Corsica Aventure — Attraction in Ajaccio

I’m disappointed to have to leave this review but my experience was so negative I feel a responsibility to share it with others. While the GR20 itself is an absolutely lovely trek with beautiful landscapes and vistas, it’s no surprise that the quality of your guide can make or break your experience. To provide some context for this review, I consider myself fairly well traveled and have experience on guided treks and climbs around the world. I’ve been to 210 countries, all of the continents, climbed 4 of the 7 summits as well as other peaks including the Matterhorn, Eiger, Mont Blanc, Cotopaxi, Whitney, Rainier, Shasta, Baker, Orizaba, Toubkal, Meru, etc as well as treks included Everest BC, K2 BC, the Snowman trek etc. I mention this only because I have experience with a wide range of guides and feel I have substantial points of comparison. Sadly on this trek I experienced the worst, least professional guide I’ve ever encountered and feel a responsibility to take the time to share feedback to hopefully save them from what I and others experienced. I’d like to preface my feedback which is specific to the guide we had (Geraldine) with the positive experience I had with the office staff (Christina) in terms of the planning and logistical aspects of the trip. The office was very responsive to any questions and provided comprehensive information to assist with planning. The logistics related to accommodations, baggage transport and transfers were all executed smoothly. Our group was half English and half French speaking which didn’t really work well unfortunately. While the guide’s English skills were decent, she rarely would share information in English unless continually promoted which gets tiring 24/7 over 12 days. She clearly preferred just interacting with the French speaking part of the group and we felt quite alienated. She didn’t realize however that one of us did have a decent comprehension of French and turns out she would be blatantly mocking people both in front of them and behind their backs assuming she wouldn’t be understood or heard. HIGHLY unprofessional and shocking. While it was routine for every guide I’ve had in the past to provide a short debrief the evening before each day of the trek or climb which included basic helpful information for the day including forecasted weather, trail conditions, expected timeline covering distance, time hiking, etc it was absolutely like pulling teeth to get this information. It became an ongoing joke that you'd have to ask a minimum of 4 times to actually extract the information you needed. To top it off, all answers were laced with a sarcastic irritated tone. It actually became an intimidating process to ask for basic crumbs of information - truly shocking. Still baffled as to why she seemed so resentful to provide information about the trek. Some of us just gave up and found other sources of information. She also went at a pace that was frantic - even the highly seasoned hikers thought it was ridiculous and created a stressful environment. One barely had time to snap photos (unless SHE wanted to stop for a photo of course) or you’d be left in the dust. She always came across as annoyed and impatient and definitely did NOT create a friendly or supportive environment for the group. Overall I’m sad to say the guide was simply a nasty and cold individual and it made us wonder why she’s in this line of business where she has to interact with people. If you decide to use this company for the GR20 please find out who your guide will be as this plays a critical role in...

We were fortunate to enjoy a wonderful  9 nights ( 8 days walking) the Mare e Monti trail which Nicola from 'Corsica Aventure' had arranged for us.Nicola made a point of tailoring the trail to the needs of our group so that we had the right combination of rooms and could enjoy a rest day at Porto.  Overall the food and variety of accommodation was good.  The logistics were carefully planned so that luggage transfers and transfers to and from trail heads were smooth, apart from one delay with a taxi on the second day.  Corsica is a stunning island and the contrasting combination of walking in mountains and on the coast with lots of opportunities to swim was a highlight for us. I would be happy to recommend 'Corsica...

Danksagung an Theresa von Corsica aventure Hallo Theresa,

Lange Zeit war es mein Wunsch, mit meinem Sohn den GR 20 zu laufen. Nun ist er 14 Jahre geworden und ich erkundigte mich bei euch nach einem geeigneten Termin. Berechtigterweise hast du unsere konditionellen Voraussetzungen abgefragt. Denn nun wissen wir, dass der Weg kein Wanderweg nach meinem deutschem Mittelgebirgswandererverständnis ist, sondern eine unregelmäßige Aneinanderreihung von rot-weißen Wegmarkierungen über unwegsames Gelände mit einer Bodenbeschaffenheit in Form von Schotter, Steinen, Felsbrocken, Gesteinsplatten, Felsen, gerne auch gemischt. Und das selten waagerecht, sondern meistens schweißtreibend steil bergauf oder kniemalträtierend steil bergab. Du hast von uns "verlangt", dass wir nicht nur denken, wir wären schwindelfrei, trittsicher und fit sondern es auch sind. Mit Recht. Es soll genügend Zurückbleiber geben. Nachdem wir uns mit uns ins Benehmen gesetzt und unsere kleinen Zweifel ausgeräumt hatten, war der Zeitraum mit deiner Hilfe flink gefunden. Wer größere Zweifel an dem Vorhaben hegt, sollte sich einen anderen Weg aussuchen. Die Organisation war perfekt vorbereitet. Dazu Transfer von Bastia nach Calenzana, Hotelunterbringung, so viel wie möglich, Abholung von Conca. Alles sicher aufpreispflchtige Extras, aber fürs ältere Semester gut zur Stimmungshebung geeignet. Über die Notrufnummer konnten wir die verspätete Fähre ankündigen, der Transfer wusste somit Bescheid, auch sonst käme man immer mit euch in Kontakt. Wegen mangelnder Sprachkenntnisse hatte ich schlimmes befürchtet. Aber unsere tägliche Begrüßung beim jeweiligen Wirt: Bonjour Monseur/Madame, Hello, we have booking over Corsica Aventure, wirkte jedesmal wie ein Zauberspruch. Wir wurden herzlich begrüßt, eingewiesen und allerallermeisten vorzüglich und mehr als ausreichend verpflegt. Danke für die Organisation, so hatten wir Zeit für das Wesentliche und damit hatten wir zur Genüge zu tun. Also, wenn ich den Weg nochmal laufen würde, würde ich über euch buchen, aber wenige Tage nach Ende der Wanderung..., doch die Schmerzen werden verblassen und die Eindrücke immer bunter.

Liebe Grüße und...