cereals)
• A hot evening meal* prepared by your accommodation, generally using local produce
• A picnic lunch* eaten out on the trail, prepared by your accommodation (you must bring a 0.8-litre plastic container to carry your salads)
• Drinks are not included
• Snacks suitable for physical activity (dried fruit, cereal bars)

*People with specific dietary requirements or allergies are asked to bring freeze-dried meals suitable for their dietary needs. Mountain huts at high altitude cannot always cater for special diets.

Water treatment:

The island has many springs along the trails and fountains in the villages.
As we cannot guarantee that this water is safe to drink, we recommend treating it chemically with water purification tablets.

From 6 to 12 people

Guiding

Led by a mountain walking guide with a French state qualification.

Meeting point

On Day 1 at 14:00 at Ajaccio ferry terminal (opposite the CCI).

End of the trip

On Day 6 at around 18:00 at Ajaccio bus station.

Ajaccio ferry terminal or airport.

By air

Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi and Figari airports.

Scheduled or charter airlines:

• Air France: www.airfrance.fr
• Air Corsica: www.aircorsica.com
• Volotea: www.volotea.com
• Ryanair: www.ryanair.com
• easyJet: www.easyjet.com
• Hop: www.hop.com

Airport–bus station shuttle services (Ajaccio)

For timetables, ask at the information desk at the airport or bus station, or contact TCA (tel: 0495232941). Services run every day except 1 May.

Approximate fare: €5

By ferry

Corsica Linea: departures from Marseille, Nice or Toulon

Tel: 0825888088

For more information, visit www.corsicalinea.fr

Corsica Ferries: departures from Nice or Toulon

Tel: 0825095095

For more information, visit www.corsicaferries.com/Pcorsica.srv

La Méridionale: departures from Marseille

Tel: 0970832020

For more information, visit lameridionale.fr

Where to park your car

Car parking (Ajaccio)

Paid, unattended parking: Port de l’Amirauté Charles Ornano car park (near the railway station). Paid, attended parking 24 hours/24 (60 € per week). Diamant car park,

Avenue Eugène Macchini, Tel: 04.95.51.00.85

Car parking (Vizzavona)

Free, unattended parking at the Col de Vizzavona (300m from the Monte Oro hotel and gîte).

• Public transport in Corsica

Bus routes:

There are numerous bus routes departing from the main towns and cities. Visit: www.corsicabus.org

Chemins de Fer de la Corse railway company:

Bastia, Ponte Leccia, Corte, Vizzavona, Ajaccio line

Bastia, Ponte Leccia, Ile Rousse, Calvi line

• Left luggage in Ajaccio

Bar du marché (Boulevard du Roi Jérôme), 50metres from the tourist information office. You must purchase a drink or something to eat to leave a bag.

• Ajaccio

Hôtel Le Dauphin (HT): 0495512996

Hôtel Le Kallisté **: 0495513445

Hôtel Fesch ***: 0495516262

Hôtel Les Mouettes****: 0495504040

Approximately two weeks before your departure, you will receive a notice confirming the meeting time and location, your guide’s name and contact details, and the address of your first accommodation.

Member of Agir pour un Tourisme Responsable (ATR)

Since 2012, Grand Angle has been a member of ATR, the leading association for more responsible tourism. We design our trips – on foot, by bike and on snow – to invite everyone to discover the world differently: with curiosity, respect and kindness.

As members of the board of directors since 2018, we actively help the sector adopt more meaningful practices. In practical terms, we ensure:

• Transparency in our practices and prices
• Respect for our partners and local communities
• Protection of the environment on every trip

We also share the values of the traveller’s ethical charter, which encourages everyone to take simple steps to protect the places they visit and make meaningful connections.

Travelife Partner

Since 2025, Grand Angle has been recognised as a Travelife Partner, an international label that certifies our responsible practices in environmental protection, ethics and sustainable management, both within our company and in our work with partners and the organisation of our trips.

This label, the second level of a rigorous international certification scheme, recognises our concrete actions in support of responsible tourism. We are actively working towards the next level, Travelife Certified, in line with our sustainable development policy

In this section, you will find links to products from our partner Alpinstore, a French online retailer specialising in outdoor equipment, based in Annecy.

For carrying your belongings

• A comfortable 30 to 50 L backpack with a hip belt to carry your personal belongings and picnic lunch during the day
• A bag for luggage transfers: a backpack, a travel bag in good condition, or a suitcase that is not too bulky. One bag per person, limited to 15 kg

Discover how to pack your hiking backpack in our magazine.

For hiking

For maximum comfort, choose a layered clothing system: warm base layers (leggings + top) such as “Carline” or “Capilene” (hollow fibres that wick away perspiration) + a sweatshirt or fleece jacket + a mountain jacket and overtrousers with a waterproof, breathable membrane (such as Gore-Tex or equivalent) for bad weather. As a general rule, except in hot climates and countries, avoid cotton, which holds moisture close to the body (and takes a long time to dry), and choose suitable synthetic fabrics instead.

