Refuge d'Usciolu
The best-stocked refuge on the trail — charcuterie, cheese, beer, and stunning sunset views from the ridge at 1750 m.
The best-stocked refuge on the trail — charcuterie, cheese, beer, and stunning sunset views from the ridge at 1750 m. Books out early in peak season.
The place
Usciolu clings to the ridgeline at 1,750 m like a shop that opened halfway up a cathedral. And what a shop: this is famously the best-stocked refuge on the GR20, its shelves improbably loaded with charcuterie, cheese and beer hauled up the mountain, so that hikers stagger in off the serrated crest of the Arête a Monda and find themselves, against all reason, browsing. The evening scene on the terrace — saucisson, sunset, exhausted euphoria — is one of the trail's defining images.
The position is pure drama. West-facing, the refuge catches sunsets that empty the dining room mid-meal, everyone drifting out to watch the sky perform over rank after rank of ridges. It books out early in high season, and the bivouac terraces fill fast too, so plan ahead. Then let the place do its work: few refuges anywhere combine hardship and delicatessen quite so memorably.
Getting there
| Leg | Distance | Elevation | Trail runner | Fit / sportive | Multiday hiker | Relaxed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From Refuge de Prati | 8.5 km | +560 / −650 m | 3h04 | 4h22 | 5h45 | 6h54 |
| To Refuge de Matalza | 7.5 km | +220 / −520 m | 2h25 | 3h23 | 4h25 | 5h18 |
Booking
Booking is mandatory for all overnight stays on the GR20, including bivouac pitches. Wild camping is not allowed on the trail.
Stages featuring this stop
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