GR20 - From Calenzana to Conca

The GR 20 (Grande Randonnée 20) is often cited as one of Europe’s toughest and most spectacular long-distance footpaths. Traversing the length of the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, it delivers a rugged immersion in high-mountain granite landscapes, chestnut forests, emerald tarns and airy granite ridges.

Total length: ~180km, accumulated height: 12.000m, duration: 12-16 days

We did the tour in 15 days in mid of June 2025. Snow was already gone and the wheather was perfectly fine (already 33-36° on sea-level). You are getting a lot of sun on GR20, but as long as you are in the mountains, the temperatur is not so high as on sea-level.

I can recommend the guidebook “Trekking the Corsica GR20” from Knife Edge Oudoor Guidebooks. It has lot of useful information like water sources an d which sections are difficult and where you have to be careful.

How did we do GR20 ?

We did it on our own. What I saw, most people do it on their own and less people are joping a travel group. At least for the nothern part, I would recommend to either have the tracks on your mobile phone or on your watch - it is not always easy to follow the waymarks.

We carried our own tent and some food. The weight of the backpack was ~20% of the individual person weight. Be aware, you have to do this for 12-16 days including climbing/scrambling. For us, the GR20 was much more difficult than what we experienced in the past in the alps like for Tour de Mont Blanc or from Munich to Vencia.

Looking back, I was glad we did not have any wheather issues. We started 8:30-9:30 in the morning and arrived at 5-7PM in the afternoon. That worked quite well for us, but it might not work in July/August due to bad wheather to be expected in the afternoon. Many people started at 4-6AM in the morning.

We booked all the campsites upfront to avoid double costs. In our case, it was working. However, I am wondering what to do, if the wheather forecast suggests not to continue. With our own tent we were flexible - the worst thing would habe beend to skip some reserved campsites. I was told, that +/- 1 day for reservation is not an issue.

Would I do it again? I would love to do it again with much less weight. However, I am not sure, how to reduce weight - except to book very early and to sleep in the refuge beds facing the potential issues of potential bedbugs.

Day 1 - Calenzana to d’Ortu di u piobbu

Length: 11km, time: 6h30min, up: 1.450m, down: 160m

Except of accumulated height of 1.450m, the first day is more or less easy going. You ae getting used to the heat. The campsite at d’Ortu di u piobbu is nice, there are only cold showers. The view from this campsite is already fascinating.

After day 1, I thought, that GR20 is not so difficult/challenging as I read. Hence, I was looking forward to the next days.

Day 2 - d’Ortu di u piobbu - Refuge de Carozzu

Length: 7,6km, time: 7h, up: 705m, down: 985m

This trip contains already a lot of climbing/scrambling , so that you are getting used to GR20.

I changed my mind, about the GR20 and was wondering, if GR20 continue like on this day, whether we would be able to finish GR20.

Day 3 - Refuge de Carozzu - Refuge d’Ascu stagnu

Length: 4,9km, time: 6h, up: 840m, down: 690m

Going to do Ascu was a decend about 35°. Very soon, you can see Ascu, but it will take a lot of time to climb down. Ascu is nice, the Refuge is nice and there is also a hotel. In case your shoes are already broken (yes this can already happen, this is the chance to buy new shoes). This is also a good possibility to decide to not continue, since the place can be reached by cars.

I personally recommend to take the dinner in the hotel, it costs almost the same, but is much better than in the refuge.

Day 4 - Refuge d’Ascu stagnu - Refuge de Tighjettu

Length: 8,4km, time: 8h, up: 1.200m, down: 955m

This is the queen stage of GR20 and I personally wouldn’t do it on bad wheahter conditions. You have to do a lot of climbing and it will take more time than you expect.

Day 5 - Refuge de Tighjettu - Refuge de Ciottulu di i mori

Length: 6,6km, time: 4h30min, up: 690m, down: 400m

Now, it is time to relax. The trail is relatively easy.

