Donkey

Here are recommendations for useful maps and books about Corsica. Most maps are on sale in every Corsican bookshop (only fairly large cities have bookshops!), but I have included complete information, including the editors' addresses, in case you want to order them from a foreign country.

Road map

For an overall view of the island, and for driving, use Michelin #90. Its scale is 1/200 000. The reference number is ISBN 2-06-700090-X and you can probably order it from
    Pneu Michelin
    46, avenue de Breteuil
    75324 Paris Cedex 07
Their phone is +33 1 45 66 12 34.

Detailed maps

Hikers will need more detailed maps, at scale 1/25 000. IGN (Institut Géographique National) has an outstanding series called Top 25; they are a must-have. The only problem is that 1/25 000 maps don't cover a lot of terrain, so many of them are needed for long trips.

I used #4251 OT (Monte d'Oro - Monte Rotondo), #4250 OT (Corte - Monte Cinto), #4249 OT (l'Ile Rousse) and #4149 OT (Calvi). You can order these maps from

    Institut Géographique National
    107, rue La Boétie
    75008 Paris
Their phone is +33 1 42 56 06 68.

Less detailed maps

Maps at scale 1/50 000 are also available from Didier Richard. Their advantage is that they cover more terrain that the IGN maps, so they give a better overview, and only two of them are needed to cover all of Corsica. Also, they show paths which IGN doesn't know about. They make a nice addition to the IGN maps. However, I wouldn't rely on them alone; they aren't detailed enough.

There are two maps, #20 (Corse du Nord) and #23 (Corse du Sud). You can obtain them from

    Editions Didier Richard
    BP 137
    38019 Grenoble Cedex
Their phone is + 33 4 76 43 43 88.

Descriptions

Didier Richard also offers an excellent book which describes many paths, ranging from easy to quite technical and covering all of the island. The title is "Corse - 261 itinéraires de randonnées pédestres". The authors are M. Fabrikant (father of GR20) and F. Denarié. The reference number is ISBN 2-7038-0099-1.

There, you're all set!