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Spring break in Porticcio from 20 to 27 April 2024

Nadine and Bernard Giraudeau, the IT and travel managers, contributed to this page presenting the holiday.

The first spring break in Corsica took place in 2010 in Porticcio in the Gulf of Ajaccio. Then came a series of visits to the island at regular three-year intervals, first to Balagne in Lozari, then to the eastern plain in Ghisonaccia and finally to Propriano in the Gulf of Valinco. These four trips enabled the many participants to tour the island and get to know the many different micro-regions of Corsica.

In 2024, the seaside resort of Porticcio will welcome us back.

Porticcio and the surrounding area

Le Gulf of Ajaccio is the largest of the 4 large gulfs on Corsica's west coast. Its northern shore is home to the city of Ajaccio and extends as far as the famous Iles Sanguinaires, which close off the gulf to the north. Its southern shore is much longer, with several points topped by Genoese towers delimiting secondary coves. Capu di Muru closes the gulf to the south.

While Ajaccio alone occupies the northern shore of the Gulf, the southern shore is divided between 4 communes. In fact, it is the hamlets that are located on the coast, while the ancestral chief towns are found in the mountains, once sheltered from the Saracen raids and the miasma of the coastal marshes. Porticcio is a striking example of this, as the hamlet far exceeds the village of Grosseto Prugna (25 km away by road) in terms of population and built-up area.

Maritime transport

The preferred port of disembarkation for Porticcio is, of course, Ajaccio. But the port of Propriano, 50 km from Porticcio, is also an option.

The choice of port of embarkation is twofold:

• that of the company according to services and price
• the port of embarkation, depending on where you are coming from

La Compagnie Meridionale and Corsica Linea depart from Marseille.

La Corsica Ferries has Toulon and Nice as its home ports.

We have obtained a reduction in the price of transport from Compagnie Méridionale. For both outward and return journeys, the boat generally leaves the quay at 19:00 in Marseille and Ajaccio to reach the port of disembarkation around 07:00 the following morning.

Tours

cc Course Porticcio 2024 Course

The routes from the first stay in 2010 have not been systematically repeated, but those for 2024 inevitably overlap.

Since 2010, a number of passes have been added to the catalogue of French passes, thanks to the ongoing work of the GT-FR.

A word of warning. Corsica is not a land of mountain biking, due to the absence of long interconnected tracks, and the trails are generally steep, stony and often overgrown with aggressive vegetation. However, there will be 9 mule trails that can be described as short and with a gradient suited to the ageing cyclist. The assessment scale varies from pleasant for several of them to highly unpleasant for at least one route.

Location of mountain bike trails

Road routes

However, 11 road routes are proposed for this trip. Small, quiet, bucolic roads have been favoured over busy ones (the latter are generally taken in the downhill direction). Many villages will be crossed and magnificent views of the coastline or the Corsican mountains will punctuate your day's journey. The island's many road passes are within cycling distance of the accommodation centre, or can be reached with a reasonable vehicle. It's worth noting that the town of Ajaccio itself can only be reached via passes. If you use a Gravel bike, you can reach some of the passes close to the road.

Hosting

We will be staying at thehotel Club Marina Viva. The resort lies at the end of the Gulf of Ajaccio, separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a fine strip of golden sand dominated by the Genoese tower of Capitello. The centre nestles in a wooded area with pine, eucalyptus, mimosa and palm trees.

Marina Viva is 13 km from the port of Ajaccio by road. How long is the journey? It varies depending on the time of day!
A shuttle service runs between Porticcio and Ajaccio several times a day. The pier is less than 1 km from Marina Viva.

 Hotel Club Marina Viva D55, 20166 PORTICCIO. Tel: +33 4 95 25 25 58.

Email address : hotel@marinaviva.fr

For those wishing to stay in camping or motorhomeThere are two nearby campsites where you can stay.

Camping Bénista, Boulevard Marie - Jeanne Bozzi, 20166 PORTICCIO. Tel : +33 9 74 56 40 23

Campsite Prunelliresidence du Prunelli 1, 20166 CAURO. Tel : +33 4 95 25 19 23

 

Note from the Board of Directors

If you are organising your accommodation elsewhere than at the stay centre, don't forget to register as a "Simple Participant":

• In order to correctly size joint events (information sessions, welcome and closing drinks).
• To provide the holiday booklet.
• To ensure that the costs of preparation and organisation are shared.

Registrations

To register, download the PDF registration form from the link below and follow the instructions therein. The deadline for receipt of entries is 15 February 2024.

For legal reasons, these holidays are only open to members of the Club, so please make sure you are up to date with your membership fees before sending in your registration form.

Télécharger le bulletin / download the booking form / scarica il modulo

Passbook

You can leaf through here lhe booklet which will be distributed during your stay and, in addition to welcome messages, contains information about the region and how to get there, safety tips and detailed descriptions of the tours.

In this digital version, you can view the passes on a map and display their photos by clicking on the code for each pass (on pages 12,13,14,15 and 49,50,51 of the provisional road and mountain bike programme).

There's more to life than cycling

A few good addresses

Easy to more difficult walks