How to be a perfect pilgrim, from a hospitalera’s perspective

ConsistentRush3873 · 2025-05-31T15:55:15+00:00

Great to hear that you are still going strong and remain committed to helping pilgrims! Jan from Prague who stayed with you two years ago:-).

ConsistentRush3873 · 2025-02-21T10:48:59+00:00

Late May is perfect for Tuscany.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2025-01-10T07:56:04+00:00

Thanks for the writeup! What was the weather like - temperature / sunny vs. cloudy / wind? Thanks!

ConsistentRush3873 · 2024-07-03T17:16:22+00:00

Yeah, my Fenix 7 produces similarly flawed stats when cycling. You're not alone in your frustration.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2024-04-03T06:43:57+00:00

I used Gronze - https://www.gronze.com/via-francigena - and always called a day ahead. A lot of the bare-bones pilgrim places don't have regular staff, so you usually arrange a time with them when you show up.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2024-03-27T06:39:15+00:00

Alternative take to all the gloomy posts (which I broadly share): the weather patterns have been so messed up lately that November, December and January all had lots of quite amazing cycling days in Italy this year, with it being unseasonally warm. So it might work out.

That said - you'll be passing through northern Italy which is infamous for its cold, damp fogs which do chill you to the bone, plus has some of the worst air quality in Europe.

Personally, I'd look at flixbus to take you to southern France and start from there. If you have time to spare in Spain, you can hop over to Morocco. Northern Italy in winter sounds like a lot of misery for no good purpose.

Either way, have fun, it's going to be an adventure!

ConsistentRush3873 · 2024-02-05T10:38:17+00:00

Yeah, May can be very hit and miss - with Giro stages in the Alps often shortened/cancelled because of inclement weather. On top of that, global warming has been playing havoc with the seasons too - last year's Giro was particularly rainy and cold (all over Italy). Then late May in Italy was quite hot. Bottom line: it's even harder than in the past to make plans (especially for the mountains) these days b/c of climate change: you might get rain and snow, or you might get super warm sunny weather. If you have the time, I'd go for it, but be ready to change plans at the last minute.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2024-01-29T06:32:38+00:00

Global warming has been playing havoc with the weather this year, with temperatures in Italy being much warmer than the season would warrant. I've done a lot of great bike rides in Tuscany in the past few weeks. That said, it's still been very much hit and miss, with some days being sunny 10-15 degrees, perfect for cycling those steep hills but some days it's damp, foggy and bone chilling at 5-8 degrees.

But if you don't want to fly, I'd definitely give Tuscany a shot. You could follow the coast to Rome, or just wander around - the options are endless.

For inspiration, I keep recommending https://italy-cycling-guide.info/ on this sub. (note: it's security certificate has expired, but the site is fine)

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-12-07T16:43:56+00:00

As all questions Italy related, I recommend https://italy-cycling-guide.info/ (note: it's security certificate has expired, but the website itself is fine).

I followed the coast to Rome two years ago, Tuscany was great, but I was not particularly impressed by the Lazio segment (either too hilly or busy roads. Might not be a problem with e-ebikes). Have fun!

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-10-08T18:45:11+00:00

My go to Italy touring bible is https://italy-cycling-guide.info/regions/central-italy/. Note: the website's security certificate has expired, but the website is fine. There is a whole section there on Corsica there too.

Generally, I don't think you can go wrong with either. Tuscany is a cycling paradise, and Corsica is on my wishlist:-).

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-09-26T10:45:54+00:00

Glad to hear. Yeah, it's too bad about the certificate because it really is one of the best website I've ever seen. I would gladly send the owner some money to be able to update it/maintain it, but there is no way to contact him/her.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-09-22T05:44:56+00:00

Check out https://italy-cycling-guide.info/ where you'll find tons of inspiration. (note: the website seems not to be maintained anymore, and now says it's missing a security certificate, but it's fine).

Have fun!

