Hiker's Blog on Corsica Island

Weekend breaks to Corsica

Although Corsica is a large island and I personally recommend to spend at least two weeks there, a lot of people prefer short weekend breaks. Huh, getting to Corsica and back in two days and still enjoy its beauty? Is this possible? Yes, weekending in Corsica is easy, but only if you know how, says Tania Cagnoni in the article No time? No yacht? No problem that appeared in Telegraph.co.uk on July 7, 2007.

The article is primarily written for travellers from UK, but I’m sure that anyone from about 40 European cities, where cheap flights to Marseille, Nice or Toulon are available, will find it useful.

Posted by Marek Prokop on Wed, 2007-07-11 10:02

Mare e Monti Nord and Mare a Mare Sud updated

Recently I’ve updated the pages about the two most popular long-distance trails in Corsica after the GR 20 — Mare e Monti Nord and Mare a Mare Sud. Maps of the routes are much more detailed and precious now (try to increase its scale) and include all variants. GPS files for download (GPX and KML) are not available yet, but I’ll complete them soon.

In addition to the maps update I’ve published contact information of all gites (rest houses) along the trails.

Posted by Marek Prokop on Tue, 2007-07-10 12:04

Geoportail.fr with new design

My favorite source of Corsica’s on-line maps — Geoportail.fr — launched new design a couple of days ago. Its look and feel is neater and more modern now, functionality slightly better and the maps — well, they are the same, at least the ones of Corsica.

It’s easier to combine more different layers (IGN maps, aerial maps etc.) now, even though I haven’t been using this feature very often. Most of the time I work with the plain IGN maps layer in the scales of 1:20000 or 1:10000, which show all “official” hiking trails. See the example of Calvi in 1:10000 below.

Géoportail.fr - basic mode with an IGN map of Calvi Géoportail.fr – basic mode with an IGN map of Calvi

The next screen shot shows an example of the aerial maps in full-screen mode. It’s the centre of Corte with its famous citadel. As you can see, the resolution is higher than in Google Maps, but the image is somewhat blurred.

Géoportail.fr - full-screen mode with an aerial map of Corte Géoportail.fr – full-screen mode with an aerial map of Corte

Posted by Marek Prokop on Wed, 2007-06-06 17:55

Mountains and the sea killed 3 hikers in Corsica

A French couple in their 30s were surprised by a snow storm on the GR20 above Vivario last night. While the woman managed to reach the Onda refuge, frozen body of his husband was found by units of the High Mountain Police from Corte this morning just 40 minutes walk from the refuge.

Another victim of the return to winter in Corsica was a 55 year old woman who was hiking above Asco. Her husband, injured and suffering from hypothermia, reached the village and alert the rescue services, but it was already too late for his wife, whose body was found today around noon.

The last victim was a 19 year old Swiss tourist who was carried away by a 3-metre wave while walking on a storm-lashed beach in the north of Corsica on Monday.

Violent winds, freezing fog and rain are expected to continue lashing the island until at least Wednesday. A spokesman for the PGHM (High Mountain Police) called on hikers not to go into the Corsican mountains for the next 48 hours.

Sources

Two dead in French snow storms (Ski and Snowboard News of PisteHors.com)
Weather kills three on French island of Corsica (France24.com/AFP)
Weather kills three on French island of Corsica (Expatica.com/AFP)

Posted by Marek Prokop on Tue, 2007-05-29 21:09

Flights to Corsica from Switzerland

Swiss airline Flybaboo announced new summer flights to Corsica. From 16 June, they will offer three flights a week to Figari (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) and one flight a week (Saturday) to Ajaccio departing from Geneva. I’ve already updated the list of all flights to Corsica and neighbouring French harbours.

Posted by Marek Prokop on Fri, 2007-05-25 13:36