Corsica Bavella Route

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Solenzara

   The Solenzara river rises in the granite heart of southern Corsica and falls to the east coast in a series of pools so clear and green that they look lit from below, and it is here, at the mouth, that the Bavella road begins. The coastal village of Sari-Solenzara is small and workaday, with a harbour, a long beach and a handful of restaurants, and it also has a military air base nearby whose jets occasionally tear across the sky. It is a quiet place by Corsican standards, a spot to fill the tank, buy a bottle of water and have a coffee before the mountains.

   Read the complete Solenzara write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Solenzara is where the day begins. Next is Col de Bavella.

2. 2. Col de Bavella

   The Aiguilles de Bavella are the teeth of southern Corsica, a ridge of jagged granite needles that rise above the pass like the spines of some enormous stone creature. The Col de Bavella, at 1,218 metres, lies in their shadow, a saddle of dark pine forest and boulders where the road from Zonza crosses the range on its way to the east coast. A small chapel stands at the pass, with a statue of the Madonna of the Snows, and in the early morning light, with mist in the valleys, the sight is almost unreal.

   Read the complete Col de Bavella write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Col de Bavella comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Nothing on this route is higher. Next is Zonza, mostly downhill.

3. 3. Zonza

   The road from Porto-Vecchio to Zonza climbs out of the humid coast into another Corsica, one of chestnut and pine, granite and cold streams. Zonza lies at about eight hundred metres in the Alta Rocca, a small village of fewer than two thousand people scattered across a ridge, with the great granite needles of Bavella standing over it to the north. The coast is only twenty kilometres away, but the altitude, the air and the sense of space make it feel much further.

   Read the complete Near Zonza write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Zonza. Next is Porto Vecchio.

4. 4. Porto Vecchio

   Porto-Vecchio sits on a deep bay in the south-east of Corsica, and it is one of the island's most prosperous and cheerful towns. The Genoese founded it in 1539 on a hill above the sea, building a walled citadel to defend a harbour whose marshy shores bred malaria, and for centuries, it was a lonely, unhealthy outpost. Now the swamps are drained, the old town is lively with restaurants and shops, and the surrounding coast has some of the best beaches in the Mediterranean. Palombaggia and Santa Giulia, a short ride south, have white sand, turquoise water and pine trees, and they get very crowded in July and August.

   Read the complete Porto-Vecchio write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Porto Vecchio closes the day.