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Has anyone walked the Via Egnatia?

BobM

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
V Frances; V Podensis; V Francigena; V Portugues; V Francigena del Sud; Jakobsweg. Jaffa - Jerusalem
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I am thinking of walking the Via Egnatia from Durres (Albania) to Thessaloniki (Greece).
Oh goodness - that is really rough country and English ability is limited to large towns (I'm extrapolating from my experience in the western Czech Republic). Also there are police and border issues with the large number of refugees. Can the route organization put you contact with someone who has walked it? And do they have accommodation lists or know where you could get one?
 
Oh goodness - that is really rough country and English ability is limited to large towns (I'm extrapolating from my experience in the western Czech Republic). Also there are police and border issues with the large number of refugees. Can the route organization put you contact with someone who has walked it? And do they have accommodation lists or know where you could get one?

I will be checking the VE website re issues with refugees/border controls. That might be a show stopper. But I was rather hoping someone on Ivar's forum might be familiar with the VE. I have travelled through the region by bus, and agree with the comment re language etc.

BTW, I am interested in the Via Egnatia (VE) as an add-on to the Via Francigena nel Sud (Rome - Bari) to get me closer to my ultimate goal of Jerusalem via the Israel National Trail (INT), or maybe just the Jerusalem Trail from Tel Aviv.

Bob M
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I am interested in the Via Egnatia (VE) as an add-on to the Via Francigena nel Sud (Rome - Bari) to get me closer to my ultimate goal of Jerusalem via the Israel National Trail (INT), or maybe just the Jerusalem Trail from Tel Aviv.
As far as I can recall, the only one of us who has extensively discussed travel in that corner of Europe was Lovingkindness. You could search her posts for useful info, and perhaps contact her directly via PM.
 
Hola @Kitsambler
I'm in contact with @lovingkindness and also met her but I don't think she had walked this exact route. As I remember she got stucked on Crete and later took plane to Tel Aviv.

Anyway it looks like very nice route. I kinda now the people from this parts of Balkans and could only confirm comments of the people on the mentioned official web site that had walked it about hospitality and very good/healthy food.

Also people in Albania might not be really good at English but they do speak Italian and German as many of them work(ed) in these countries. If I remember correctly they learn French in schools because their language is quite close to Romanian which is in Roman languages group.

Almost the same for Macedonia for languages. Many people went to work to Germany so German is well known. And of course Serbian or Croatian (even Slovenian and especially Bulgarian) could be comprehensible.

Definitely on my to do list!!!
If you would need any help with this @BobM (especially language wise) don't hesitate to contact me.

Ultreia!

PS (But - isn't 256 pages guide book a bit too heavy? Especially when advised to tent a lot? Althought I know I could sleep most of the nights at peoples homes for a very small "contribution". 5€ is a lot in those parts of Europe!)
 
Last edited:
Thanks, everyone.

The VE website is very helpful and responsive. Here is what their contact (Toon Pennings <toonpennings@gmail.com>) said in response to my question, in case anyone is thinking of walking the VE:
"As far as I know, most refugees in Greece trying to reach Western Europe use the border crossing at Evzoni or Idomeni/Gevgelija and not the one at Niki/Bitola, where Via Egnatia goes from Macedonia to Greece. At least, I haven't read any reports about that"

Re the 256 guide. Far too heavy! What I will do is get the spine guillotined off, remove un-wanted pages and have the rest spiral-bound. It costs only $4 locally.

That's what I did for the Via Francigena guidebooks and it worked well - much easier to use the books in the field if you can fold them flat.

Bob M
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Thanks, everyone.

The VE website is very helpful and responsive. Here is what their contact (Toon Pennings <toonpennings@gmail.com>) said in response to my question, in case anyone is thinking of walking the VE:
"As far as I know, most refugees in Greece trying to reach Western Europe use the border crossing at Evzoni or Idomeni/Gevgelija and not the one at Niki/Bitola, where Via Egnatia goes from Macedonia to Greece. At least, I haven't read any reports about that"

Re the 256 guide. Far too heavy! What I will do is get the spine guillotined off, remove un-wanted pages and have the rest spiral-bound. It costs only $4 locally.

That's what I did for the Via Francigena guidebooks and it worked well - much easier to use the books in the field if you can fold them flat.

Bob M
Yes, refugees are trying to get through at Gevgelija, that's true.
You might as well photocopy the pages down to half size as well. And then stich them together. I do that for my Caminos when compiing info from internet.
 
