Leaving Canterbury May 2

[Geoff the Welshman]

Anyone else waking the Via Francigena in May? I am leaving Canterbury on May 2 - hoping to reach Rome third week of July? Would love to hear from any other Francigenans.

 

[Bradypus]

Bore da Geoff! Greetings from a Scotsman in exile in Carmarthenshire.

I walked from Canterbury to Rome last year. Began mid-July, reached Rome mid-September. For most of the way through France I walked canal towpaths rather than the waymarked VF. I followed the official trail from Besancon to Rome. A great experience - very varied. For me reaching the Mediterranean was even more special than reaching Rome: as a John Hillaby fan I loved the idea of walking from the North Sea to the Med. You may not have much company in the French section but will almost certainly find fellow pilgrims in decent numbers in Italy. Nothing like the hordes along the Camino Frances though. A very different pilgrimage experience.

Have you looked at Ivar's other forum dedicated to the VF?: www.viafrancigena.me You may find other kindred spirits on there too.

Pax et bonum.

 

[Harington]

Anyone else waking the Via Francigena in May? I am leaving Canterbury on May 2 - hoping to reach Rome third week of July? Would love to hear from any other Francigenans.

Hello again, Geoff the Welshman. As you know I'm leaving 1/05, and I was sorta thinking end July because there are wonderful places in Italy where I might want to stop off for a day. I guess you'll overtake me - how many km a day do you think you'll do?

 

[Harington]

Hello again, Geoff the Welshman. As you know I'm leaving 1/05, and I was sorta thinking end July because there are wonderful places in Italy where I might want to stop off for a day. I guess you'll overtake me - how many km a day do you think you'll do?

Oh - and - you know there is a special Via Francigena forum here too, run by Ivar.

 

[Mangled99]

Good luck on your camino, I only live about 100m from Canterbury cathedral give me a shout when you get here.

 

[domigee]

Bon chemin, buen camino!
I walked from home to Canterbury then onto the VF to Besançon. Unforgettable experience. You will be in my thoughts.
Dominique

 

[AJ]

I left Canterbury Easter Sunday 2011 and arrived in Rome 66 days later. In France I met 3 pilgrims heading for SdC and one walking from Assisi to Canterbury. In Italy I met maybe 20 pilgrims heading for Rome.

Once in Rome there are 2 possibilities for getting the Testimonium. One is from St Peters and the other is from the pilgrim office near St Peters. The certificates are different, the stamp the same. I am greedy so I got both.

 

[Magnara]

We walked from Besancon starting end of September - i'm sure your weather will be more pleasant, but whatever the weather it is a great route to walk, you'll love it.

 

[Geoff the Welshman]

Bore da Geoff! Greetings from a Scotsman in exile in Carmarthenshire.

I walked from Canterbury to Rome last year. Began mid-July, reached Rome mid-September. For most of the way through France I walked canal towpaths rather than the waymarked VF. I followed the official trail from Besancon to Rome. A great experience - very varied. For me reaching the Mediterranean was even more special than reaching Rome: as a John Hillaby fan I loved the idea of walking from the North Sea to the Med. You may not have much company in the French section but will almost certainly find fellow pilgrims in decent numbers in Italy. Nothing like the hordes along the Camino Frances though. A very different pilgrimage experience.

Have you looked at Ivar's other forum dedicated to the VF?: www.viafrancigena.me You may find other kindred spirits on there too.

Pax et bonum.

Hi Bradypus:

Greetings from a Carmarthenshire Welshman in exile in the US!!

Many thanks for the response to my post. It looks like you followed roughly the same route as Brian Mooney (whose accommodation style is my model). I may well decide to do the same - it obviously is more direct than the official route in Northern France. Thanks also for the reassuring words about pilgrim numbers in Italy - my main trepidation is solitude, reading about the experiences of others - although I did walk the Camino Portugues last year and found the lack of hordes more appealing than the Frances the previous year.

Thanks also for the reference to Ivar's VF forum.

 

[Geoff the Welshman]

Hello again, Geoff the Welshman. As you know I'm leaving 1/05, and I was sorta thinking end July because there are wonderful places in Italy where I might want to stop off for a day. I guess you'll overtake me - how many km a day do you think you'll do?

