Bugbear
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Early stages of a tour plan for next year and would appreciate some advice on the best time to go from those in the know.
Thanks
Gary.
Thanks
Gary.
Corsica - a quick question
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Deleted account 211025001
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Out if season.
From what I can gather its very busy July / August (and very hot). The roads are small and would be a pain with lots of tourist traffic.
We went Sept/Oct; lovely weather, empty roads and empty beaches
Andres
From what I can gather its very busy July / August (and very hot). The roads are small and would be a pain with lots of tourist traffic.
We went Sept/Oct; lovely weather, empty roads and empty beaches
Andres
Out if season.
From what I can gather its very busy July / August (and very hot). The roads are small and would be a pain with lots of tourist traffic.
We went Sept/Oct; lovely weather, empty roads and empty beaches
Andres
That's good news, were heading there next week !
Deleted account 211025001
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That's good news, were heading there next week !
You'll love the place Neil - have fun
Andres
I'd second September/October. Been there in April (which was lovely too), July which was mobbed and Scorchio, and October, which was lovely weatherwise and the ferries were cheap as chips. Late October/November could be really rainy though.
It is a stunning place though.
It is a stunning place though.
Hi
We went in August 2010.
Ferry was packed and a bit of a scramble to get on, the deck hands are a bit nonchalant, and the tie down system was hopeless.
The weather was perfect, 25 - 30 degrees but a nice cool breeze: you're either up in the mountains or on the beach.
We were camping and didn't need to book - although if you get to a campsite in the morning you will have to wait till people move on around midday before you can pitch. It is a touring place and a lot of people pitch up somewhere for a couple of days then move on to another area - lots of Italians touring on scooters.
We had 5 days camping in the mountains - lovely roads no problem with traffic, and 5 days on the beach south of Calvi.
There aren't many roads, so near the coast it gets traffic - we were up and gone by 7 am, did the scenic coast roads before the tourists, stopped for breakfast about 10 am then headed into the quiet mountain roads for the rest of the day - cooler up there.
Don't expect the locals to fawn over you cos you're tourists, we found them efficient and business like, not rude but not over friendly.
We were there in the height of the season and it was brilliant. Get a good detailed map and enjoy.
Hope this helps
We went in August 2010.
Ferry was packed and a bit of a scramble to get on, the deck hands are a bit nonchalant, and the tie down system was hopeless.
The weather was perfect, 25 - 30 degrees but a nice cool breeze: you're either up in the mountains or on the beach.
We were camping and didn't need to book - although if you get to a campsite in the morning you will have to wait till people move on around midday before you can pitch. It is a touring place and a lot of people pitch up somewhere for a couple of days then move on to another area - lots of Italians touring on scooters.
We had 5 days camping in the mountains - lovely roads no problem with traffic, and 5 days on the beach south of Calvi.
There aren't many roads, so near the coast it gets traffic - we were up and gone by 7 am, did the scenic coast roads before the tourists, stopped for breakfast about 10 am then headed into the quiet mountain roads for the rest of the day - cooler up there.
Don't expect the locals to fawn over you cos you're tourists, we found them efficient and business like, not rude but not over friendly.
We were there in the height of the season and it was brilliant. Get a good detailed map and enjoy.
Hope this helps
Yeah it's not as comprehensive a choice as in the summer, but you'd be extremely unlucky NOT to find a hotel anywhere you wanted to stay. Tourism is the big economy on Corsica these days, so there's a great choice.
Rob
Rob
Bugbear
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Thanks Guys just wondered if spring would be an option too.
.
At any time of year, Corsica is going to be warmer than the UK, and normally, warmer than mainland France too. Does get some big storms, so you might get wet in the spring, but if ye take your waterproofs, you can ride 365 days a year in Corsica.
Here's all the information you'll ever need
At any time of year, Corsica is going to be warmer than the UK, and normally, warmer than mainland France too. Does get some big storms, so you might get wet in the spring, but if ye take your waterproofs, you can ride 365 days a year in Corsica.
