Hi
Can anybody recommend a good walking guidebook for Corsica? We are NOT looking to do the GR20, Mare e Monti, Mare e Mare etc, just a few half or full day walks. We do a fair bit of walking so other than ruling out whole weeks or mountain climbing the walks can be quite varied.
When we stayed in Mallorca (I know, but it was nice!) we used the Cicerone guide and it was fantastic, spot on, but when we went to Croatia the Cicerone guide was rubbish so now I am a bit more cautious about ordering the Corsican equivalent without a recommendation.
We are only staying a week - maybe even the local tourist offices publish routes (we will be based in Calvi but have a car) and along with a good map (which one?) this would be sufficient? When we were in Croatia the paths were well sign-posted so we ended up doing without a book and just following our maps and noses.
Any advice - including any %26quot;must do%26quot; circular or train-linked walks between 2 and 7 hours long, say - appreciated.
Thanks
R
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We%26#39;ve done a fair few day walks in northern Corsica using a combination of the following:
...the IGN Top25 maps, that cover the whole island, that you can get in any decent bookshop and often in the supermarkets - these are indispensable for any walking, better on the long distance walks but also have local walks marked.
...the Rough Guide, which is generally good on walks including shorter ones.
...the Rother guide, which has a selection of walks all over the island, ranging from easy to challenging
...local signposting in some areas (eg Cap Corse, Castagniccia, the Balagne, the Calanches...probably others too but I haven%26#39;t been there so can%26#39;t say)
More generally, don%26#39;t rule out the GR20/Mare e Monte etc because there are sections of each that you can do as half or whole day walks (some of these are covered in the Rother Guide, and the maps will also enable you to work out which bits you can get to)
Particular recommendations...I hesitate to make suggestions because capacities and preferences vary so much. They%26#39;re all great and there are hundreds of them; the ones that follow are in the easy category (I%26#39;ve done most of them, so they must be, I%26#39;m 50+ and not fit) though virtually all Corsican walks have steep stretches and are rocky underfoot, they are not your English country walk on nice soft woodland, grass and mud (I only say this because I have English walking friends who were shocked by the roughness of the terrain even on the easier walks). And of course it%26#39;s hot, even in spring. From Calvi, you can walk the Punta di Revellata by the sea; up behind Calvi on the local mountain (I%26#39;ve forgotten its name); take the train to Lumio or Algajola and walk up the hills overlooking the sea to Occi/Lavatoggio/S Antonino/
Ile Rousse; walk along the coast; take the car to the Maison forestiere at Bonifatu, local tracks in the woods marked and a stretch of GR20/Mare et Monte; drive to or just beyond Galeria and do bits of Mare e Monte along a river or on top of the ridge or to the sea; drive to the Ghiussani and follow trails near the M.Forestiere in the Tartagine valley; drive to the Calanches and do a number of trails (locally marked, also on the maps); drive to Corte to go up to Lac di Melo. Take the train and go to Vizzavona to the Cascades des Anglais and beyond. Lots of other walks from Corte and off the train. If you%26#39;re going into the mountains you need to start early (eg it takes 2 hours to get to the top of the Restonica road)because it gets hot and/or cloudy at midday.
Hope that%26#39;s useful - you%26#39;ll have a great time !
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Just one more suggestion to complete Balanina%26#39;s excellent reply:
- When staying in Algajola once, I took the Tramway de la Balagne to the stop just below Lumio (by the Mata Hari beach restaurant - Ondari? request stop) and walked back to Algajola along the coast, taking in the spectacular Punta Caldanu. I had the 1:25000 walking map with me as a guide and only ran into a problem close to my destination when I was in a ghost town of holiday homes and had to clamber over a wall to get out. There are swimming possibilities all along the way.
It would be quite possible to do the same walk using transport from and back to Calvi.
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Hi
Thank you very much. I shall print out your replies and take them with me!
R
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