GR20 refuges: food, prices, the 16 stages and how many days
Every night on the GR20 is booked with the Parc naturel régional de Corse, which runs the refuges. In 2026 a bunk cost €20, a pitch for your own tent €12, and the park says to count on about €50 a day for meals, ordered at the refuge and never online. The park divides the route into sixteen stages, about 95 hours of walking by its own times, and advises against doubling them. Here is what a refuge night costs, what you can eat, which nights have no bunks, and how many days to plan.
What a night costs
| Formula | Price, 2026 | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Bunk (bat-flanc) | €20 a person | A place on the shared sleeping platform inside the refuge. |
| Bivouac | €12 a person | A pitch beside the refuge for your own tent: one pitch per person, so two for two people sharing a tent. |
| Hired tent, one person | €27 | The pitch plus a tent. |
| Hired tent, two people | €39 | Two pitches plus a tent. The tents sleep two and come with a 3 cm mattress per person. |
Parc naturel régional de Corse, GR20 page, read 19 October 2026. FFRandonnée wrote in January 2026 that prices rose that year by €3 for a refuge place and €5 for a hired tent.
Bring a sleeping bag whatever you book: the park lists one in its kit and says you must carry your own in the hired tents. The park gives an average of about thirty beds per refuge; L’Onda has only sixteen inside.
The two nights without bunks
Ortu di u Piobbu, at the end of stage 1, and Asinau, at the end of stage 14, offer no dormitory places, by the park’s own page. There you can only book a bivouac pitch or a hired tent. Plan those two nights as tent nights from the start, and book them in the park’s system like any bunk.
Food: meals, the refuge shop and your own stove
- Meals at the refuge, by the park’s figures: dinner about €20, breakfast about €10, a packed lunch about €10. The park says to count on about €50 a day for all meals.
- Ordered on the spot only. Meals, breakfasts and packed lunches cannot be booked online. Dinner must be ordered by 18:00 at the latest.
- A small épicerie at every refuge. The park does not say what it stocks, so treat it as a top-up, not as your food plan.
- Cook your own. Each refuge has an outdoor kitchen with gas and cooking utensils, a running-water point, showers, dry toilets and an indoor common room.
- Along the way. The park lists supplies (ravitaillement) at Vizzavona, and cheese for sale at the bergeries of Vaccaghja on stage 6.
- Bring cash. The park says payments can be made in cash or by cheque. The booking itself is bought online by card, says FFRandonnée.
Put together, a bunk and all meals at the refuge come to about €70 a person a day by the park’s own figures. Phone charging is free in the refuges, except at Ortu di u Piobbu and Asinau, where it is paid. Do not count on the phone network: the park calls it unstable along the whole GR20, and unreliable or absent near Ortu di u Piobbu, Carrozzu, Tighjettu, Ciottulu di i Mori, Manganu, L’Onda, Usciolu and Paliri.
The 16 stages, by the park’s times
| Stage | From → to | Park time | Night |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calenzana → Ortu di u Piobbu | 6 h 30 | No bunks |
| 2 | Ortu di u Piobbu → Carrozzu | 7 h | Refuge |
| 3 | Carrozzu → Ascu Stagnu | 6 h 10 | Refuge |
| 4 | Ascu Stagnu → Tighjettu | 8 h | Refuge |
| 5 | Tighjettu → Ciottulu di i Mori | 4 h | Refuge |
| 6 | Ciottulu di i Mori → Manganu | 8 h | Refuge |
| 7 | Manganu → Petra Piana | 6 h 30 | Refuge |
| 8 | Petra Piana → L’Onda | 4 h 50 | 16 beds |
| 9 | L’Onda → Vizzavona | 6 h 05 | Private |
| 10 | Vizzavona → E Capanelle | 5 h 15 | Private |
| 11 | E Capanelle → Prati | 6 h 10 | Refuge |
| 12 | Prati → Usciolu | 5 h 45 | Refuge |
| 13 | Usciolu → Cuscionu | 4 h 25 | Private |
| 14 | Cuscionu → Asinau | 4 h 15 | No bunks |
| 15 | Asinau → Paliri | 7 h | Refuge |
| 16 | Paliri → Conca | 5 h | End |
The park’s outbound walking times, without breaks, read 19 October 2026; the park publishes no stage distances. “Private”: the park lists hotels, gîtes and bergeries there instead of a refuge (Vizzavona; the Gîte U Fugone at E Capanelle; Matalza, Bassetta and I Croci on the Cuscionu plateau).