Here's all the information you'll ever need
Bugbear
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Cheers Rob 
Radio-active
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Hi,
Just got back from a quick tour of Corsica, June 25th - 28th.
Temperatures were 25 - 27'C and sunny (clouds building over the mountains juring the day with the odd thunderstorm but not affecting where we were on the coast)
We went via SNCM overnight ferry from Toulon to Bastia and returned Calvi to Nice (£100 Return) No problems with traffic away from the towns at all.
The roads are awsome...the West Coast is amazing but took us over 12 hours to ride from Bastia to Bonefacio (with stops), the East Coast road is a bit boring from Bonefacio to Aleria, Fast and flowing from there to Calvi and took us 3 1/2 hours.
The most memorable roads we found were on the West coast (Col de Parmarella), the road north and south of Porto and the roads around Zonza in the south but most were great. In the main the road surface was brilliant and really grippy (shell grip).
I bought and recommend a great map from freytag & berndt of Corsica 1:150000 which shows all the best scenic roads.
Hope this helps
Peirre O`Bollox
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I`m currently sat in the hotel Posta Vecchia in Bastia (corsica) having ridden up this morning 160 miles from Porto Pollo west of Propriano.
My route albeit tweaked to suit my own needs follows Rivendells mapsource file in the "tour de corse" thread. He apparently arrived here in Bastia last night.
My route today (7/7/13) was east from Porto Pollo, to the N196, then north to Petreto-Bicchisano where I turned right up up the D420 to Col de Eustache, then towards Aullene. From there I rode the D69 over Col de la Vaccia, the Col (despite my previous posts) is now brand new smooth 2 lane blacktop that you could run an F1 GP race or Le tour on. Albeit you have to watch out for loose stones/gravel on the corners the size of marbles, which will make it easy to loose the bike from under you.
I rode the D69 today all the way north taking in Col de Verde and Col de Sorba.
The road up to Verde is reasonbly smooth grey tarmac, with sweeping bends & vistas. the road up to Sorba and onwards back to the N196 is new-ish blacktop for most the section up/down.
Then from Sorba, I rode up the N196 to Corte, right onto the N193 then left at Ponte Novu through Lento to Col de Bigorno, Olletta, and onto St. florent, before swinging east over the D81 to Col de Teghime and down into Bastia.
The 160 miles I rode where both stinking hot, (its 32`C+ here) even though I`m wearing a full mesh suit and little else barr Underarmour baselayers I still suffered during each ride.
My advice is do NOT plan on riding than an average of 25-30 miles in 1hrs here in Corsica, if your up in the hills, anything more than that and your being very optomistic. Even without photos & flower pressing. As some of the 130-160 mile ride outs I`ve done over the last week have took me an average of 6-8hrs each to do. I tried to be disiplined by being up early, and on the road before 9am, (today 8am) this at least made the start of the ride more comfortable in the cooler morning heat. I did however make up for flower pressing time by shooting video running at least 1 of the 2 gopro`s I got here during the ride out time each day
1 final note: from today 7/7/13
Anyone currently in corsica, and is planning to ride the Col de Eustache, within the next week or so, the west side is being dug up & resurfaced, there is around 2km of tarred chippings sometimes inches deep nearer the summit, and lower down nearer the N196 2-3km the road is just dirt that has been levelled by a grader machine, & is very very hairy to ride on, an experience I don`t ever want to repeate. But once east beyond the summit of Eustache the road is a dream.
A minor warning, I got the ferry into Calvi last week, and rode the D81B coast road down to my base at Porto (4nights), this road is shocking, it don`t have potholes, the potholes have been filled in, leaving raised molehills of tarmac, which are no more than 1ft apart, this rattled my teeth/fillings. however once you get south past the junction with the D81 the road down to Porto past col de Palmerella & La Croix is a dream & hugs the coastline. Albeit my enthusiasm for belting around the corners resulted in me almost highsiding the biking on a left hander.
