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Trip Report
GR20 hike in Corsica, France
The GR20 is a mythical hike in Corsica crossing from North to South the island. It's more than 16 stages, 180 km long, 12 000 m of elevation gain.
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EuropeFrance13 days / September 2022
Highs & Lows
The kindness and the solidarity between each hikers that are coming from all the countries.
Be careful and check the weather forecast before doing so as it can be very dangerous when it's windy !
Itinerary Overview
The 180km hike from Calenzana to Conca follows the granite backbone of the mountains that divide the island in two, many of which rise above 2000m. The GR20 is recognised as the most difficult hike in Europe! Incredibly beautiful and varied. If you do one stage a day, it takes about 16 days, depending of course on your fitness and the weather. I did it in 12 days with an average of 15km per day. Here is my itinerary overview :
- Day 1 (1st stage): Calenzana - Ortu di u Piobbu (12,1 km, +1557 m, -266 m)
- Day 2 (stages 2 and 3): Ortu di u Piobbu - Carrozzu - Asco Stagnu (12,2 km, +1693 m, -1815 m)
- Day 3 (stage 4): Asco Stagnu - Tighjettu (10 km, +1429 m, -1197 m)
- Day 4 (stage 5 and a half of 6): Tighjettu - Ciottulu di i Mori - Castel di Vergio (14,3 km, +764 m, -1006 m)
- Day 5 (end of stage 6): Castel di Vergio - Manganu (15,9 km, +761 m, -560 m)
- Day 6 (stages 7 and 8): Manganu - Petra Piana - L'Onda (15,4 km, +1154 m, -1372m)
- Day 7 (9th stage): L'Onda - Vizzavona (13,4 km, +457 m, -927 m)
- Day 8 (stage 10): Vizzavona - E Capanelle (14,1 km, +1085 m, -415m)
- Day 9 (11th stage): E Capanelle - Prati (17,6 km, +1069 m, -856 m)
- Day 10 (12th stage): Prati - Usciolu (10,8 km, +758 m, -833 m)
- Day 11 (stages 13 and 14): Usciolu - Matalza - Asinau (16,2 km, +932 m, -1146 m)
- Day 12 (stages 15 and 16): Asinau - I Paliri - Conca (24,7 km, +1200 m, -2468 m)
Q & A
What would you have changed?
The weather because the rain was making the hikes very dificult ! Except that, everything was incredible : the landscape, the peaople I've met, the atmosphere of the mountains, the kindness of huts' caretakers...
Anything go wrong during the trip?
No :)
How was the food?
I didn't stayed at Petra Piana's hut but I took a very goog lunch over there. The restaurant owners are very sweet !
What tips would you give a friend?
Carry your own food in your backpack for this hike because as all the huts were very remoted and the food was very expensive ! To restock, you will find a little food store in the Vizzavona camping.
Packing tips?
Sunscrean, rain poncho, bring reusable water bottles that can carry at least 3 liters.
Transportation Tips?
If you are in France before, take a ferry boat instead of the plane :)
Booking details?
Here is the official website where you can book your nights in the huts. If you want to camp next to the hut, it's possible and it's cheaper :) You can either camp with your own tent (7€) or rent one directly on site. https://pnr-resa.corsica/
Lodging
Here is the website of the third hut I did : Refuge de Tighjettu https://www.le-gr20.fr/pages/les-refuges/le-refuge-de-tighjettu.html
Here is the website of the 4th hut I did : Castel di Vergio https://www.le-gr20.fr/en/pages/refuges/castel-di-vergio-hotel.html
Here is the website of the 5th hut I did : Refuge de Manganu https://gr20-infos.com/refuges/manganu/
Here is the website of the 6th hut I did : Refuge de l'Onda https://gr20-infos.com/refuges/onda/
Here is the website of the 7th hut I did : Refuge de l'Arzarella https://www.alzarella.com/
Here is the website of the 8th hut I did : Refuge d'E Capanelle http://gite-u-fugone.com/