App recommendations for the VF

[jruberto]

Hi,

We will be walking from Lucca to Rome next month and interested in App recommendations. So far, I have:
* The official Via Francigena app
* Sloways app
(These seem good to have a downloaded map, and use GPS offline to help keep us on the path)

* Booking.com
* WhatApp
(booking & communicating with accomodations)

* AllTrails
(Track each day and get statistics for showing off

Any other suggestions?

 

[Corned Beef]

Trenitalia in case you need to go back or forward a stage.

 

[roving_rufus]

A map app like organic maps, maps.me mapy.cz etc that allows you to download maps. (I had numerous problems with official vf app- and found having another map useful).

 

[Macca53]

Hi,

We will be walking from Lucca to Rome next month and interested in App recommendations. So far, I have:
* The official Via Francigena app
* Sloways app
(These seem good to have a downloaded map, and use GPS offline to help keep us on the path)

* Booking.com
* WhatApp
(booking & communicating with accomodations)

* AllTrails
(Track each day and get statistics for showing off

Any other suggestions?

My wife and I walked from Lucca to Rome in October last year. We used the official Via Francigena and found it to be very useful. Even straying off the path by about 100m was quite obvious. I especially found it useful in some of the larger towns as the waymarks were difficult to find in some of the places.

We also used Booking.com for accommodation.

Regards

Ian

 

[andycohn]

Hi,

We will be walking from Lucca to Rome next month and interested in App recommendations. So far, I have:
* The official Via Francigena app
* Sloways app
(These seem good to have a downloaded map, and use GPS offline to help keep us on the path)

* Booking.com
* WhatApp
(booking & communicating with accomodations)

* AllTrails
(Track each day and get statistics for showing off

Any other suggestions?

Gronze.com (the Bible in Spain) now covers the Via Francigena in Italy, which remedies a whole bunch of problems previous walkers had in pinpointing accommodations. None of the other apps, including the official one, are very comprehensive. Nor do they generally list prices, services provided, or even how far they are from the Via.

Gronze, however, is a game-changer. Not only is it comprehensive, but it gives you needed details about the places to stay -- prices, contact information, links to make reservations or to booking.com,
where the lodgings are in relation to the Via, and even reviews from other pilgrims.

I highly recommend it. I only wish it had been available when we walked it last year. Bookmark it on your phone, and open it in Google Chrome for English translation.

I also recommend mapy.cz for navigation. You don't need to download anything other than the app. itself because the VF (and every other hiking trail in the universe) is already there. It's free, and while the track on the official app. is fine, mapy.cz will show a lot more information about the surrounding countryside, and will also enable you to see possible short-cuts or detours.