In Corsica
Of around 17 cols (official & unofficial) I managed to ride 14
Missing St.lucie, Bavella, & Maggiore.
I`ve only seen 1 fixed speed camera
(N196 near the airport best western hotel)
However tomorrow morning, I catch the ferry to Livorno, and onwards to Pisa, & Florence for the night. then (each day) move onto Lake Garda, Nauders, Thusis, Grindelwald (2 nights), Munster (fr), then Combles (2 nights) then homeward bound via Zeebrugge roughly following le "tour de Corse" route
My route albeit tweaked to suit my own needs follows Rivendells mapsource file in the "tour de corse" thread. He apparently arrived here in Bastia last night.
My route today (7/7/13) was east from Porto Pollo, to the N196, then north to Petreto-Bicchisano where I turned right up up the D420 to Col de Eustache, then towards Aullene. From there I rode the D69 over Col de la Vaccia, the Col (despite my previous posts) is now brand new smooth 2 lane blacktop that you could run an F1 GP race or Le tour on. Albeit you have to watch out for loose stones/gravel on the corners the size of marbles, which will make it easy to loose the bike from under you.
I rode the D69 today all the way north taking in Col de Verde and Col de Sorba.
The road up to Verde is reasonbly smooth grey tarmac, with sweeping bends & vistas. the road up to Sorba and onwards back to the N196 is new-ish blacktop for most the section up/down.
Then from Sorba, I rode up the N196 to Corte, right onto the N193 then left at Ponte Novu through Lento to Col de Bigorno, Olletta, and onto St. florent, before swinging east over the D81 to Col de Teghime and down into Bastia.
The 160 miles I rode where both stinking hot, (its 32`C+ here) even though I`m wearing a full mesh suit and little else barr Underarmour baselayers I still suffered during each ride.
My advice is do NOT plan on riding than an average of 25-30 miles in 1hrs here in Corsica, if your up in the hills, anything more than that and your being very optomistic. Even without photos & flower pressing. As some of the 130-160 mile ride outs I`ve done over the last week have took me an average of 6-8hrs each to do. I tried to be disiplined by being up early, and on the road before 9am, (today 8am) this at least made the start of the ride more comfortable in the cooler morning heat. I did however make up for flower pressing time by shooting video running at least 1 of the 2 gopro`s I got here during the ride out time each day
1 final note: from today 7/7/13
Anyone currently in corsica, and is planning to ride the Col de Eustache, within the next week or so, the west side is being dug up & resurfaced, there is around 2km of tarred chippings sometimes inches deep nearer the summit, and lower down nearer the N196 2-3km the road is just dirt that has been levelled by a grader machine, & is very very hairy to ride on, an experience I don`t ever want to repeate. But once east beyond the summit of Eustache the road is a dream.
A minor warning, I got the ferry into Calvi last week, and rode the D81B coast road down to my base at Porto (4nights), this road is shocking, it don`t have potholes, the potholes have been filled in, leaving raised molehills of tarmac, which are no more than 1ft apart, this rattled my teeth/fillings. however once you get south past the junction with the D81 the road down to Porto past col de Palmerella & La Croix is a dream & hugs the coastline. Albeit my enthusiasm for belting around the corners resulted in me almost highsiding the biking on a left hander.
In Corsica
Of around 17 cols (official & unofficial) I managed to ride 14
Missing St.lucie, Bavella, & Maggiore.
I`ve only seen 1 fixed speed camera
(N196 near the airport best western hotel)However tomorrow morning, I catch the ferry to Livorno, and onwards to Pisa, & Florence for the night. then (each day) move onto Lake Garda, Nauders, Thusis, Grindelwald (2 nights), Munster (fr), then Combles (2 nights) then homeward bound via Zeebrugge roughly following le "tour de Corse" route
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Peirre O`Bollox
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Why not bring your ski`s
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