A MOTORHOME JOURNEY THROUGH CORSICA

Don Madge
May 2004

Thanks to veteran motorhomer and MMM Travel Consultant, Don Madge, who wrote the following useful notes on his 2006 journey through Corsica.

The image on the left shows Don and Maureen's Timberland next to our Four Winds motorhome waiting in Brindisi to board the ferry for Greece. On the right, we are in  Igoumenitsa, having just landed in Greece at the beginning of 2006. The Madges were again heading for Turkey.

Don writes:

We spent a couple of weeks in May 2004 on Corsica. We are loners/isolationists and spent most of the time free-parked in mountain areas. We did spend a couple of nights on sites and free-parked on beaches/harbours. In July/August the island gets overrun with tourists but in May we had the place to ourselves most of the time. We met a few Dutch and French motorhomers but no Brits.

Don't plan a high daily mileage because the roads on the west coast/central inland routes are just not up to it. The east coast road N193/N198 from Bastia to Bonifacio (110 miles) can be used for transiting the island quickly.

Tourist coaches use the D81 west coast route, so it should not be a problem with a medium size coach built. There are some single track roads with passing places, so if your reversing in confined places is not up to scratch don't even think about visiting the island.

The island lived up to our expectations regarding narrow roads and stunning scenery. We landed at Bonifacio off the ferry from Sardinia and took the west coast route northwards. The road out of Bonifacio harbour is very steep and narrow - extreme caution is needed. The port area is very small and parking is at a premium.

N196 to Propriano

N 196 to Ajaccio - Napoleon Bonaparte's birthplace

From Ajaccio we took the D81 north to Calvi, a very narrow road in places with road works at the time.

D81 to Cargese

D81 to Piana

Between Piana and Porto there is 'Les Calanches'. These rock formations are stunning and not to be missed, if you are on the island.

D81 to Porto

D81 to Galeria

D81b to Calvi

From Calvi we then toured the Central Mountains in the area of La Porta, Calacuccia and Corte, taking in the Gorges de la Restonica and Gorges Scala di Santa Regina. The scenery in places is awesome: if you are a mountain person this is a must.

From the mountains we headed for St Florent and from there it was 20 km drive to Bastia to catch the ferry to Livorno. Leave yourself plenty of time to get to the ferry terminal at Bastia. The port is situated in the town centre and we found the approach roads to the town very congested. Parking outside of the port area is very difficult.

We used two campsites:

Camping Mimosas, Ajaccio

Camping d'Olzo, St Florent

Some free parking spots:

Figari Port. Signposted off the N196 about 20 km from Bonifacio.

Ajaccio Port Area. Plenty of free parking.

Porto Harbour.

Galeria Car Park.

Calvi. In front of Super "U" supermarket on sea front car park.

St Florent. Many parking places around beach area to the south of the town.

I haven't listed the mountain free spots as we just park up as and when.

Supermarkets were readily available, even in the small villages.

Fuel: Diesel and LPG available.

ATM's: No problems.

Water is "NOT" readily available.

Maps/Guides: We used the Michelin Atlas Routier et Touristique for France. In my opinion this is the best map for touring France if, like us, you don't use Sat Nav.

We used the Lonely Planet Guide to Corsica, which also includes full details of the GR 20 - a 15-day very strenuous walk in Corsica. It also gives a lot of information about the island and places to visit.