any information on Via Francigena

[jujubery]

Good Day Forum!
My husband and I completed our CF in May 2017 and cannot wait to explore another journey; but this time in Italy. This forum proved invaluable to our prep and trek on the CF and that is why I am reaching out for some direction/guidance to my friends on this forum.
A few clicks, some key words on the computer and I found Via Francigena. We only want to walk the route in Italy. Anyone out there that can direct us or suggest to us where to start our research? Looking at mid September 2018 to start. As always, thank you loads for all you have done to make our first CF a wonderful, peaceful, spiritual journey.
Jujubery

 

[Stripey Socks]

This is a fabulous starting point: http://www.viefrancigene.org/en/

I intend to start at Great St Bernard Pass in late August 2018.

There is also a fantastic Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/19899007360/?ref=bookmarks
and I would recommend that you join this group as people post updates as they walk.

Take care, Mel

 

[domigee]

There is also this forum https://www.viafrancigena.me

 

[Bradypus]

I would second what @domigee and @Stripey Socks have said above.

The official www.viefrancigene.org is an excellent source of fairly up-to-date practical information such as maps and accommodation lists. I walked a couple of years ago and did not carry a guidebook and I found the downloaded information was enough to make the journey practical.

The Facebook Via Francigena group is very active with people either planning a walk, currently on the road, or in recovery afterwards Probably the best place to post a specific question about conditions right now. Bear in mind that like all internet communities - this one here included - there will be many conflicting opinions!

The www.viafrancigena.me forum is fairly quiet but you may find some useful information there too. I posted some comments on my own walk from Canterbury to Rome in 2015 in that forum. Another active member of both this and the viafrancigena forum - @MichaelSG - wrote a very detailed and entertaining blog of the journey he made with his wife from Vercelli to Rome. I recommend that you read it if you would like to get some overall sense of the route:
http://memismsitaliancammino.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[Magnara]

We walked from Besancon in the east of France to Rome (we did a side trip in the middle to see Venice and Ravenna and cut out a bit of the VF route by doing that). We walked in 2010. Across the Grand St Bernard Pass, a highlight. Almost entirely off main roads, along tracks, fields, forests and back-roads,by using a handheld GPS. We started at the end of September and ended in St Peter's in Rome at the end of November. There were almost no pilgrims along the way, but I think it is a little bit more known now. We loved it, but be prepared for cold and often wet weather at that time of year and for the fact that it is very different from the Camino Frances which gives it a completely different feel. There are no/few other pilgrims and the people in the villages don't know what you are doing, but are very excited about it when they ask and you explain. Fantastic scenery along the way, and any number of beautiful and interesting things to see. Not to mention how it feels to walk into St Peter's after walking such a long way. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[Bradypus]

There are no/few other pilgrims and the people in the villages don't know what you are doing, but are very excited about it when they ask and you explain.

That has certainly changed since 2010. The number of pilgrims has increased dramatically, new ostellos have opened and there is a great deal more awareness of the VF in the towns and villages along the way. Though walking the VF still bears very little resemblance to the Camino Frances. Walking in 2015 I found that almost without exception the non-Italian pilgrims I met had already walked at least one Spanish camino. Inevitably comparisons were made between the two experiences. A few people were disappointed at the comparative lack of pilgrim facilities and the additional cost involved. If the Camino Frances is your only experience of long-distance walking then it is likely you will have a distorted and unrealistic perception of how it works elsewhere! Most welcomed the relative quiet and solitude and were prepared for the occasional long day and the need to be more organised in planning food, water and accommodation.

 

[High Endeavours]

Thanks for the sources. I had already found the Facebook connection, and it is indeed active. I'm considering beginning this route in 2018. I think it would be an amazing journey to walk end to end in one season, but I'm wondering if I would be missing too much (rushing) given the 90 day window allowed in the EU once arriving in France. Perhaps better to walk to somewhere in northern Italy the first year and then complete to Rome the second year? I can imagine how special it must be to walk into Rome after a journey of this nature!

Clearly the Italian section is the best marked with more infrastructure available. I've never used gps on my walks, but from the minimal reading I've done so far this might make some sense. I'd have to figure out how to do that, but I'm sure once things are set up that it would be fairly straight forward, and I can always ask on this forum as usual. Best to all, and again, thanks for the sources!

