in planning » Corsica September 2021 (maybe)

I have family near Zurich and make an annual trip by motorcycle early September every year. My well established routine is to "play" in the Vosges du Nord and Black Forest en route and to head into the Alps and/or the Italian Lakes and spend a few midweek days there between two long weekends with the family (including my grandsons).

Next year I am wondering about the feasibility of a "midweek" trip from Zurich to Corsica. My tentative plan:

Monday 06.09.21 - Zurich to Savona (circa 290 miles - 5 hours) to catch overnight ferry to Bastia (with time for a short tour of the Ligurian Coast en route)
Tuesday- late Friday - touring the island
Friday 10.09.21 - 20.00 overnight ferry Bastia arriving Savona 07:00 a.m. and back with the family near Zurich in time for lunch on Saturday 11.09.20.

Ideally I would like longer on the island but my weekends with family are precious (They are at work/school midweek). So the options are 4-5 days as above or 12 days which would get expensive in terms of hotel costs. As it is two sets of ferry costs (Hull- Zeebrugge and the ferry to Corsica) would make this an expensive trip.

The Corsica ferry is actually quite reasonable - circa £300 including inside 2 berth cabin and evening meal if I travel over night and book now. Given that I would otherwise shell out for a hotel on the island that is not bad. So I can potentially explore the island over two trips - 2021 and 2022.

I have John Hermann's "The Alps and Beyond" as a ride guide to Corsica to allow me to plan and pre-book hotels but the one thing that is mostly missing in that guide is any indication of journey time on Corsica's twisty roads. By way of example Bastia to Porto is describes a 190km and a trip round Les Calanche which I can tack on is another 100km. Together that makes a total of 180 miles in the day. Is that realistic for a day's ride setting out from the Bastia Ferry arriving at 7:00 a.m.? (I note JH says of the 160km trip Porto to Calvi that that will take all day so I am inclined to leave that for another year)

My very sketchy thoughts so far (only Day 1 really sorted):

Day 1 Bastia to Porto and Les Calanche
Day 2 ride down to Ajaccio and environs
Day 3 Ajaccio to Bonifacio and environs
Day 4 Maybe Porto-Veccio overnight then back to Bastia on the coast road for the overnight ferry

All help re "must do" rides, likely journey times, hotels etc greatly appreciated.

FYI I normally aim for about 6-7 hours/350 miles in the saddle daily but have done 520 miles in a day. My ambition would be to be off the bike circa 5:00 p.m. and in the pool to cool off by 5:30 p.m.! - Circa £75 per night B & B for hotels is my ambition. Not too bothered for a room with a view but a pool would be welcome but not essential.


Chris

Just planning the same destination. Two options for me, 650kms to Barcelona then ferry to Corsica, or 650kms to Marseille then ferry to Corsica. Will stay a week or 10 days, then ferry to Rome and ride up Italy back home, around 1300kms. I intend to take at least 3 weeks for the whole trip.
Did 4 weeks around Germany last year from the UK. Two bikes, me on a Ducati Supersport 939 and the girlie on a Monster 821, loved it so much that we could have stayed for 6 weeks.
Now that I have the 1250RS I can carry more luggage.
Have you seen the youtube video by Kamil Jakuszczonek? He is a Polish biker on a BMW and did the trip with his girl on the back, a real inspiration. For some reason I cannot post the link here.

Thanks for that. None of us relative newbies can post links. It is a glitch in the system. Can you shave off the http//www bit and give me the rest of the link.

Chris

Zitat von wessie im Beitrag #4

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Zitat von PlacidoD im Beitrag #3

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Thanks for that. None of us relative newbies can post links. It is a glitch in the system. Can you shave off the http//www bit and give me the rest of the link.

Chris

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stuck the chap's name into google and his youtube channel appears

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I've been to Corsica twice now and will go back again at some point - there's masses of great riding.

Both times I went in September and had pretty much zero rain on the island although downpours of biblical proportions are not unheard of. Last time I went was in 2015, two-up on my F800S and the weekend after we left Corsica they had the World Rally Championship. A couple of stages had to be abandoned after the roads got washed away. They'd had no rain in the previous six months. You can expect temperatures in the twenties to low thirties C in September too.

You'll struggle to put in 350 mile days on Corsica unless you ride up and down the East coast where the roads are straighter and faster. The better riding is in the middle or on the Western side. On an all-day ride from Calvi down to Propriano I think I got into top gear once and that was for about a mile where a new bit of dual-carriageway curves around the end of the runway at Ajaccio airport. Round Porto and the Calanques it can get a bit busy as they bus the cruise ship passengers up from Ajaccio for a day out and they'll all be milling about in the road like idiots getting their photographs.

I really like Propriano as a place to stay, its just big enough to have a good choice of restaurants without being too busy. I've stayed at the hotel Roc et Mare. Doesn't look much from the road, but they built it down the cliff and all rooms look out over the sea. Fabulous sunsets and it's own private little beach with an interesting walk to town. Calvi is pretty good too. There's great riding pretty much everywhere except the East coast, but the road surface can be pretty bad in places and also the jaywalking wildlife - chiefly pigs and goats in my experience. It is more expensive than mainland France though. And the locals don't like to be thought of as French! Don't be surprised to see some of the road signs having been shot up a bit.

Hope that helps.

Nick

Thanks Nick. Very helpful. Covid permitting I will do the trip September 2021. Fingers crossed for that.

Still exploring options for getting there.

Chris

That brings back memories, picked up a new RS1100 in Germany 1995 and toured for 6 weeks. We did the overnight from Nice and spent 3 days on Course. In many ways the highlight of the trip, wish I could remember more details but enjoyed the Western shore and did some great hiking in the middle section. Highly recommended.

Enjoy.

Here's a small video I shot when I was there on my RS.

Zitat von Paul B im Beitrag #10

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Enjoy.

Here's a small video I shot when I was there on my RS.

Cheers

Paul B.

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Zitat von himoverthere im Beitrag #11

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Your small video is 42 minutes long! I don't have the patience, but I am sure that it is great.

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Zitat von Paul B im Beitrag #12

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Zitat von himoverthere im Beitrag #11

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Your small video is 42 minutes long! I don't have the patience, but I am sure that it is great.

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Maybe the OP (who the video was intended for) has more patience.

Cheers

Paul B.

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Zitat von himoverthere im Beitrag #13

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Zitat von Paul B im Beitrag #12

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Zitat von himoverthere im Beitrag #11

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Your small video is 42 minutes long! I don't have the patience, but I am sure that it is great.

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Maybe the OP (who the video was intended for) has more patience.

Cheers

Paul B.

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That is absolutely fine. A message that is meant for one person is normally sent in the personal message,
when put on the open internet it is there for all to comment on.

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I am a time millionaire.