Early Francigena questions

[MichaelC]

After reading every post I could, I still have a few open questions on the Francigena.

Three weeks looks like it's the right amount of time to walk from Lucca to Roma. It seems like everyone follows the same stages. Is there less flexibility on the Francigena compared to the Frances, at least for those of us who want to stay in pilgrim-oriented accommodations?

The official Francigena pages suggest 28 days to walk from Fidenza to Rome, not counting any rest days. There are a lot of >30 km days on the official stages, though! How rough is this, really? I know there are hills after Fidenza, but I don't have a good sense for how rugged the walking is.

And finally: when is mosquito season? Or is that year-round?

 

[Deleted member 76633]

Check Youtube for the VF. Lots of videos there on the route/accommodation/mosquitos but in Italian. VF very popular over there.

Here is someone's blog of the whole route where you can pick up some tips. This one deals with the mosquito question.

http://kentontheviafrancigena.com/2...rs-and-fountains-acqua-on-the-via-francigena/

 

[Athena Atterdag]

Hi Michael,

Have you checked out the official website, http://www.viefrancigene.org/en/mappe/ ? It has detailed maps and descriptions of every leg and accommodations along the way.

My friend and I are planning to walk from Aosta to Chatillion in March - it's a single leg, but rather long, so we decided to walk it in two stages: Aosta to Nus and Nus to Chatillion. And the accommodations section lists a hotel located precisely at Nus.

Out of curiosity, I checked one of the legs from Lucca to Rome, namely, leg 29 (Altopascio to San Miniato), it's 29 km, but the descriptions lists several accommodations in Fucecchio, which is earlier than San Miniato.

It certainly looks like there's much less accommodations and less flexibility on the via Francigena, but then, it's a newly rediscovered path.

As for mosquito season, no idea - I'm one of the lucky people whom mosquitoes don't like

 

[AGagnon]

Hi, i've walked Aosta-Piacenza and Aulla (Just after the Apennines)- Roma this summer.

It was my first pilgrimage. I'm 23.

Yes there is less flexibility if you want to sleep in pilgrim accomodation because they are not everywhere (the Francigena is not as developped as the Camino, but in Italy I would say it quite developed and improving each year).

Some stages are long for sure, but they are some of the most beautiful of the path (for exemple San Quirico d'Orcia to Radicofani is about 32 km but it is amazing, after doing that one everything is easier coming to Roma). The hardest is not the path (fairly easy with some small hills and the usual ascension at the end ) but the heat in summer.

You will not have problems with mosquitoes i think, there is almost no water ! The only time i needed mosquito reppelent was when i was in the rice fields near Vercelli.

To resume it is a beautiful path and very doable. Following the stages helps and take some rest days.

 

[AGagnon]

Also if you have more questions you can also ask some on thr Facebook groups about the Via, the english one has thousands of members and people answer quick

 

[Athena Atterdag]

Also if you have more questions you can also ask some on thr Facebook groups about the Via, the english one has thousands of members and people answer quick

Yes, the FB groups are very good, and the people very helpful!

I'm a member of two: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1532376317014068/ (mostly Italian) and https://www.facebook.com/groups/19899007360/ (mostly English, and more active).

 

[NavyBlue]

Hi Michael,

Yes, there are less accommodation solutions than on the CF. Among other reasons, villages and towns are a bit far away from each other. In some cases, you have no solution for a stage of more than, say, 18 km but less than 35. Nevertheless you have some flexibility.

In 2015, we used the "official" documentation as well as Paul Chinn's Lightfoot guide (based on the official way + alternate routes when appropriate. Recommended).

The Fidenza-Lucca section crosses the Apennines. Fornovo to Pontremoli stages are rather tough, in the StJPdP-Roncesvalles class IMO (steep, successive ups and downs, descents on scree...).