Day 6 - Refuge de Ciottulu di i mori - Refuge de Manganu

Length: 24,5km, time: 8h30min, up: 700m, down: 1090m

The trail is easy, but 24km is a lot to hike. We did not really manage to go to Manganu. Instead we stayed at Bergeries des Inzeche (~ 1.5h before Managu). The advantage is, this etappe is a little bit shorter, there is really good food at the bergerie, but the etappe on the next day is of course longer and should not be underestimated.

Day 7 - Refuge de Manganu - Refuge de Petra piana

Length: 8,5km, time: 6h, up: 855m, down: 615m

The queens etappe was already done, but this etappe has similar challenges and the guided time of 6hrs is probably very optimistic.

Day 8 - Refuge de Petra piana - Refuge de l’Onda

Length: 10km, time: 4h30min, up: 480m, down: 885m

Now, it is time again to relax a little bit. Easy going, hiking under trees. Nice campsite with very good food. You can even pay with credit card.

Day 9 - Refuge de l’Onda - Vizzavona

Length: 10,4km, time: 6h, up: 680m, down: 1190m

Arriving in Vizzavona, the northern part has been completed. The campsite in Vizzavona has a good shop to buy stuff and there are a few restaurants for dinner (probably most GR20 people go to “La Refuge”)

On the picture, you can see, how trails on GR20 look like (at least in the northern part, there are less visibile trails - you have to look out for the waymarks)

Day 10 - Vizzavona - E. Capannelle

Length: 13,9km, time: 5h30, up: 990m, down: 310m

Capanelle again can be reached by car. Looks like that people can go for skiing in the winter. You can have dinner/breakfast in Gite Fugone. We enjoyed dinner very much.

Day 11 - E. Capannelle - Refuge de Prati

Length: 17,3km, time: 6h30, up: 945m, down: 725m

It will take time, but the trail is not so challenging than before. Prati is a nice campsite, there is a lot of space for tents.

Day 12 - Refuge de Prati - Refuge d’Usciolu

Length: 10,6km, time: 6h, up: 755m, down: 830m

Hiking on crests will take time and you need to climb.

Day 13 - Refuge d’Usciolu - Site d’Asinau

Length: 15,8km, time: 8h, up: 975m, down: 1185m

We hiked directly from d’Usciolu to Site d’Asinau via the variant and not going to Matalza. It will be a long day - the trail is not really challenging, the only challenge for us was that the waymarks for the waymarks have been removed (overcolored with “stone” color. If you go that way, it is probably a good idea to know the trail you have to hike). Signs also suggest, that this variant has been officially been “closed” by the national park (I personally do understand the motivation of closing this variant, since it is not really challenging - the only challenge currently is to find to “overcolored” waymarks)

Day 14 - Site d’Asinau - Refuge de Paliri

Length: 15km, time: 6h, up: 610m, down: 1.090m

It looks like almost everybody recommends here to take the alpin variant. Yes, the alpin variant has some challenges but the view is extraordinary and cannot be captured by pictures. On the sourthern part, this variant is probably the most beautiful part - don’t miss it. You can go for a coffee/crepe in Bavella.

Day 15 - Refuge de Paliri - Conca

Length: 13,3km, time: 5h, up: 405m, down: 1.230m

Final etappe - almost done. The only challenging issue is the sun/heat which is getting more and more intensive the more you are going down.

Our Learnings

• Every refuge has breakfast and dinner. Except of saving some costs, there is no need to carry food
• You have to fill-up your water bottles at the refuges - we were two persons and everybody had 3 liters of waters and we were happy to find some more water sources on the trails. We used the filter “BeFree” from Katadyn and had not issues
• Have enough sun-blocker - usually you are hiking 90% in the sun
• Most people stay in “rental tents” to save the extra weight of a tent. That is up to you - you have to book very early to always get “rental tents” or even “beds”
• We had our own tent and for some campsites it was challenging to find a “good” place to pitch up
• You will climb a lot. I would recommend to put everything inside your backpack, otherwise you will face the challenge that some items will struggle with the rocks
• Check your shoes upfront and ensure they are in a good shape - it looks like several people have to face with broken shoes after a few days