 

[Bradypus]

@High Endeavours I walk quite long daily stages and I took 66 days from Canterbury to Rome. Most people seem to aim for anywhere between 80 and 100 days. Not a lot of time for unexpected delays or side-trips if you are stuck with a 90 day Schengen visa. As a Brit I am very lucky that visa restrictions do not apply to me (yet!)

I cannot comment on the early stages of the VF in France as I took a different, mostly parallel, route to Besancon. From Besancon onwards the signposting is very good. Once in Italy the maps and navigation app provided free on the viefrancigene.org website are enough to walk the route. If you are planning to bring a smartphone anyway then Google Maps and Open Street Map/Open Cycle Maps would be more than enough to help you navigate the larger towns along the way. No need for dedicated GPS packages.

 

[Magnara]

Thanks for the sources. I had already found the Facebook connection, and it is indeed active. I'm considering beginning this route in 2018. I think it would be an amazing journey to walk end to end in one season, but I'm wondering if I would be missing too much (rushing) given the 90 day window allowed in the EU once arriving in France. Perhaps better to walk to somewhere in northern Italy the first year and then complete to Rome the second year? I can imagine how special it must be to walk into Rome after a journey of this nature!

Clearly the Italian section is the best marked with more infrastructure available. I've never used gps on my walks, but from the minimal reading I've done so far this might make some sense. I'd have to figure out how to do that, but I'm sure once things are set up that it would be fairly straight forward, and I can always ask on this forum as usual. Best to all, and again, thanks for the sources!

We used a gps at that time because a frequent poster and very experienced pilgrim SillyDoll had walked it previously and ended up on a lot of main roads because they had found very little waymarking. We definitely wanted to stay off main roads as much as possible. It was fairly challenging at that time to navigate. If the waymarking has improved since then, the gps might not be needed now. Another point to make your walk more pleasant: every village has dogs that start barking as you near the village, fling themselves at the fences as you pass by, and continue barking until you are out of earshot. It was only after we had returned home and were reminiscing about "those *** annoying dogs" that it occurred to us that we could have carried a little supply of dry dog food. We could have flung a handful into the yard each time which might have distracted them for just long enough to neatly solve it.

 

[High Endeavours]

Thanks for this! The dogs are always interesting in every country where I've walked. So many ways to deal with them, and most of the dogs are usually just protecting their space and like to advertise their efforts. As I read your thought about a possible solution, I pictured myself with a big bag of dog food on my back Sorry...I've been traveling homewards all day on airplanes and now a ferry. Two hours more and I can finally crawl into bed! Thanks again!

 

[High Endeavours]

@High Endeavours I walk quite long daily stages and I took 66 days from Canterbury to Rome. Most people seem to aim for anywhere between 80 and 100 days. Not a lot of time for unexpected delays or side-trips if you are stuck with a 90 day Schengen visa. As a Brit I am very lucky that visa restrictions do not apply to me (yet!)

I cannot comment on the early stages of the VF in France as I took a different, mostly parallel, route to Besancon. From Besancon onwards the signposting is very good. Once in Italy the maps and navigation app provided free on the viefrancigene.org website are enough to walk the route. If you are planning to bring a smartphone anyway then Google Maps and Open Street Map/Open Cycle Maps would be more than enough to help you navigate the larger towns along the way. No need for dedicated GPS packages.

Thanks. All this is good information. Your daily average works comfortably into my own pace so that would give adequate time to stop and take visiting days off and shorten or lengthen stages when needed. I haven't looked too closely at the route yet, so wasn't clear about profiles etc., to roughly determine stages. As I get closer I can have a look at this. Enjoy your restriction free EU visitations...while you have them. I'm jealous! Interested about the other parallel route you walked.

 

[Bradypus]

Interested about the other parallel route you walked.

Mostly along canal towpaths with some diversions on minor roads. France has a large canal network. This link will take you to my daily stages through France:
https://www.viafrancigena.me/threads/bradypus-is-walking-in-france.36/

 

[jujubery]

Thanks to all that have written on this thread. We are excited for this trip and I am well aware that this one will be completely different from the CF. That makes it all the more exciting for us!
Jujubery