Trail transport
Calenzana, in the Balagne hills behind Calvi, is the northern trailhead and the end most people arrive at first. Calvi Sainte-Catherine (CLY) is the closest airport, about 6 km from Calvi itself, with year round flights plus a lot of summer-only routes; Bastia Poretta (BIA) has the wider year round choice and sits about two hours away by road or rail.
Calenzana, in the Balagne hills behind Calvi, is the northern trailhead and the end most people arrive at first. Calvi Sainte-Catherine (CLY) is the closest airport, about 6 km from Calvi itself, with year round flights plus a lot of summer-only routes; Bastia Poretta (BIA) has the wider year round choice and sits about two hours away by road or rail. By sea, Corsica Linea sails from Marseille to Bastia and Ajaccio daily and to Ile-Rousse and Propriano three times a week, so Ile-Rousse is the useful landfall for the Balagne if the sailing suits. From Calvi there are three ways to cover the last 12 km. Les Beaux Voyages, the Calvi operator on the Corsicar network, runs the Calvi to Calenzana line: their own timetable page shows two departures a day for the GR20 start between 1 July and 31 August, and a single afternoon departure on a school-term pattern outside those dates. Third party guides describe the same line as running June to September at around 10 euros a head, so the shoulder weeks are worth a phone call to the operator on 04 95 65 11 35 rather than an assumption. A taxi is the reliable alternative: Taxi-Corse at Lama, working the GR20 north end, collects from Bastia and Ile-Rousse stations and ports and from Bastia Poretta and Calvi Sainte-Catherine airports through to Calenzana, Bonifatu, the upper Asco valley, Col de Vergio and Vizzavona, and gives its season as 1 April to 31 October. Corse VTC will do the same as a pre-booked private run and asks for at least six hours notice. By rail, the Chemins de Fer de la Corse line from Bastia to Calvi via Ponte-Leccia reaches Calvi station in the town centre, which is a short taxi ride from Calenzana. The Balagne section carries frequent trains in summer and a reduced winter service, so treat it as a summer convenience rather than a year round backbone. Note that this route is stored north to south, from Calenzana to Conca, and every chainage in this trail's data counts kilometres from that start: Calenzana is km 0, Vizzavona station km 91.7 and Conca km 183.4. Most walkers go the same way. Every service described here works in both directions, so a Conca start is perfectly practical; it is only the numbering that would then run backwards for you.
Conca is the awkward end, and it has got worse. The village has no scheduled service of its own that a walker can lean on, and the long running hikers' shuttle down to Sainte-Lucie-de-Porto-Vecchio and Porto-Vecchio, run by the Gite La Tonnelle, is off: the gite's own page states "Le service de navette du gite est suspendu jusqu'a nouvel ordre", and Corsicabus records the same thing. Plan the last day around one of three things instead. A taxi is the dependable option. Taxi Orsini at Sainte-Lucie-de-Porto-Vecchio covers the far south, names GR20 walkers in its own service list, and describes itself as working all year and around the clock, on 06 26 66 13 01 or 06 46 25 95 51. Corse VTC will run Conca to Vizzavona, an airport or a port as a private booking with six hours notice. In high summer there is a bus. Autocars-Taxis Bradesi run the beach line between Porto-Vecchio, Pinarello, Sainte-Lucie-de-Porto-Vecchio and Conca, summer season only. It exists for beachgoers rather than walkers, its dates and fares are published by the local tourist offices rather than by the operator, and the tourist office pages would not load on 2026-07-29, so confirm the current season and whether it calls in the village itself on 04 95 10 34 05 before you build a finish day around it. Once you are at Sainte-Lucie or Porto-Vecchio the island opens up. Rapides Bleus run the east coast coach between Bastia and Porto-Vecchio all year through Sainte-Lucie-de-Porto-Vecchio, Solenzara, Ghisonaccia and Aleria, seven days a week from 15 June to 15 September, Monday to Saturday in the shoulder months and Monday to Friday from 1 November to 31 March, two services a day each way. Figari Sud Corse (FSC) is about 25 km from Porto-Vecchio and is the natural flight home; Balesi Evasion's mountain coach links Porto-Vecchio with Ajaccio over Bavella if you are returning to Ajaccio (AJA).
The two trailheads are at opposite ends of the island, four to five hours apart by road, with no direct link between them, which is the single logistical fact that shapes a GR20 plan. Most people avoid the problem entirely by flying or sailing in, using buses, trains and taxis at each end, and never having a car. If you do drive, the usual answer is to leave the car at Calenzana and come back to it from Conca by public transport: coach up the east coast to Bastia, then rail or coach across to Calvi. Two guides published in 2026 describe the same options at the north end, a free unsheltered municipal car park below the church at Calenzana where hikers' cars sit for weeks, and a dedicated vehicle area at the communal gite d'etape with a small daily charge, arranged by phone. At Conca, Gite La Tonnelle takes cars on its ground for a similar daily figure. The other two approaches are a car at each end for a group, or a one way hire with a drop-off supplement, which is worth pricing against a private transfer. A private VTC run between the two ends is available and is the most expensive option by a distance. One more pattern worth knowing: many walkers deliberately split the route at Vizzavona and do the halves in separate trips, because Vizzavona is on the railway and both halves then start and finish somewhere a train reaches.