I am thinking of walking the Via Egnatia from Durres (Albania) to Thessaloniki (Greece).

Here is an excellent website about the route that includes a guidebook.
http://www.viaegnatiafoundation.eu/index.php/hiking-wandern/via-egnatia-hiking-trail

I would like to hear from anyone who has done this walk, especially re accommodation.

It's a bit early, but best wishes to everyone for Christmas and the New Year.

Bob
HI Bob....are you still planning to walk the Via Egnatia? When do you plan to go? There's a blog by Anita (search Anita blog via Egnatia & it should work) that's very thorough on route & accomodation from Durres to Thessaloniki. I bought the guide Via Egnatia on Foot from the VE Foundation last fall & plan to walk it this fall 2016 with a friend. We had been corresponding with Toon from the foundation with the expectation of more information about the route past Thessaloniki coming this spring. However, the VE Foundation website has recently disappeared.....I can't find any link to it that works. Not sure what the issue is. I have emailed Toon but no info yet. Have you had recent communication with them?
Thanks in advance, Pat
 
HI Bob....are you still planning to walk the Via Egnatia? When do you plan to go? There's a blog by Anita (search Anita blog via Egnatia & it should work) that's very thorough on route & accomodation from Durres to Thessaloniki. I bought the guide Via Egnatia on Foot from the VE Foundation last fall & plan to walk it this fall 2016 with a friend. We had been corresponding with Toon from the foundation with the expectation of more information about the route past Thessaloniki coming this spring. However, the VE Foundation website has recently disappeared.....I can't find any link to it that works. Not sure what the issue is. I have emailed Toon but no info yet. Have you had recent communication with them?
Thanks in advance, Pat

I am hard at work on it. See another thread that I have started: "Start VF del Sud (Rome-Bari) 10 May, then Via Egnatia (Durres-Thessaloniki)" I start in Rome on May 10 and hope to arrive in Durres on June 3.

I have read Anita's blog. It's great for pics of the route and accommodation problems in parts of the route. I won't be taking a tent, so I will have to work harder to get the locals to take me in.

I also listened to the three 30-minute BBC Radio episodes by Bettany Hughes' (there is a link in my other thread). I gives more atmospherics on the route that help to reduce the 'known unknowns' a little.

I just had my VE guide spiral bound so I can fold it flat when open and make it more convenient to use in the field. That cost $A4 t a big office supplies shop, so it was very inexpensive. The holes for the spiral binding cut into some of the maps, but it is not a problem.

Toon told me that they have good data (incl GPX files) for 150+km from Thessaloniki. He will share the data if you help with route reconnaissance. That's fair. The last time I was in touch was a few weeks ago.

I just checked (Sat 17:20 Melbourne time) the VE website and get the msg: "Error displaying the error page: Application Instantiation Error: Error initialising the session." Hoppefully it is a temporary glitch.

Anyway, have a look at the other thread. I am not particularly worried about the VE, but the Italian walk from Rome to Bari that I will do first is a bit problematic in terms of the lack of good guidebooks. That surprises me, given that the VF del Sud basically follows the Roman Via Apia, the Via Triana and later traditional pilgrimage routes. I think it would have been easier to walk this route in Roman times than today, so far as daily stage accommodation is concerned.

Keep in touch re your own plans.

Best regards

Bob M
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I am hard at work on it. See another thread that I have started: "Start VF del Sud (Rome-Bari) 10 May, then Via Egnatia (Durres-Thessaloniki)" I start in Rome on May 10 and hope to arrive in Durres on June 3.

I have read Anita's blog. It's great for pics of the route and accommodation problems in parts of the route. I won't be taking a tent, so I will have to work harder to get the locals to take me in.

I also listened to the three 30-minute BBC Radio episodes by Bettany Hughes' (there is a link in my other thread). I gives more atmospherics on the route that help to reduce the 'known unknowns' a little.

I just had my VE guide spiral bound so I can fold it flat when open and make it more convenient to use in the field. That cost $A4 t a big office supplies shop, so it was very inexpensive. The holes for the spiral binding cut into some of the maps, but it is not a problem.

Toon told me that they have good data (incl GPX files) for 150+km from Thessaloniki. He will share the data if you help with route reconnaissance. That's fair. The last time I was in touch was a few weeks ago.

I just checked (Sat 17:20 Melbourne time) the VE website and get the msg: "Error displaying the error page: Application Instantiation Error: Error initialising the session." Hoppefully it is a temporary glitch.

