Thought Corsica was all about seashores? Assume once more, it’s considered one of Europe’s most interesting mountain climbing locations says Anna Richards in her information to mountain climbing in Corsica.
Corsica has executed horrible issues to my legs. I can level to completely different scars and title sections of the paths and mountains. Battle wounds, arduous fought, they got here with completely zero regrets.
Mountain climbing in Corsica is one thing else. “Made for mountain goats” was my impression once I first landed right here in 2021, able to sort out the hard-hitter, the 112-mile GR20, legendary for being Europe’s ‘hardest’ hike. I believed myself match, however the first four-hour uphill slog shortly humbled me. I’d imagined that mountains on a Mediterranean island can be softer than the Alps, nevertheless it’s fairly the reverse. The place the Alps have had their corners rounded by ski tourism — chairlifts and ski slopes and chocolate field chalets — Corsica’s mountains have remained all however as impregnable as they’d have been a number of centuries in the past. Crumbling, uneven, so crammed with shale that they continually look getting ready to a landslide. Nature doesn’t do straight traces or neatness right here, in every single place you look are breakneck drops and spectacular chaos.
Alongside the coast, you’re nonetheless arduous pushed to seek out something flat, however the undulating seaside paths reward you with frequent dips into remoted coves. Typically, your fellow hikers can be cows that wander freely on the cliff paths. Not all the hikes are lengthy, or notably technical, however most of them will put a burn in your thighs.
Ditch the flip-flops or plastic jelly sneakers, these trails are value lacing up your mountain climbing boots for.
The Customs Path
In 1769, Corsica was annexed to France. The Corsicans had no say within the matter, and Corsican patriotism nonetheless runs sturdy greater than 250 years later. Geographically, Corsica has at all times been resisting France, formed like an index finger pointing accusingly northwards at its would-be colonisers. It’s simply shocking it’s not the center finger.
This index finger, Cap Corse, has some of the stunning mountain climbing trails on the island: the previous customs path. In case you’re match, you may sort out the whole thing in a day; the path, while continually climbing or descending, isn’t technical. Hiked in both course, the trail passes dozens of seashores. A few of them, like Tamarone, have seaside bars and eating places. Others are picked over solely by seabirds and wild-looking cows.
Begin/finish level: Macinaggio/Centuri
Size: 12 miles a method
Time required: Sooner or later
Piana Panoramas
This 5-mile path is well-marked and well-trodden, however may be very a lot a there-and-back hike, opposite to what some person uploaded routes on fashionable strolling apps will let you know (I discovered myself on a cliff edge making an attempt to comply with a supposed round stroll on Visorando). Every little thing is rust-coloured: the path, the encompassing cliffs, even the 17 century Genoese tower. Contained in the tower, you may climb up a number of storeys to get sweeping views over the headland and burnt-looking cliffs, contrasting in color with the ocean like crimson and blue poster paints.
The ultimate part as much as the tower is far more of a scramble than the remainder of the path, and will be slippery in unhealthy climate. Take loads of water, it’s extraordinarily arid and in sizzling climate the temperatures really feel furnace-like to match the crimson mud. There’s a snack bar within the automobile park you begin from, however aside from that hardly a dribble of water, even from streams.
Begin/finish level: A guardiola buvette, Piana – Size: 5 miles there and again – Time required: 3 ½ hours
The GR20
Typically, the GR20 is extra like bouldering than mountain climbing. Crossing the backbone of the island, this difficult route has nearly 42,000 ft of elevation acquire and loss. If you wish to make the going a bit simpler on your self, there are refuges at every stage, however e book properly upfront. The GR20’s status as Europe’s hardest trek means it’s vastly fashionable. If tenting, you’ll nonetheless have to pay to pitch your tent by a refuge. Wild tenting is forbidden.
Many individuals underestimate the GR20, and the dropout fee is excessive. It’s not a tough path to comply with, every part is extremely properly waymarked, however the ascents and descents are relentless and might final a number of hours. Climate is one other complication, with snow doable even in the summertime, and winds so sturdy they’ll knock you off your ft. The steepest sections of path have iron pins within the cliff face or cables that can assist you alongside, however a head for heights helps.
The rewards? Uncooked, craggy, wild views for days on finish. And limitless bragging rights.
Begin/finish level: Calenzana/Conca – Size: 112 miles thru-hike – Time required: 14-16 days
The Postman’s Path
Girolata’s postman’s eyes would have fallen out of their head to study that within the twenty first century we talk with folks on the opposite facet of the world on the push of a button. Right here it took them two hours simply to ship a letter to the following village.
Scandola Nature Reserve is Corsica’s solely UNESCO-listed website, a watery net of caves, inlets and cliffs. It’s purported to be finest explored by boat, however for 2 consecutive years, I spent a number of days in Porto, the bottom for Scandola journeys, ready for the ocean to calm sufficient for the boats to move out. Luck wasn’t on my facet, so as an alternative, I set off on the postie’s path to the cream-coloured hamlet of Girolata on the sting of Scandola, solely accessible on foot or by sea. The tiny place has palm bushes, muddy backwaters and a headland fort relationship from the sixteenth century, and is properly well worth the plod.
Begin/finish level: Osani – Size: 4 miles there and again – Time required: 4 hours
Bunkers and Bonifacio
Bonifacio has turn into Corsica’s poster baby, and it’s simple to see why. The city hangs on the highest of 230 ft excessive cliffs, gazing out over Sardinia, and it seems to be as if simply an inch of coastal erosion may ship the entire thing tumbling into the ocean.
Stroll east alongside the clifftop from Bonifacio, and also you’ll go previous WW2-era bunkers, many now lined in vibrant graffiti. A steep observe right down to sea stage then takes you to a skylight within the roof of a cave, Grotte Saint-Antoine, the place you may watch the waves ebb and move on the cave ground beneath. Time your stroll again for sundown, and also you’ll see the solar dipping behind Bonifacio, making a silhouette of the buildings on the cliff.
Begin/finish level: Bonifacio – Size: 5.5 miles there and again – Time required: 4 hours
Corsica tourism: visitcorsica.com/en
Anna Richards is a author & guidebook creator dwelling in Lyon. Her work has appeared in Lonely Planet, Nationwide Geographic and lots of extra.
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