Porto-Vecchio
Porto-Vecchio (Corsican: Portivechju) is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.
It is the seat of the canton of Porto-Vecchio, which it shares with Sari-Solenzara, Conca and Lecci. Port-Vecchio is a medium-sized port city placed on a good harbor, the southernmost of the marshy and alluvial east side of Corsica. The inhabitants are called Porto-Vecchiais in French, and Portivechjacciu in Corsican.
Hitching out
South towards Bonifacio and East towards Sartène, Propriano and Ajaccio
Either from the center or the port of Porto-Vecchio it's around 20min walking to the best HH spot. It's not adviced to take a bus for that short a distance, I don't even think there are buses. Just face the heat for a short amount of time.
Step 1 From the port of Porto-Vecchio, you follow the road that runs next to the sea, called Avenue Georges Pompidou untill you see the big E.Leclerc hyper market. This will be around 10 min walking. From the city center you take the Rue Giudice de Cinarca, the same road where you can find the office du tourisme and walk down the road untill you find a carrefour (round crossing point) with a camping (La Matonara) to your left. Instead take the first cut to the right and after 100 meter you will find the same E.Leclerc as I already mentioned.
Step 2 From the hypermarked E.Leclerc you go to the big carrefour and take the Rue Vincetellu d'Istria D368 to the next carrefour. This will again be around 5 minutes walking. When you arrive at this second big carrefour you will find signs telling you where the road is heading. You take the N198 towards Bonifacio and Ajaccio.
Step 3 After 2 minutes walking next to the N198 their is a possibility for cars to stop, so that's a good HH spot. But if you walk 3 more minutes, to the next small carrefour you will see an other sign to Bonifacio/Ajaccio. This is where the highway really starts and all cars are going in this direction, stand in the beginning of this exit when the cars don't reach a high speed. This is definitily a really good HH spot and I found a ride after 5 minutes.
Nord towards Bastia
Use the same steps 1 and 2 as I discribed for HH towards the South or the East. The only difference is that this time from the second big carrefour you take the N198 towards Bastia. I have not HH toward the Nord so I can't give more info at the moment (summer 2012), but I know for sure the road towards the nord with final destination Bastia starts here.
Places to avoid
Every bar in Porto-Vecchio if you live on a budget! If you want to have a beer don't expect to find anything under 3,5 euro, same go's for soda drinks and some times even water. But this is the same in the whole of Corsica.
Accommodation and Sleep
I have not slept in the wild, but on a camping close to the city center. It's written down in step 1. It's around 8euro for one person and a tent for one night. It's a small camping, people are not friendly and I would give it a 5/10, but they have a pool and after one of Corsica's beautifull but demanding hikes thats all you need.
Other useful info
Buy your drinks at the E.Leclerc hypermarked, get a heat protecting bag (1 euro) and buy some ice. You will save a load of mony and it will taste even better. And try to get your bag filled up with ice from the fish department, it worked one out of the two times, saves you 3-4 euro on ice!