Anyway, have a look at the other thread. I am not particularly worried about the VE, but the Italian walk from Rome to Bari that I will do first is a bit problematic in terms of the lack of good guidebooks. That surprises me, given that the VF del Sud basically follows the Roman Via Apia, the Via Triana and later traditional pilgrimage routes. I think it would have been easier to walk this route in Roman times than today, so far as daily stage accommodation is concerned.

Keep in touch re your own plans.

Best regards

Bob M
Oh......so glad you told me that you have had the same error message from the VEF website. I haven't looked at it for months so was taken aback when it seemed to be gone. Toon had told us the same thing about additional GPS info past Thessaloniki & I look forward to adding it to our route planning. You will be 6-8 weeks ahead of us, I think.
When I walked the VF from Besancon to Rome I mostly went day to day with the accom. & frequently relied on the current convent/hostel/whatever to help call set up the next bed for the night. Not fool proof. Hope you find something to guide you on the VF del Sud. We won't be carrying a tent on the VE either but have emergency bivis in case we are stuck out in the bush for a night. Hope not to use them.
Really.....let's stay in touch. I 'know' a fellow (ardent Camino walker) from the US who travels regularly to work on a vineyard in the Bari area.....will try to get a ph# for you if you want.
 
Oh......so glad you told me that you have had the same error message from the VEF website. I haven't looked at it for months so was taken aback when it seemed to be gone. Toon had told us the same thing about additional GPS info past Thessaloniki & I look forward to adding it to our route planning. You will be 6-8 weeks ahead of us, I think.
When I walked the VF from Besancon to Rome I mostly went day to day with the accom. & frequently relied on the current convent/hostel/whatever to help call set up the next bed for the night. Not fool proof. Hope you find something to guide you on the VF del Sud. We won't be carrying a tent on the VE either but have emergency bivis in case we are stuck out in the bush for a night. Hope not to use them.
Really.....let's stay in touch. I 'know' a fellow (ardent Camino walker) from the US who travels regularly to work on a vineyard in the Bari area.....will try to get a ph# for you if you want.

I usually book a day ahead, or a few days ahead on weekends when accommodation in popular places can fill up. A bivvy bag is a good idea, but I will just wing it on the VE. One can always take taxis like Anita and Patrick did on occasion, but I prefer not to. It won't kill me to sleep out for a night or two if I have to. I have to keep my pack down to 7kg plus another 1.5kg of water and food, so a tent and sleeping bag are out for me.

Have you thought about the internet/phone calls yet? I have used an international SIM from AirBaltic that was cheap for calls and data and worked well; but their website seems to have a security issue now, so I am looking for a cheap alternative. I plan to upload a brief report each day to the other thread I mentioned, with one or two photos; as well as making a few local phone calls en route. Cheap data is the most important aspect for me.

Thanks for the offer of a phone number, but I will pass.

I also have good offline maps from Locus Map Pro for my phone as a backup to my Garmin GPS unit if it fails.

Bob M
 
I've been using Pocket Earth maps on my iPad with a route from the data sent by VEF when I bought the book.......had something similar on the VF & it was fine. My friend has a Garmin & hopes to know how to use by the time we leave. I will look at the Locus maps, thanks for that tip. The main question for me is hopefully to have a route sorted out that is not on the road once we start walking without direction from Toon et al. My Pocket Earth map has lots of track to follow but it doesn't seem to hook up well with villages or towns in that area. I haven't thought too much about a phone....should I guess. I imagine Internet will be dodgy except in the big towns.
Regards, Pat
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
I've been using Pocket Earth maps on my iPad with a route from the data sent by VEF when I bought the book.......had something similar on the VF & it was fine. My friend has a Garmin & hopes to know how to use by the time we leave. I will look at the Locus maps, thanks for that tip. The main question for me is hopefully to have a route sorted out that is not on the road once we start walking without direction from Toon et al. My Pocket Earth map has lots of track to follow but it doesn't seem to hook up well with villages or towns in that area. I haven't thought too much about a phone....should I guess. I imagine Internet will be dodgy except in the big towns.
Regards, Pat

Apple users seem to swear by PocketEarth. The app developer has promised for ages to make an android version. BTW, Paul Chinn has (is?) developing an app for the VF to supplement his guidebook, and he chose Locus Map for his mapping 'engine'. Getting a GPS route into Locus Map is a breeze: Just copy the files to your phone, click on the route you want to use and my Galaxy phone asks if I want to use Locus Map. Accept, and your route is instantly shown on the map.