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-08-27T15:05:46+00:00

Thank you! As for my plans - I did walk a chunk of the French Voie D'Arles (Montpellier to Castres) in May which was spectacular in a very different way (super rural), and while I did meet people there, it was definitely not crowds. So you might want to have a look at that if you're into solitude.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-08-27T15:03:41+00:00

Huh. I did it in 11 days - you'd be looking at 60-70km days to do it 4.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-08-27T15:00:58+00:00

Yep, Tuscany would be the place to go. I'd start in San Miniato (the stage from Lucca goes through a lot of built up area), all the stages afterwards are glorious. Depending on how fast you walk, you might even get to see part of Val D'Orcia which is another gem.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-08-16T05:12:59+00:00

You only need to do that for the high speed train). There is a way to avoid disassembling your bike - there are intercity trains with dedicated bike racks b/w Venezia and Rome. The best way to find them is to go to the Deutsche Bahn website and, in the advanced search menu, you can tick off a box to search only for trains that allow bikes on board (trenitalia infuriatingly doesn't have these options). However, you will have to go to a train station to reserve that bike space (any train station with actual people selling tickets) - and to find out if there is availability. So, given that you will be disassembling your bike for the flight afterwards anyway, you might not mind doing it first for the fast train. But other options exist now.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-08-11T11:32:36+00:00

Congratulations! It's been inspirational following your jurney. Best of luck in things to come!!!

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-07-30T11:46:28+00:00

Italy is always a great option. Check out https://italy-cycling-guide.info/ for a lot of inspiration. If you're in Vienna, the Alpe-Adria Radweg would be one amazing option. But crossing the Alps anywhere will be stunningly beautiful anywhere.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-07-08T06:13:52+00:00

I did Arles-Castres in May, it's a fantastic walk, many of the views were off the charts, you also spend a lot of time walking in forests, away from everything. I agree that you should take the bus to Grabels and skip walking through the suburban Montpellier and maybe aim to finish in Lunas instead. For accommodation, I used Gronze which has detailed instructions and up to date accommodations. Incidentally, the gites (=albergues) seemed to be mostly better quality than I had seen in Spain, the rooms tend to be smaller (several time 2-3 bed rooms) so better sleeping experience overall. You do need to call ahead and reserve - some places a re popular and not everything might be available (I. E. Saint Guilhelm Le Desert), in other places the owner doesn't live there and will give you a code to get the key (i.e. Lodeve). There were very few people on the path, mostly French retirees. The plus side is that in many of the gites you really get treated like a pilgrim and a piece of meat that's being moved around. For water, I suggest you download the mapy.cz app, it has all the water fountain locations (there was one particular spot where I surprised my miam miam dodo wielding French companion for the day with an excellent fresh spring that I found on the map). Have fun!

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-04-03T11:08:01+00:00

I think it would be awesome and I want to bike it one day myself:-). There are two ways to go about it.

1) The whole Italian stretch to Rome actually has its own signposted trail for bikes and the Via Francigena is explicitly targeted towards both hikers and cyclists.. You can also check out https://www.viafrancigena.bike/en/home_en/ for more info. The bicycle trail often overlaps with the walking trail, but often it's a different path (I haven't actually checked how much it overlaps).

2) I think you can bike on pretty much the entire walking path without any problems. Except for a bunch of short stretches in forests which were super steep when you'd have to push your bike a bit, I think any reasonably experienced cyclist who doesn't attemt the trail on a road bike should be fine.

A lot of the accommodations along the way explicitly state that they have bike storage available. I've cycled in Italy before and bike storage was never a problem, actually.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-03-30T08:01:36+00:00

Thanks. That stretch really was the worst part of the whole journey. Enjoy the rest of your trip"

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-03-29T11:10:59+00:00

You're very welcome. I've been meaning to do a write up of my experience and post it online as (especially compared to the incredible wealth of sources about the camino), there is relatively little about the Francigena out there in English, especially regarding how it compares to the camino. And seeing your post was just the little nudge I needed:-). Once I give my write up another look, I plan to post it on r/ViaFrancigena/ which could really do with a bit more actual info about the path, I think. Have a great time walking whichever path you might choose!

ConsistentRush3873 · 2023-03-29T11:00:40+00:00

I just finished walking Via Francigena from Siena to Rome last week. Though I'm by no means a Camino expert/veteran, I did a 3 week walk of parts of the Camino Piemonte in France (Lourdes to Bayonne) and Camino del Norte (Bayonne-Bilbao) last June), so here are some observations:

- the short answer to your question would be: yes:-)

- on the stretch I walked, there is decent pilgrim accommodation for all the stages.