For what it's worth, our stages (mileage may vary between sources, as usual). We did not reject 30+ km stages, provided we could have shorter stages in between. No rest days, but some short stages. Take also city visits into consideration. We were in our early sixties, good hikers but not extra fit thru hikers, and we carried our belongings.

- Fidenza - Fornovo di Taro - 31.7 km - pilgrim acc.
- Fornovo di Taro - Cassio - 21.2 km (steep) - pilgrim acc.
- Cassio - Ostello della Cisa - 17.7 km (steep) - pilgrim acc.
- Ostello della Cisa - Pontremoli - 21.4 km (long descent) - B&B
- Pontremoli - Aulla - 32.8 km - hotel (missed a nice religious acc.)
- Aulla - Sarzana - 18 km - B&B
- Sarzana - Marina di Massa - 17 km - B&B
- Marina di Massa - Pietrasanta - 19.5 km - religious acc.
- Pietrasanta - Valpromaro - 18.7 km - pilgrim acc. (recommended)
- Valpromaro - Lucca - 15 km (+ city visit...) - B&B
i.e. 10 days

- Lucca - Altopascio - 17.9 km - hotel
- Altopascio - San Miniato Alto - 26.5 km - religious acc. (recommended)
- San Miniato Alto - Gambassi Terme - 22.6 km - hotel
- Gambassi Terme - San Giminiano - 15 km (+ city visit...) - hotel
- San Giminiano - Abbadia a Isola - 26 km - pilgrim acc. (recommended)
- Abbadia a Isola - Sienna - 22.1 km (+ city visit !!!) - hotel
- Sienna - Ponte d'Arbia - 24.9 km - religious acc.
- Ponte d'Arbia - San Quirico d'Orcia - 25.7 km - B&B
- San Quirico d'Orcia - Radicofani - 32.2 km - pilgrim acc.
- Radicofani - Acquapendente - 31.9 km - hotel
- Acquapendente - Bolsena - 22 km - hotel
- Bolsena - Montefiascone - 18.3 km - B&B
- Montefiascone - Viterbo - 17.8 km - religious acc.
- Viterbo - Vetralla - 19.1 km - religious acc.
- Vetralla - Sutri - 24.2 km - hotel
- Sutri - Campagnano - 27 km - hotel
- Campagnano - La Storta - 24 km - religious acc.
- La Storta - Roma - 20 km
i.e. 18 days from Lucca and 28 from Fidenza as you mentioned.

 

[MichaelC]

Yes there is less flexibility if you want to sleep in pilgrim accomodation because they are not everywhere (the Francigena is not as developped as the Camino, but in Italy I would say it quite developed and improving each year).

Some stages are long for sure, but they are some of the most beautiful of the path (for exemple San Quirico d'Orcia to Radicofani is about 32 km but it is amazing, after doing that one everything is easier coming to Roma). The hardest is not the path (fairly easy with some small hills and the usual ascension at the end ) but the heat in summer.

You will not have problems with mosquitoes i think, there is almost no water ! The only time i needed mosquito reppelent was when i was in the rice fields near Vercelli.

To resume it is a beautiful path and very doable. Following the stages helps and take some rest days.

I got that sense that the pilgrim accommodations were more aligned with the main stages.

read a couple blogs that talked a lot about mosquitoes - it must have been in the rice fields!

Yes, the FB groups are very good, and the people very helpful!

I'm a member of two: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1532376317014068/ (mostly Italian) and https://www.facebook.com/groups/19899007360/ (mostly English, and more active).

That's good to know! I really liked the FB group for the Le Puy route, but thought that a lot of people on the FB groups for the Frances could get a bit pretentious. I'll check out the Francigena ones. And my Italian is passable, so both look good.

The Fidenza-Lucca section crosses the Apennines. Fornovo to Pontremoli stages are rather tough, in the StJPdP-Roncesvalles class IMO (steep, successive ups and downs, descents on scree...).

For what it's worth, our stages (mileage may vary between sources, as usual). We did not reject 30+ km stages, provided we could have shorter stages in between.

