The Via Francigena

The Via Francigena

A 2000km bikepacking odyssey through history itself.

Description

The Via Francigena is a historic pilgrimage route that stretches from Canterbury in England to Rome in Italy, covering approximately 2,000 kilometers. Dating back to medieval times, it was originally used by pilgrims traveling to the holy sites of Rome and beyond to Jerusalem. The route passes through hugely diverse landscapes and numerous culturally significant regions, including the Champagne region of France, the Swiss Alps, and the ancient feifdoms of Tuscany. Along the way, you can explore historic towns, majestic cathedrals, and ancient Roman roads, making the Via Francigena a rich cultural and historical experience. For me it gave a unique blend of adventure, reflection and discovery.

Highlights

The charming town of Canterbury with its Roman origins and medieval centre, is dominated by the historic cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Cycling onto a ferry at Dover.
Baguettes, coffee and pastries across France. Where to start? Or more accurately when to stop!
Compare the hill towns of Laon and Langres. They feel like twins but are almost 300km apart. I loved Laon, which still feels more authentic than its touristy twin.
The ancient royal city of Reims where French royalty was crowned.
The food and drink of Champagne. Everything from Champagne tastings to Michelin-starred dinners.
The Jura mountains separating France and Switzerland.
Lake Geneva and Lausanne
Iconic crossing of the Alps at Grand Saint Bernard.
Amazing mid-century architecture of Ivrea and the history of Olivetti that was behind it.
The flatness of the Po plain where you take in the ancient university cities of Pavia and Piacenza
The Apennines
Taking in the resorts on the coastal strip of Tuscany between Carrara and Pisa
Explore the medieval hill towns and gravel tracks of Tuscany. You can even do this with children (though avoid high summer unlike our experience).
The Etruscan remains near Rome
Rome, the eternal city.

The Route

There are many many possible variations to take, especially in France. Perhaps the best place to start is the official route, though there’s no official cycle route in the UK or France.

I combined multiple sources and a fair degree of randomness in looking for a more off-road or at least quiet road route.

Stats

Distance 2278km, 39 days
Climb 27,853m, 12.2m/km (fair-moderate)
50% off-road

Difficulty and type of bike

It’s a long way but there’s so many options for splitting it up. I’d have been very apprehensive doing this all in one go, but now that I’ve done it I’d be very happy with building up slowly and taking a few rest days. I don’t think it is that hard (as the fair-moderate climb rating shows).

/* HOWEVER: if you follow my trail precisely there are some very difficult/stupid bits e.g. near Sembrancher on day 18 I took a wrong turn and ended up hanging on metal chains carrying the bike down a cliff face. /* END OF WARNING

A gravel bike is ideal for this. If you’re following the walking route like me then there will be some hike a bike making a lightweight bike a good move.

Since I kept the distances down, this would also be fine on a more “traditional” bikepacking / mountain bike, though full suspension would be overkill.

I would not do this on anything less than 40mm tyres as I did. There’s too many bits that will be annoying.

When to go

UK, France and Switzerland were great in summer. The Grand Saint Bernard pass only opens from late June (varies depending on snow) to when the snow returns (“September perhaps”). Italy is too hot in summer so best to do that in September and October. If you’re doing it all in one: leave Canterbury in mid to late August, hit the pass around the beginning of September and arrive in Rome later in that month.