Hi Mary:

I doubt I'll overtake you - planning to average between 25 and 30km per day, with the occasional 35+ marathon. I am probably also going to increase the number of rest days in my current itinerary. It looks like I now have a traveling companion - but a neophyte with no experience of long distance walking - so that may slow things down a bit in the early stages (or I'll slow him down, probably!!) I very much hope we'll encounter each other - I think the odds are on it.

 

[Geoff the Welshman]

Good luck on your camino, I only live about 100m from Canterbury cathedral give me a shout when you get here.

Hi Mangled99:

Thanks - I will certainly try. Flying in from the US to arrive on May 1 and setting off for Dover on May 2 - so hoping the stamp source in Canterbury Cathedral opens early on a Monday morning!! Staying in the Cathedral Gate hotel - so must be close to you. Also planning to walk past my old school boarding house on the New Dover Road - will bring back memories of the 60"s!!

 

[Mangled99]

Hi Mangled99:

Thanks - I will certainly try. Flying in from the US to arrive on May 1 and setting off for Dover on May 2 - so hoping the stamp source in Canterbury Cathedral opens early on a Monday morning!! Staying in the Cathedral Gate hotel - so must be close to you. Also planning to walk past my old school boarding house on the New Dover Road - will bring back memories of the 60"s!!

HI Geoff

The Cathedral opens for visitors at 9am and unfortunately I think it's the same time for the visitor centre. The Cathedral Gate hotel is lovely as I know people who have stayed there, I'm not too far away as I live by the river near the ducking stool. I'll pop over tomorrow as I have to go past there in the morning and enquire about what time is the earliest that you can get a passport and a stamp.

 

[Bradypus]

It looks like you followed roughly the same route as Brian Mooney (whose accommodation style is my model). I may well decide to do the same - it obviously is more direct than the official route in Northern France.

My route along the canals criss-crossed the waymarked route at several places. If you are thinking of using part of the canal network you might find the schematic maps on this page useful as they give distances between towns, locks and the like:
http://www.vnf.fr/vnf/content.vnf?action=content&occ_id=31740
There is also an overview map of the whole canal network in this VNF brochure:
http://www.vnf.fr/vnf/img/cms/VNFhidden/Carte_bienvenue_VNF_2015_20150722130719.pdf

I used those maps, some pages cut from a French road atlas and mobile phone screenshots from the excellent French government mapping agency - m.geoportail.fr - to make my way to Besancon. Difficult to get lost along a canal towpath but I did manage it at least once

 

[AJ]

Hi Mangled99:

Flying in from the US to arrive on May 1 and setting off for Dover on May 2 - so hoping the stamp source in Canterbury Cathedral opens early on a Monday morning!! Staying in the Cathedral Gate hotel

Maybe get your stamp Sunday? It's quite a hike to Dover. This was the only day on any of my pilgrimages that I ran out of water!

I too stayed at Cathedral Gate. My room was at the back and overlooked the cathedral.

 

[AJ]

It looks like you followed roughly the same route as Brian Mooney (whose accommodation style is my model). I may well decide to do the same - it obviously is more direct than the official route in Northern France.

Brian has no fear of bitumen and prefers a direct route, as do I. If you are interested I can send you my "as walked" itinerary if you PM me your email address.

I get a mention in Brian's Wrong Way for a Pizza.

 

[Mangled99]

I spoke the the nice bloke in the information centre and he confirmed that the information centre doesn't open until 9am where you can buy a passport and get it stamped for £2. He also said that they are open until 2.30pm on the Sunday if you wish to get it the day before, he also said that if you wish you can also get a blessing before you leave.
If you are going to struggle with time constraints let me know and I can get a passport stamped for you.

 

[Sheffield James]

You have an incredible journey ahead of you. Enjoy!

 

[spelt]

hello Geoff , im taking of from C'bury monday the 30th of april ... 2 days before you ! ( also hopefully to Rome - 12/13 week free to walk ) well meet for sure ;-)

 

[Geoff the Welshman]

hello Geoff , im taking of from C'bury monday the 30th of april ... 2 days before you ! ( also hopefully to Rome - 12/13 week free to walk ) well meet for sure ;-)

Hi Spelt:
Unfortunately we won't meet this year - my original post related to May 2, 2016, which is when I started from Canterbury! I made it to Rome on July 13 - total 73 days. I wish you all the best with your journey - which was an unforgettable experience for me and which I hope you enjoy as much as I did. Good walking!!