• Hiking boots with ankle support, a good treaded sole, a supportive heel counter and good waterproofing
• Comfortable hiking socks (at least 3 pairs)
• A fleece
• Comfortable walking trousers (quick-drying technical fabric)
• Comfortable technical shorts
• Technical T-shirts or base layers (quick-drying fabric)
• A long-sleeved shirt
• Walking poles (telescopic), which are very important for making walking easier. Discover all the benefits of hiking poles in our dedicated article, or how to choose your hiking poles

Note: synthetic technical clothing performs very well. New merino wool clothing is also available; it performs very well, is comfortable to wear and has the advantage of resisting perspiration odours!

For your picnic lunch

• Your eating kit: a plastic bowl, container or plate, and cutlery (spoon, fork, knife)
• 1 or 2 water bottles (a total capacity of at least 1,5 L) – compulsory –; an insulated flask for winter

For protection from sun and rain

• Sunscreen (high protection)
• Sunglasses
• A hat, cap or bucket hat
• A rain poncho or a waterproof jacket such as a softshell or Gore-Tex jacket, and optionally waterproof trousers

After your hike

• A pair of running-style trainers for the evening
• A change of clothes and underwear
• A toiletry bag and a small towel
• Swimwear and a towel for wellness facilities (where specified) or swimming
• A small first-aid kit: personal medication, surgical masks, hand sanitiser, plasters, sterile compresses and a bandage, gauze, disinfectant, arnica granules and aspirin, etc. (Please note that this list is not exhaustive and should be adapted to your own medical needs.)
• A head torch
• Earplugs (optional)

Find these tips in our article “what to take with you on a hike”.

This list is intended as a guide and should be adapted to your trip and the season in which you are travelling.

Southern Corsica Tourist Office: Place Foch, PO Box 21, 20176 Ajaccio, Tel: 0495515303 - Fax: 0495515301

Corsica Regional Natural Park: 2 rue Major Lambroschini, 20000 Ajaccio, Tel: 0495517910 - Fax: 0495218817

Corsica is, first and foremost, an island, so moisture is ever-present. The Alpine foothills affect the climate locally, and rainfall varies greatly depending on the wind direction. To put it simply, when the libecciu blows (a wind from the southwest), it brings heavy rainfall to the whole western side of Corsica, drenches the island’s highest peaks and becomes a cold, dry wind over eastern Corsica.
The highest recorded rainfall is in Vizzavona and the surrounding area, at 1498 mm. The lowest figures are recorded on the coast, on the Îles Sanguinaires near Ajaccio, at 450 mm, and on the Bonifacio plateau, at 481 mm. The pattern of rainfall is typical of a Mediterranean climate, with little rain in summer, although violent thunderstorms can break out, particularly in mountainous areas. From November to mid-April, it is not unusual to see snow-covered mountains above 1000m. Average coastal temperatures range between 5° and 8° in winter and between 22° and 25° in summer. Naturally, temperatures in mountainous areas vary with altitude. Hikers should be aware that sudden changes in the weather can cause temperatures to drop sharply above 1200m, even in summer. Hikers are therefore strongly advised not to rely on coastal weather conditions and to be prepared for any sudden drop in temperature.

Corsica
Area: 8748 km2
Length: 183km, width: 83km
1000km of coastline

12km from Tuscany and 160km from Provence.
Corsica is surrounded by islands and islets such as Elba and Capraia.

Crystalline Corsica
This makes up the largest part of the island and includes its highest peaks, aligned along a north-northwest to south-southeast axis. These include the volcanic rhyolite massif of Monte Cinto, which is also Corsica’s highest point at 2710m, the granite massif of Rotondo and Monte d’Oro. Further south, the Aiguilles de Bavella form some of the island’s most distinctive and rugged terrain, culminating at the southern tip in the unusual jumble of granite boulders on the mountain of Cagna. Finally, in the northwest, beyond the Cinto massif, the Calanche de Piana merge into the sea.

Alpine or schist Corsica
This occupies the northern and eastern parts of the island and is distinguished by gentler slopes and lower elevations than the central mountain range. Cima di Follicie is the highest point of Cap Corse, at 1322m, rather than Monte Stello (1307m), as guidebooks so often state in error. Further south, Castagniccia, a fertile region rich in chestnut woodland, includes the San Pétrone massif.

The central trough
This boundary zone between Alpine and crystalline Corsica forms a central depression running from L’Île-Rousse to Solenzara via Corte.

The eastern plain
Stretching from Bastia to the mouth of the Solenzara, this area is made up of alluvial deposits that have given rise to lagoons such as Biguglia.

Limestone Corsica
One of the most distinctive features of Corsica’s geology is its limestone outcrops. Although small in extent, these areas are nonetheless remarkable. Examples include the cliffs of Saint-Florent and Bonifacio.