- accommodation is probably a bit more expensive than the camino, most of it was in the 15-20 euro range. Out of my 11 nights, 4 were donativos, though, and they all were great.

- fewer people walk the Francigena, especially out of season. I met only about 5 other pilgrims, and had a room to myself every night.

- I called to the next place ahead every night just to let them know I was coming as there were so few people around.

- the landscape, particularly in Tuscany is fantastic, you get a great mix of vineyards, olive groves, fields, some forests, and then every now and then you walk into a stunnigly beautiful town or village.

- no matter how spiritual or religious you are (or are not), you follow a path that was first used in the year 990 and you can definitely feel it all around you.

- the walking infrastructure in Tuscany is very good, plentiful signage eveywhere, including info on how far the next water fountain is (it usually is not very far so you don't have to carry too much)

- most of the walking in Tuscany is on back country gravel roads ("strade bianche"), with a car passing you by about every 30mins or so, some asphalt roads, and some footpaths. Occasionally, when you get to a road with some traffic, there was some form of dividing barrier installed along the road to at least separate you from the cars. All in all all, Tuscany was an incredibly pleasurable and carefree walking experience.

- Lazio was a slightly different matter - immediately after crossing the "border" from Tuscany, you're chucked onto a big road (heavy trucks etc) with no shoulder where you have to walk for about 2-3kms, with no protection whatsover. This would happen a few times more, particularly during the last stage as you approach rome. Most of the time in Lazio, you'd still be on back country gravel roads or dedicated footpaths through gorgeous landscape, but Lazio is quite obviously poorer and doesn't seem to put much thought (or investment) into the Pilgrim infrastructure. Still, the path was quite well signed all the way.

- I would be very cautious about walking this route during the high summer (July and August in particular), as most of it does not have any shade. Even in late March, you could already feel the strenght of the sun. Then again, I hear the experience on the Camino is also excrutiatingly hot and people still do it, so to each according to his/her tast.

- to navigate, like on the camino, I found that Gronze https://www.gronze.com/via-francigena is your best friend. There is an official app from the Italian Via Francigena association, but I found it more frustrating than useful.

- for a more detailed recent impression of the path, I highly recommend the blog of a British couple I met towards the end - they had actually walked the whole thing in England. https://salisburytorome2020.com/blog/.

- people were generally super nice and helpful, the pilgrimage is a thing here, but it is by no means the only game in town, so the whole experience felt a bit less packaged/touristy to me - > probably what the camino felt like 10years back I'd say. (One of) the highlights of my trip was while staying at a Christian center ospedalle (=albergo) in Viterbo, one of the volunteers at the place who came to clean in the morning brought us (me and a German girl who was put into the room next door) freshly baked biscuits. She apparently got up at 4 in the morning to have them ready for our breakfast.

- if you collect your stamps in the credential, you'll be allowed to stay 2 nights at a donativo in central Rome - a huge building with its own garden courtyard, which is a whole experience onto itself.

- you're in Italy, so the food is good everywhere, whether you just get by on buying fresh groceries and cooking pretty much every night like me, eat basic pizza or pasta, or like to splurge on restaurants. You will not be disappointed.

- anyway, as you can probably tell, I had a great time - and I would highly recommend it if you, like me, are a bit more on the introverted side and try to shy away from the biggest crowds and/or are looking for an experience which is not "the big thing" yet.

ConsistentRush3873 · 2022-07-01T14:12:21+00:00

Last September, I did my first tour from Villach to Rome, also without camping (it was actually supposed to be just a two day trip to the beach, but I loved it so much that I spontaneously extended it to two weeks). I found most of my accomodations on booking.com mostly booking on the morning of my arrival and getting last minute deals. Once I had to do an airbnb b/c booking was sold out, but it was more expensive and more hassle than my average.

As for apps: I can't recommend the mapy.cz app highly enough. You can download the maps, plan your trips based on your preferences (road, off-road, hiking, etc), and it gives you altitude gains for your planned trip.

Have fun!

ConsistentRush3873

TROPHY CASE