Two rules decide the first and every other day. No one may start the GR20 from Calenzana after 11:00, which in practice means sleeping in Calenzana the night before. And a booked place is held only until 19:00; after that it goes to whoever is there.
How many days does the GR20 take?
- Sixteen, as the park cuts it. FFRandonnée’s guidebook also describes the GR20 as sixteen days of walking. By the park’s times that is about 95 hours on the trail, breaks not counted.
- Not fewer by doubling. The park writes that it does not advise doubling stages, because of how hard the route is.
- Seventeen, by splitting stage 6. The 8-hour stage from Ciottulu di i Mori to Manganu can be cut in two at Castel di Verghju, where there is private accommodation, says the park.
- Half the route. Vizzavona ends the northern part. The park notes that for some walkers this is the end, by train to Ajaccio or Bastia. The north is nine stages and about 57 hours by the park’s times; the south, Vizzavona to Conca, seven stages and about 38 hours.
The app’s readiness check for the GR20 puts it plainly: sixteen consecutive days is the crux for most people, not any single stage. If you have not walked a week of hard mountain days back to back, it suggests doing that first, or walking one half.
Booking rules and the season
- Booking is compulsory for every night, bunk, bivouac or hired tent, through the park’s system at pnr-resa.corsica.
- Changes up to 48 hours before the day, by the park; FFRandonnée says the date or the refuge can be changed up to two days before the stage, subject to availability.
- Cancellation at least two months before the start of the walk, under the park’s conditions of sale.
- Season: in 2026 the refuges were staffed from 16 May to 4 October. On 19 October 2026 the park had not published dates for 2027. For 2026 the booking platform opened on 20 January 2026. When to watch for 2027: GR20 2027, when the refuge bookings open.
Treksup is not a hut operator and cannot book a refuge for you; only the park’s own system can.
The GR20 in Treksup
The GR20 is in the paid plan: every stage with water, the refuges, the nights without bunks and the park’s rules. Seven routes are open in full, free on iPhone: the Escapardenne, the Jämtland Triangle, the Adlerweg in the Wilder Kaiser, the Fishermen’s Trail, the Mullerthal Trail, the West Highland Way and the Presidential Traverse.
Get Treksup on the App StoreQuestions
How much does a GR20 refuge cost?
In 2026 the park charged €20 a person for a bunk, €12 a person for a bivouac pitch with your own tent, and €27 or €39 for a hired tent for one or two people. Every night has to be booked through the park’s own system.
Can you buy food in GR20 refuges?
Yes. The refuges serve dinner (about €20), breakfast (about €10) and packed lunches (about €10), ordered on the spot, and each has a small épicerie. The park says to count on about €50 a day for all meals. There is also an outdoor kitchen with gas if you cook yourself.
How many days does the GR20 take?
The park divides it into sixteen stages, about 95 hours of walking by its own times, and advises against doubling stages. Stage 6 can be split at Castel di Verghju, and many walkers do only one half, ending or starting at Vizzavona on the railway.
Which GR20 refuges have no bunks?
Ortu di u Piobbu at the end of stage 1 and Asinau at the end of stage 14. There you can only book a bivouac pitch or a hired tent.
Do I need cash on the GR20?
Yes. The booking is paid online by card, but meals are ordered at the refuge, and the park says payments there can be made in cash or by cheque.
Read next
Sources
- Parc naturel régional de Corse, “GR 20 Fra li monti”: prices, meals, épicerie, refuge services, payment, the nights without bunks, season 2026, booking rules, stage times, private accommodation, the advice on doubling stages and the Calenzana departure ban, read 19 October 2026.
- Parc naturel régional de Corse, refuge booking, read 19 October 2026: no 2027 dates.
- FFRandonnée, “GR®20 : ouverture des réservations pour la saison 2026” (published 30 January 2026): opening of 20 January 2026, online card payment, price rises, changes up to two days before, the guidebook’s sixteen days, read 19 October 2026.
- Treksup route data: the readiness check for the GR20.
Prices and rules are the park’s for 2026; the 2027 season had not been published when this was written. Check the park’s page before you book. Page written 19 October 2026.