This is a trail where the escape routes deserve reading before you start, because the walking is committing and most stage ends are not on a road. Vizzavona, at roughly the midpoint, is the important one and does two jobs. It is the classic bail-out, and it is how the route gets split into halves. The station sits on the Chemins de Fer de la Corse main line between Ajaccio and Bastia, with Corte in between, so from the trail you can be in a city the same day: the network runs four return journeys a day over the 158 km between Bastia and Ajaccio, plus a separate summer timetable published each year, which for 2026 covers late June to the end of August. The station has parking, a bar, a restaurant and a grocery, and CFC can be reached at Ajaccio on 04 95 23 11 03, Corte on 04 95 46 00 97 or Bastia on 04 95 32 80 61. Change at Ponte-Leccia for Calvi. Four more road-served exits, north to south: Haut Asco, also written Ascu Stagnu, on stage three or four. Road served, with a shop and beds, and Corsica Giru's Bus Vallee d'Asco GR20 minibus links it with Ponte-Leccia in the summer season on 06 26 65 38 00. It must be booked ahead and needs a minimum of five people, so it is not a walk-up escape; Taxi-Corse covers the same valley on demand. Castel di Vergio, on the D84 before the Niolu. Autocars Cortenais run a seasonal line from Corte station through Calacuccia and Albertacce to the Hotel Castel di Vergio and the Col de Vergio, published for 18 May to 11 October 2026, Monday to Saturday, with the second daily run and any Sunday service by reservation from five people, on 06 20 17 17 55. The hotel there has a shop, which makes this both an escape and a resupply. Bocca di Verdi, where the trail crosses the D69 between Ghisoni and Cozzano. There is no bus at the col. The nearest scheduled service is the Ajaccio line through Santa Maria Siche, Cozzano, Zicavo and Palneca, run by Transports Phoenix on 04 95 52 31 58, which runs Monday to Friday from 1 September to 30 June and daily in July and August, two services a day. That means a road walk or a lift down to Cozzano or Zicavo first, or a phone call to a private VTC, several of which list Verde and Ghisoni among their pickup points. The same logic applies at E Capanelle, which sits above the D169 down to the D69. Col de Bavella, on the D268 near the southern end. Balesi Evasion's mountain coach between Porto-Vecchio and Ajaccio calls at Bavella and Zonza, daily from 1 July to 31 August and on Mondays and Fridays from 1 September to 30 June, on 04 95 70 02 50. From the col the road runs south to Zonza or north to Solenzara on the coast. Read all of these against the park's staffed season, roughly mid-May to the start of October, rather than against the calendar summer. The Vergio and Asco services and the private transfers broadly bracket that window, and the coaches at Bavella and on the east coast keep going afterwards, but a walker on the route in late October has the road exits without the buses.
About 6 km southeast of Calvi. Taxi into Calvi, then the Les Beaux Voyages line to Calenzana, or a direct taxi or pre-booked VTC to Calenzana, roughly 25 km in total. Taxi-Corse (04 95 48 24 74) collects here for Calenzana, Bonifatu, Asco and Vergio.
Year round scheduled service with a large number of summer-only routes added, so the direct flight that exists in August may not exist in May.About 17 km south-southeast of Bastia. For Calenzana, either rail or coach across to Calvi and on by the Calenzana bus, or a direct transfer with Taxi-Corse or a VTC. For the finish end, Rapides Bleus run the east coast coach from Bastia to Porto-Vecchio all year.
Year round, with extra summer routes.About 5 km east of Ajaccio. The natural pairing with Vizzavona: Ajaccio is on the CFC main line, so a half-route walk starting or ending at Vizzavona works from here. Also the Ajaccio end of the Balesi Evasion coach over Bavella and of the Transports Phoenix line to Zicavo and Cozzano.
Year round, with extra summer routes.About 25 km southwest of Porto-Vecchio, which is the base for the Conca end. Taxi or pre-booked VTC to Sainte-Lucie-de-Porto-Vecchio or Conca; Taxi Orsini works this corner all year.
Heavily seasonal route mix, with many summer-only services, so check that your flight exists in the shoulder months.On the trail itself, at 906 m, and the single most useful transport point on the GR20. CFC main line trains to Ajaccio one way and Corte and Bastia the other, four return journeys a day across the Bastia to Ajaccio route, with a separate summer timetable each year. Change at Ponte-Leccia for Calvi. Station has parking, bar, restaurant and grocery.
Year round. Summer timetables are published separately, valid 28 June to 30 August in 2026.The next halt north of Vizzavona on the same line, about 2 km off the route, occasionally useful if you are staying at the campsite nearby. Treat Vizzavona as the main option.
Year round on the main line.The mountain town on the main line, with free parking, shops and car hire at the station, and the departure point for the Autocars Cortenais seasonal line to Calacuccia and Col de Vergio. The obvious base for a mid-route rest day or a resupply run from Vizzavona.
Year round; the Vergio bus from here is seasonal, published for 18 May to 11 October 2026.In Calvi town centre. Arrive here from Bastia and Ponte-Leccia, then bus or taxi the last 12 km to Calenzana. Station open daily.
The Ponte-Leccia to Calvi line runs all year; the Calvi to Ile-Rousse Balagne section is frequent in summer and reduced in winter.