Corsica 2012 – TMM: “Girolata –> Curzu”

Waking up early really paid off the day before, so we decided to do the same on Thursday and set out for a track at half past six. Our target for the day was village of Curzu located  above the Golfe de Porto bay.

Start Finish Distance Max. elevation Min. elevation Track record
Girolata Curzu 11.3 km 696 m 0 m GPX file

First part of the trail led us from Girolata up to Bocca Ghjianibarellu pass, located at 182 m ASL. The ascent wasn’t very steep and soon, after a little more than 30 minutes, we were on the top. From the place, there was an amazing view down to Girolata village and to red rocks behind it, beautifully lit by morning sun.

Girolata (from Bocca Ghjianibarellu)

Girolata (from Bocca Ghjianibarellu)

From Bocca Ghjianibarellu we had two possible variants how to get into Curzu:

  • Tra Mare e Monti main route, leading via Punta di u Munditoghiu and Punta di Capu Tondu
  • Tra Mare e Monti variant, leading via Bocca e Croce/Col de la Croix pass

After some consideration we decided for option two – the main reason was a post “Mare-e-Monti Girolata to Curzu warning” from Corsica.forHikers.com forum I’ve read at home. According to it, the first option is much more difficult, with some section overgrown and that newer French guides actually describe the Bocca e Croce variant as the main route.

Punta Castellacciu and Bocca e Croce

Punta Castellacciu and Bocca e Croce

So instead of going uphill from the pass, we descended down to Tuara beach and then continued up again to Bocca e Croce/Col de la Croix pass. This part of the trip was very familiar to me, because I went along it a year ago – and liked it so much I decided to try the whole Tra Mare e Monti hike…

We arrived to the pass (cca. 265 m ASL) at quarter to nine, after 5.5 km long hike. From Bocca e Croce, there was a beautiful view to Golfe de Port bay and Monte Senino + Punta Castellacciu mountains. So far the hike was quite easy, but this changed  on the pass. The ascent became much steeper and most of the time it was exposed to the direct sun. Soon we were quite tired and had to stop quite often. We didn’t mind that, had no reason to hurry and just enjoyed the amazing views…

Golfe de Girolata

Golfe de Girolata

Getting to the highest point of the track at 696 m ASL took us 2.5 hours (from Bocca e Croce). On the place, our “variant” joint the (former?) main route (leading down from Capu di Curzu), turned right and descended down to the village of Curzu. We arrived there at 12:35 and immediately went to the gîte.

Gîte d’étape in Curzu also became one of my favorites. The price for camping wasn’t very high (unfortunately once again I can’t remember it), camping place was in a beautiful shady cork oak tree grove and we were alone there! The only disadvantage was that it was located in a steep hill (just like the whole Curzu village), with just quite small terraces for tents – but I didn’t mind that – in fact I quite liked that…


Here is the elevation diagram (generated by my GPS altimeter and processed by Garmin BaseCamp application) of the track:

Elevation diagram - from Girolata to Curzu

Elevation diagram – from Girolata to Curzu

The following GPS waypoints might also come in handy. You can download all of them in a single GPX file.

Name Description Approx. Elev. Latitude Longitude
BOCCA E CROCE Bocca e Croce pass 265 m N 42° 19.606′ E 8° 37.935′
BOCCA GHJIANIBARELLU Bocca Ghjianibarellu pass 182 m N 42° 20.766′ E 8° 37.434′
GITE D’ETAPE CURZU Gîte d’étape in Curzu 250 m N 42° 19.222′ E 8° 40.093′
GITE D’ETAPE GIROLATA Gîte d’étape in Girolata 0 m N 42° 21.008′ E 8° 36.778′

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