Garmin GPS units have a learning curve and are not all that intuitive, so practice well in advance. Their big advantages are a screen that you can actually read in bright light and generally better satellite reception than phones. You can upload maps (eg OpenStreet maps) to the unit, but be very careful because it is easy to wipe out other essential files. Download Garmin BaseCamp to make it easy to load GPX files to the unit, backup your data, review your routes etc.

Bob M
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
The VE website www.viaegnatiafoundation.eu/ is online again.

Bob M
Yes, I was happy to see that. I have been in contact with Toon & have the waypoints & route description for Thessaloniki to Kavala. Glad to get that 'on the map'. We also keep to a very light pack....just shy of 14lbs on my last trip so I expect to do the same this time. No tents for us either so planning is the key to comfort.
p
 
I will get the extra GPX data etc from Toon. If all goes well, I will have a week spare before my flight home after Thessaloniki and it would be good to get a little closer to Istanbul on this walk.

I won't carry a sleeping bag to save some weight. I normally take two light sleeping bag liners, which will trap a layer of insulating air between them; and sleep in my clothes if required (it has never happened yet). That's no problem - unless it is raining and I can't find shelter.

BTW, here is a website I have been looking at for an International phone SIM:
https://covermoreglobalsim.com/en/

Not sure where you are located; but for me, the cost is about 1/4 that of my local Australian telco, even with their "special" call/data packs and not roaming. Whether it works reliably in Albania and Macedonia is a question, as users report mixed experience with international SIMs. So, I will also look at local SIMs for Albania and Macedonia.

The phone would not be all that essential in Albania and Macedonia anyway, given that most accommodation has to be arranged on arrival in villages. But it would be nice to upload daily SITREPs to this forum.

Bob M
 
I am thinking of walking the Via Egnatia from Durres (Albania) to Thessaloniki (Greece).

Here is an excellent website about the route that includes a guidebook.
http://www.viaegnatiafoundation.eu/index.php/hiking-wandern/via-egnatia-hiking-trail

I would like to hear from anyone who has done this walk, especially re accommodation.

It's a bit early, but best wishes to everyone for Christmas and the New Year.

Bob
I too would lie walk the Via Egnatia, but the section further on from Bob, namely from Thessaloniki to Kavala. i did see some correspondence on this Forum about this section of the walk, but can't now find it. I remember there was someone with the name Troon who was investigating it and offering information in return for information. I'd be grateful for anything. Philip
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
I too would lie walk the Via Egnatia, but the section further on from Bob, namely from Thessaloniki to Kavala. i did see some correspondence on this Forum about this section of the walk, but can't now find it. I remember there was someone with the name Troon who was investigating it and offering information in return for information. I'd be grateful for anything. Philip

Toon Pennings can be contacted via the VE website below:
http://www.viaegnatiafoundation.eu/index.php/via-egnatia-trail-part-ii

Toon seems to be the main contact for that VE website, which is the best available. I had a number of very helpful email exchanges with him.

He would be able to give you the latest info on the extension of the VE beyond Thessaloniki.

BTW, I could not walk the VE this year because it took me too long to walk from Rome to Bari, after which I had planned to take the ferry to Durres and then walk the VE to Thessaloniki. I ran out of time.

Instead, I took the ferry to Patras, train and bus to the monasteries at Mount Athos, then bus to Istanbul, then bus to Gallipoli. You can see details near the end of this thread:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/the-via-francigena-del-sud-rome-to-bari.40440/

Hope this is useful.

Bob M
 
My friend and I walked the Via Egnatia last fall.....starting Sept 1st 2016. We used the guide book from the VE Foundation and also had a GPS which is needed to follow the route from the book. Albania and Macedonia were fabulous. We saw some refugees but it wasn't a problem for us. We didn't camp or carry a tent as recommended so there were times that we couldn't find places to stay and had to bus it to the next town....some of the accomodation suggested was closed or far more expensive than noted. We carried on after Thessaloniki which was challenging since many hotels etc in northern Greece were closed due to the end of tourist season or the economy.....we weren't sure which. In a couple of places in Greece the dogs were a problem. There's many abandoned dogs due to the economy and some wild packs have become a nuisance to walkers. We made it to Istanbul with a few hops by bus at the end. Great adventure!
Pat
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.

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