2016 VIA FRANCIGENA

Yeehaa!  6 more sleeps and Jenny and I fly to Geneva.  Our other two group leaders follow a couple of days later. Four groups walking to Rome, starting in the Swiss Alps on consecutive days.  We will hike from La Douay to Bourg St Pierre, then to the Gr San Bernard Pass, Etroubles and Aosta.
From Aosta a hired bus will take us on a 6 hour bus ride to San Gimignano in Tuscany.  We will walk to Rome from there.

A couple of days after arriving in Rome, I will lead another, smaller group, from Viterbo on a Slow Walk to Rome (10km per day with a back-up vehicle).

In June 2006 when I walked the Via Francigena we walked long distances (over 30km per day) because there were no guide books in English and all ...we had were a few blogs and maps that, although very pretty, were mostly misleading! 

The hike from Martigny to La Douay was on a scary ledge, clinging onto chains bolted onto the rock face. The climb from La Douay to the Gr San Bernard was gruelling - 28 km in 11 hours.
This time we will start at La Douay and will take two days to the Col - 2473 m. We will send our small bags ahead, carrying only a day pack. Longest day will be a 24.2 km near Rome (hopefully we'll all be fit by then!) 

For years I said, "I don't think I'll ever do the VF again" but I am really looking forward to this slower, more gentle way of walking to Rome. After all, I'm 10 years older, am osteopenic and losing eyesight and don't have anything to prove anymore! 

 [Three of the five who walked in 2006 are leading groups to Rome]

Can't always rely on long-range forecasts but the weather doesn't look too bad next week when we will start walking from La Douay to Aosta.

Gr San Bernard pass snow report is for light falls above 2756m (200m above the Hospice) and rain below.


 No snow is predicted for lower altitudes. It is a relief to see only light winds predicted.
First picture is for Bourg St Pierre when our four groups are there on 24, 25, 26, 27 June.