Saluti a tutti di a Corsica!

@scapa
u miss a pict of the cheese.

@peter
beautiful picts u have here.
liked the faces, Sylvestre and the old lady. look very italian to me. but after all, we're in Corsica, where italia and france meet.

thxs for the day dreaming, guys.
/thierry

Tattone, remember that place well. I once camped right outside of town, walked the road from there to the valley behind D'Oro and then from there up to the cabin on the Rotondo peak (is that still there?)

XT600 rental? sweet - I used to own an '84 Tenere and a '86 regular XT600. I'd say it's the right bike for the place. When I hiked up some of the mountain roads to get near the areas I was interested in I was always thinking about the bike I had at home... On the other hand, we hiked to areas few have ever seen (The GR20 got boring after the first year), usally off trail. For example, we crossed the ridge west above Venaco all the way to Rotondo once - death march without water over huge boulders for 10 miles at 8000+ feet in a super windy, hot, dry weather. Adventure, I guess, as I'll never forget that day.

New train? I guess you can't stop progress. I'll never forget that old train, it was something that was right out of the early 1950s and operated on its own schedule. 2 hours late? Normal. Nobody at the train station? Sure, they are all doing siesta - who would want to ride a train in this heat?

I'll definitely come back one of these days. First I gotta do the Trans America Trail, though

Peter

it's his "20+ years multiple times on every road of Corsica" ride report :)

I can only add pix without bikes - got about 5000 slides in storage that really need some digitizing before the bugs eat the old Kodachromes. I may just go back to the slide trays this weekend, as it's supposed to rain here and I am having a bitch of a time changing my rear tire, so no riding

That would be good if it ssems to be it's best place.
A ringrazia vi.

Hi,

One of the beautiful places in Mediterreanen, wish to ride there as well.

Thanks for sharing the pix.

Thanks to Gadjet Boy for the move.

As this thread will now probably (who knows) make the decision for some of the World Riders to come i will add a few advises to the pics.

1/When to come: The very best period is between meedle of may to end of june.The reason are 3.
The Weather is perfect, perfect temp, no rain.
Not much people (in term of tourist)
The nature is splendid

2/How to come:
If you intend to come with your bike, have a ferry in France or Italy.
There is 2 majors compagnie, SNCM http://www.sncm.fr/ and Corsica Ferry http://www.corsicaferries.com . It is much interresting to purchase the ticket via Internet 3 to 4 months before to leave (up 50% discount).
e.g. I paid this year end of may from Marseille France to Bastia and back, 2 persons + Bike + private cabin €180.

If you intend to come without your bike or because you fly to Corsica, there is several bike rental shop that can rent you bikes like yamaha 600XT which perfect for riding the island

If you dont choose to rid (personnal or wife reason ), you can of course rent a car. In this case you should prefer a small size one for easier access to many places (there is no highway there anyway)

3/ How and where to sleep: if you are a camping fan you will much enjoy the place and will have a lots of place available whereever you choose to overnight, (even more true in the recommended period).
At camp site you can also rent small bungalow (a good deal compared to hotel most of the time)
If you are a Hotel fan (because of Madame again), there is many possibility with hotel and gîte, prefer the small place and small villages. If you intend to move a lot and will need a new place next night, try to ask at the place you are if they have a good address at your next stop place (Corsican always have a family or friend anywhere on the island and they do like to be helpfull in that way).

4/What and where to eat: Great food and many restaurants, please avoid what i call the "tourist trapp" and prefer the small place where there is not to much choice on the menu but with real local specialities. If the cook is the owner it is a chance, if there is not many waiters or waitress this is a good signal, this means this a family restaurant. Generaly speaking, do ask people where to go, people much like to share good restaurant address.

5/ If you ask: What should i visit first? Go at rondom and here again listen to the people and follow their advises depending whether you prefer mountain or seaside area, however unless you will be there of at list 3 weeks you will really visit just a part of the island. Trying to visit all of it in less than that time is just a dream (and even with 3Weeks).

6/However what would be the must to do:
This is just a list not necessarily in my favourite order in heart(except for a/), but i would recommend it for a first 2weeks trip because going from a/ to f/ in order is a good program to follow with nice scenary road inbetween:
a/The Cap Corse tour (very north of corsica)
b/The Balagna (north east of Calvi)
c/Calanque of Piana (south of Calvi)
d/Restonica canyon (west of Corte)
e/The Bavella pass (west of Porto Vecchio)
f/City of Bonifaccio


Have much fun. Scapa.

Thanks for a superb ride report!

There is also Moby Lines. They operate out of various ports, but the one with the shortest time to Corsica is out of Livorno at 4 hours.

A Moby Lines advantage is that you can arrive the previous night and board the ferry between 20:00 to 21:00 hours and stay in a private cabin with shower for €60 (accomodates 2). You have to spend the night somewhere and better on board than to have to get up early the following morning at some local hotel to then find your way to the ferry port. I had the ship to myself; there must have been under eight people on board that evening. This also avoids the crowds the following morning at 9:00 when everybody else boards. You arrive in Bastia at 13:00.

I didn't book in advance and the Moby Line charges for a private cabin for the night, myself and motorcycle ran me €91.80.

For the ferry back, I booked through a travel agency in St. Florent with Corsica Ferries. Charges for myself and the motorcycle were €31.08 and €5 for the travel agent booking fee.

That is an ideal size for Corsica. Where can you rent those? The only bike rentals I came across while meandering through towns was in Propriano and all they had were 250 cc and under. Our GS Adventtures are far more than one needs there.

Great pictures....but what country are you in?

Ohhhhh....yeah, I didn't see it off South Carolina or Florida.

Scapa - after seeing all the goreous photos, you already went ahead and answered all my "how/when/where" questions! I have nothing left to say except thanks for the excellent report!

That is correct Global!

One of the oldest Motorbike rental in Corsica is i think "Moto Corse Evasion" located in Ajaccio: http://www.corsicamoto.com/ (available in english)
I never rent myself but had good feedback from this guy.

This other one which i am not familiar with (in french english to) Corseresa available in Ajaccio and Porto Vecchio: http://www.corseresa.fr/index-action-transport3-lg-en.html

This other on "Rent a Car" who also rent bike in Corsica. I dont see any english version (a shame for someone having an english name) This is a World wide known corp.
http://www.rent-car-corsica.com/

French lesson:
If you want to search yourself with "google", just type in french: location moto Corse
(Location = rental, moto=motorbike, Corse= Corsica)

:eek1 Holy $h!t :eek1

+1 - great pics and looks like a very fun place to ride.

I did it this summer ... awesome trip. I wanted to post my pics but now, i doubt... they're rather the same

My favourite place : Piana ... pfff wonderful. Savage camp possible. The top in bike

Very very beautiful country! Thank you for sharing. I will keep this one in my mind to visit.

Corsica is on my short list.....what a great place.....