That's the kind of information that really helps. I'll probably only have three weeks, but there's an off chance that I can take four weeks off. I'd love to start on the other side of the Apennines, but need to seriously think about whether I could handle them at the beginning of a walk!

It's always hard to judge how hard 30+ km days are. It would have been extremely challenging on the Le Puy route (I came close twice, and both felt like very long days), but had no trouble with multiple long stretches on the Camino Frances.

 

[MarkWoods]

Hi Micheal.

I walked the entire VF from Canterbury to Rome (Aug - Oct, 2017). The Fidenza to Rome section is amazing. I was able to stay in pilgrim accommodations (church, monestary, convent, municipal hostel) except for Sarzana and Sutri. For these two cities, there is no pilgrim offering. But a B&B near the Sarzana train station provided me a pilgrim rate. And a small hotel in Sutri also provided a pilgrim rate.

The section from Fidenza to Lucca is more hilly and challenging than the section from Lucca to Rome. I used Paul Chin's Lightfoot guide and he offers some flatter alternatives to the most hilly sections. He also has a few recommendations to cut down on the 30+k sections. There were no bugs between Fidenza and Rome durring the October time frame that I walked this section.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[NavyBlue]

Hi Michael,

I got that sense that the pilgrim accommodations were more aligned with the main stages.

Are there "main stages" à la Brierley on the VF ? Not sure, apart from the big cities like Sienna or Lucca where you will want to stay for the night. The pilgrim accommodations we preferred were in small villages, Valpromaro and Abbadia a Isola (kind welcome by hospitaleros/as), while there was no solution at that time in San Giminiano for instance (the monastery did not take pilgrims that day or that season).

read a couple blogs that talked a lot about mosquitoes - it must have been in the rice fields!

Yes, in August-September the mosquitoes were only in the rice fields. I used my headnet, Irish style, to cross the "clouds" Elsewhere maybe the odd ones, but nothing significant.

I really liked the FB group for the Le Puy route [...]. I'll check out the Francigena ones.

You can also visit Ivar's specific VF Forum. And the VF Yahoo group (in English)

It's always hard to judge how hard 30+ km days are. It would have been extremely challenging on the Le Puy route (I came close twice, and both felt like very long days), but had no trouble with multiple long stretches on the Camino Frances.

Same for us. A special mention for this Saugues - Saint-Alban stage we did by mistake!

Fidenza to Fornovo di Taro would probably be a bit harsh for a first day. The stage altitude profiles may help you to figure out.

 

[Deleted member 76633]

If you are in the UK, there is a meeting of the Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome (CPR) http://pilgrimstorome.org.uk/ on March 10th in London. Plenty of tips there.

 

[debra]

I have to agree that the pilgrim-oriented accommodations is far less on the Francigene than the Frances. There is/was a list of all the pilgrim-oriented accommodations in Italy which was a two page spreadsheet when I went printed in down the short side of the paper. In a lot of ways is is more like the Via de la Plata than the Frances in that the there are not a ton of pilgrim accommodations and far fewer pilgrim meals.
This is based on my experiences which is a few years old.

 

[JillGat]

Yes, the FB groups are very good, and the people very helpful!

I'm a member of two: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1532376317014068/ (mostly Italian) and https://www.facebook.com/groups/19899007360/ (mostly English, and more active).

I'm just starting to look into the via francigena. Would like to take a look at the FB page, but I am asked to answer three questions from the admin. There are three blocks for answers, but I don't see any questions. Hm.

 

[Athena Atterdag]

I'm just starting to look into the via francigena. Would like to take a look at the FB page, but I am asked to answer three questions from the admin. There are three blocks for answers, but I don't see any questions. Hm.

Hmm! Which link are you trying to open? I do remember there was some sort of a quiz, and there was some issue with it, but I don't remember how it was resolved. I ended up in the group, though

 

[MichaelC]

I remember that too. I ended up sending a note directly to the moderators, who let me in.