Italy and Corsica

[Danneaux]

Pete!

Pressed for time at the moment, but just had to say...

"What fabulous photos of a wonderful tour!"

Just lovely, every one!

All the best,

Dan.

[IanA]

We are thinking of doing a tour of this nature by tandem from the UK next year.  Possibly using the bike bus to get further south and back but then linking Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and the Italian and French mainland.  I would be interested to know whether you needed to book the various ferries beforehand or with a bike can you just turn up and buy a ticket on the day of travel.  We would prefer to be flexible and not to have to book all the ferries before leaving although will have an ipad mini so could book a few days in advance if necessary.

Many thanks.

[il padrone]

We did our tour from April to early July. The only things we booked in advance was the Emirates return airfare and the first 3 nights in a hotel in Rome. However things would be a bit trickier in July-August, not to mention it will get rather too hot, especially in the south of Italy and Sicily. For our last two weeks we had a lot of temperatures about 35 degrees in the day-time.

For the ferries we always just rolled up and bought tickets anywhere from 2 hours to 5 mins before sailing.



Some more photos of the Tyrrhenian Sea islands - Sardegna and Corse (Sardinia and Corsica). Well, rather a lot really  :wink:

Cagliari from the sea


In the citadel at night


The portico along the seafront


Flamingos in the Poetto wetlands


Coastal road to Villasimius


Pushing up a steep hill in Villasimius


Snake on the road (allegedly these are not poisonous)


Climbing the goges back towards Cagliari


Ancient nuraghe - a dwellng ~6000 years old


Street scenes at Bosa


Appropriate name - "House of the winds"


High coastal road to Alghero


Alghero


Bikes were popular for tranpsort


Alghero harbour, view to Capo Caccia's cliffs


Capo Caccia


The sheltered bay at Cala Dragunara


Nuraghe Palmavera


Religious procession in Sassari


Sassari's narrow streets


Castelsardo


View from the citadel, Castelsardo


Beach views with Corsica in sight


Fort at Santa Teresa Gallura


Farewell Sardinia...

[il padrone]

... Hello Corsica


Looking down on our ferry


Hotel Genovese balcony view


Escalier Roie d'Aragon


Walkway at the base of the cliffs


The cliffs of Bonifacio


Streets in Bonifacio, beside the cathedral


On the road on a very windy day


The 'lion' of Roccapina


Riding along the Val d'Orsolo


Valley view


Views from our hotel room in Sartene


Sartene


Streets in Sartene


Lovely beach at Portigliolo


View from the supermarket car-park at Porto Pollo


Near Serra di Ferro


Italian cyclists doing their own supported tour - today they were going to ride what would take us four days!!


A bit later, a French touring group


Bike parking in Ajaccio


Ajaccio streets - the TdF is soon to arrive


Napoleon's family home


Napoleon's painting


Market scene


View from Col S. Bastiano


Snow on the peaks


Riding towards Carghese


Climb towards Piana


Road throgh le Calanches


Porto


Boat cruise to le Calanches coast and Reserve Scandola


At Ghirolata - boat-only access


Amazing blue Mediterranean waters


Riding into Ota


Sunset view from Porto


West coast main road. Makes the Great Ocean Road look pale


The road continued like this for most of our 75kms this day


Galleria


Views along the backroad through l'Argentaria




Cavi sunset from our hotel window


Spooky shop advertising!!


Fruit & veg shop trading at 11pm


Calvi's citadel


Looking forward to the TdF


Calvi city view


Petanque players in the plaza in Ile Rousse


Ile Rousse lighthouse


In the Deserte Agriates


St Florient


The climb across the range to Bastia


Our highest climb on Corsica, but there's lots of higher roads in the interior


At the summt


Bastia


Welcoming the TdF


Farewell Corsica

[jags]

Wow  what a tour stunning country,this is the result of somebody that actually knows how to tour and pick a stunning route.unlike the tour i did in italy ended up on motorways most of the time Long story..
anyway super photos a tour to remember.
btw did you do any camping .

[il padrone]

We did take camping gear with us and planned to camp a fair bit. We had to buy some gear in Italy because of the airline baggage limit (stove, cooking set, plates and cutlery) and this was a challenge as the Italians really don't do camping. We had a heck of a time finding any real camping stores. When it came to the actual camping there were a few things that really worked against it:

1. Most camping grounds (not so many in Sicily) were usually on a beach somewhere, 5-10kms out of the nearest town. Beaches we have aplenty in Australia and it was really the historic towns and villages that were of interest to me.
2. Camping ground facilities were really below par, compared to Australian camping grounds. They often had a pizzeria, pool or ristorante on site, but lacked hot water for washing up, we had to BYO our toilet paper and the sites were almost never grassed. We began to wonder why we were paying 30 Euro for this 'privilege'
3. When we did find some better camping grounds the cost (up to 50 Euro per night) made us look at cheap hotels an B&Bs instead.

In total, out of 90 days in Italy, we only camped out for 23 nights. Next time I tour Europe, especially if it's southern Europe, I will leave all the camping gear at home and travel a lot lighter.

[jags]

oh wow i wont be camping in italy so

[jags]

http://travellingwheelburys.blogspot.ie/2007/11/appian-way-september-2007.html
that was my trip to italy did not enjoy it to be totally honest.we stayed in  4 star hotels booked off season average price 38 euro a night shareing.
i was out of shape on that trip made the climbs very hard but still managed to get over them.

[jags]

http://travellingwheelburys.blogspot.ie/2007/11/camino-cycle-september-2006.html

this was a much better tour i was flying on that trip stunning country spain.

[il padrone]

We never stayed ina 4 star hotel on the whole tour. 3 star and 2 star for our needs, and the 3 star were usually 70-80 Euro for a double room. Except for the 3 star Hotel Genovese in Bonifacio, where they charged us 160 Euro for a night (no breakfast included)  

But that is Corsica (France) where most things were a good deal more expensive. Cappucino in Italy = 2 Euro; cappucino in Corsica 4.50 Euro

[jags]

expensive trip so.
50euro in a miserable b'b in france and breakfast was a cup of coffee and i do mean a cup  and hard piece of bread.
anyway i feel i'm hijacking your thread  dan can sort this out.

[il padrone]

Ah, still close enough to on-topic to be relevant 

I'll post some more photos soon. There's the whole Cinque Terre (walking) and Tuscany (getting lost) experiences to come.

[Swislon]

I'm speechless!
Simply stunning.

I've just shown my wife your photos and she is well up for a trip like that one day, but definitely no camping she says!

Thanks for sharing.

[Danneaux]

My! Such lovely photos of a fabulous trip Pete; thanks so much for sharing!

You surely had some steep hills and what looks to be considerable climbing -- goodness!

Going back for yet another look...

By any chance, do you also have these up on a website where the lot can be seen at once?

Best,

Dan.

[John Saxby]

Wow!  Altogether brilliant, Pete, and thanks so much for sharing.  Beyond the magnificent Big Scenery, esp liked the micro-scenery, such as the colours of the fruit & veg at la Maison de la Confiance.  Your fotos of Corsica made me wonder, "What was it about his nibs, N. Bonaparte, that made him want to leave?"  It's true, there are limits to how grande one's armée can be in such a small island, and the cavalry can barely stretch their horses' legs, but still...have to believe that imprisoned on Elba & then St Helena, he must've banged hand to forehead now & then, & thought, "Mon dieu, it's all been a ghastly mistake!"

My wife & I have talked about a visit to Corsica &/or Sardinia sometime soon -- these seal it for me.

J.