Yes you have to pay; about 4-8 Euro or so I think....?
Yes you can get the meals (order them as soon as you arrive). There are also areas (gas rings) outside where you can prepare food - so you do not need a stove but need a cookpot + whatever. The first day will be entertaining for you; it was quite tough going down though 
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 Sent you an e mail Ed. 4-8 is ok, and camping outside may i think make me get up earlier as the natural light will dictate when you rise well to a point anyway, I will bring a pot and a couple of emergency food packs, but i will be intending to eat at the refuges all the time and of course buying supplies as well. let me know about the maps. regards. Gary
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Everybody else getting up at 05:00 is what will make you get up  We were usually finished by midday - it gets rather warm.... Have messaged you.
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can i ask as i expected this early rise early finish scenario....what did you do with the rest of the day? i mean i intend to come home with a blistering tan and to use the afternoon as the time to get it....but what did you do? play chess or .............just chill wash stuff and chill somemore. ? curious.
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Ate. Talked to people a lot (there are a lot of people to talk to). Washed stuff. Waited to eat. Washed me. Gazed into the distance.....
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 I once met someone who did the GR20 in 5 days..! He also said that the refuges were horribly crowded and fully of smelly people that never washed and got up before dawn to set off early and get a bed at the next refuge. I'd like to do this one myself one year - think I'd take at least 2 weeks and try to do a few side-trips, and I'd definitely take a tent! The only thing about Corsica (for me) is that it is an expensive place to fly to - compared to the rest of Europe, the good thing about that is it puts off the usual tourist riff-raff.
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 The only thing about Corsica (for me) is that it is an expensive place to fly to - compared to the rest of Europe, the good thing about that is it puts off the usual tourist riff-raff.
Not quite - you simply get the French and Italian tourist 'riff-raff' instead  ...... but less so in the mountains 
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Our flights were cheap enough - into Figari and out from Calvi for about £140....
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| Edited: 05/05/08 08:04 |
 Gary - I've been away and just spotted your revitalised thread. If you start at the end of May, then you'll probably find that they're just starting to re-stock the refuges. That's been my experience at that time of year anyway. The plan is always to have everything up and running for the start of June. Try asking at the municipal gite at Calenzana, and if they tell you that the first couple of refuges won't be fully staffed or stocked with food, then you'll need to visit the Spar shop before starting walking. After that, it'll be June anyway, and you won't have a problem with food along the route. If you're at a loose end in Keswick on the evening of Friday 16th May, I'm going to be talking about the GR5 and GR20 at the Keswick Mountain Festival.
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Our flights were cheap enough - into Figari and out from Calvi for about £140.... £140 - that's not bad for Corsica. Good airports for the GR aswell. Where did you find your flights, if you don't mind me asking.
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We used Air Corse...and booked very very early, months........thinking about it we also had to pay for a PeasyJet flight return to NCL - @£30... if you are near London life becomes cheaper.... Nice is a good destination and then get the ferry (Paddy has details in his book about subsequent buses and so forth - I am on commission )* *although that is the first he has heard of it...
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Well... there's not much point getting a cheap flight to Corsica if you don't know about the cheap buses once you get there. A long taxi ride on Corsica is VERY expensive, but some people end up using them simply because they didn't do their homework and didn't realise that a nice air-conditioned coach was going the same way. I once tried looking at a cheap flight to Nice, followed by a short hop to Corsica, but the 'short hop' bit was pricing out at around £1,000! Must've been something special in the air to be quoting prices like that! Ed - I'm on commission with the bus companies!
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When I visited Corsica in May '06, I got a flight into Nice then ferry from there to L'Ile Rousse and flew to Gatwick direct from Bastia. On that trip I met some French hikers who told me that it's cheaper to fly from Paris to New York than it is to fly to Corsica  .
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Hi paddy, sorry i didnt go last time mate but all the info is still on here so ha ha i was so glad, i could just carry on with it, i am so looking forward to it now.... bought your book but as for the Keswick thingy im working and that weekend im attempting a HM PB in the Peaks....but i would have loved to of come along ....maybe next time. to get there this time i have a flight to EMA (east midlands notts) to Nice, i have then booked a night boat from Toulon (france) south of nice, i have all day to get to Toulon from Nice as the night boat leaves at 21:00 arrives in bastia at 7am, i then have to get to Calzena by that evening (by local bus) and the plan to start the next day....return is Bastia to Birmingham, (free lift home to notts).. er the cost for ferry was 30 euros paid online in a sleeper seat....mmm could be interesting...flights were about £170 in total....this was the cheapest i could find on websites i felt i could trust.... Corsica is a nightmare to get too cheap is just is....but this is the only free time i will have for this trip i may even have time off at the end to get some beach action in near Conca...nice apparently... Paddy you ahppy with my pro tarp idea? Gary
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A tarp should be OK most of the time. You'll probably get all sorts of weather, but most of the time it's usually pretty good out there. People have mentioned the dust, and that's because the 'campsites' near the refuges are just bare patches of gravel, sand and soil with the spiky vegetation scraped off. When it gets windy, the sand and dust get blown about. I had that problem only once in a month of camping over there, but as I was using a TNF Tadpole, the dust whipped under the flysheet and came in through the mesh panels along the side of the inner, leaving me with a sandy sleeping bag. I've been fortunate never to have camped in anything more than a gentle shower, even though I've experienced horrendous thunderstorms over there. Just be prepared to take the rough with the smooth, bearing in mind there shouldn't be too much rough weather.
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Im just trying to stay super light and have some fun experimenting, if on the other hand if i turn up at a refuge and it chucking it down or looking like it will, ill bed down inside, no worries....so i will always have the choice... I have done the TMB (Tour De Mont Blanc) is this easier than that? im guessing it is, excluding the first day of course. and lower in atitude, and we saw some serious storms on that trip...mmm the tarp would have been tested with those, but they were brief, and so not so bad. Cheers again all.
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The GR20 is a lot steeper, rockier, and more hands-on than the TMB. Then again, if you trek the GR20 with a lightweight pack, I guess it might feel a lot more pleasant than trekking the TMB with a heavy pack. You probably have a good chance of getting into the refuges as you're walking so early in the season, but some of them are very small, and the weekends are nearly always busy, so at those times, try and land somewhere with more places to stay.
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Hi all and Paddy if still around, I have been studying Eds maps and they are excellent but as always with these walks there is the optional high route - which is the official route, paddys book says its both on different accoasions, does it mean that the high route option doesnt have the normal markings? or do they both have the same, or are some of the higher routes juts individual walks in there own right which just link with the GR20...and when poeple do the GR20 do they do all the highest options if they want to acheive the full GR20 route... should i do them all to say i have done the full route or not just follow the book. cheers Gary
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Most of the high options have the same markings - although on occasion they can be different colours. They are pretty obvious though. We did a couple. Whether or not you take them is your choice - they are all part of the 'GR20'.
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Hi Ed, but is that where tha majic is....on the high tops? is that where youll get the most drama...and best pics? some of them are shorter as well, i guess there is alot of flexibility within the route to chose as you go.... Is it a case - (as i am alone) that you can hook up and join people on the harder routes is that something that happens. ? thanks again.
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