Via Domitia

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Piacenza in the Po Valley / Arles on the Rhône
• Length: 778.7 km; the first 146.7 km to Vercelli on the same route as the Via Francigena, the last 12.4 km from Fontvieille shared with the Via Aurelia
• Duration: 37 stages, avg. 21 km; five to six weeks with rest days
• Elevation: ↗ 13,405 m / ↘ 13,448 m
• Highest point: 1,853 m at km 343.1 on the Col de Montgenèvre, the border between Italy and France
• Landscape: Po floodplains and rice fields, the suburbs of Turin, the narrow Susa Valley, the high Alps, the Durance and Serre-Ponçon, the lavender and hill country of Haute-Provence, the Luberon, the Alpilles
• Operator / Waymarking: in France the GR 653D of the Fédération Française de Randonnée, red and white, supported by the Association des Amis des Chemins de Compostelle et de Rome PACA-Corse; in Italy Francigena signs as far as Vercelli, Francigena signposts in the Susa Valley, patchy in between
• Traces of St. James: few and late – the St. James chapel above Cavaillon, the pilgrim capital in the cloister of Saint-Trophime in Arles; instead, Francigena hospices in Mortara and at the Sacra
• Accommodation: in Italy pilgrim lodgings, monasteries, B&Bs; in France gîtes d'étape, monasteries such as Ganagobie and Notre-Dame du Laus, host families of the Chaîne d'Accueil
• Connecting routes: in Piacenza the Via Francigena (Italy) and the Via Postumia; from Fontvieille the Via Aurelia; in Arles the Via Tolosana
• Best time: June and September; the pass is reliably free of snow from June to October, while the Po Valley and Provence are hot in July and August

Overview

The Via Domitia is the route for anyone who wants to set out from Italy and walk to Santiago. It begins in Piacenza, founded by the Romans in 218 BC as the colony of Placentia, and ends in Arles, where the Via Tolosana sets off via Toulouse toward the Pyrenees. In between lie the Po Valley, the Alps and Provence. The line to read aloud: you walk the Via Francigena backward first, then cross a pass that a pilgrim already crossed in the year 333, and arrive in a city where Emperor Barbarossa was crowned in 1178.

The name, to be honest, is borrowed. The Roman Via Domitia, laid out from 118 BC by the proconsul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, began at Montgenèvre and ran via Briançon, Embrun, Gap, Sisteron, Apt and Cavaillon to the Rhône – Arles was not on it; it crossed the river at Beaucaire. The Italian section is a medieval Francigena route, the French one a hiking trail from 2007 that, in the words of the people who maintain it, follows the Roman road "très librement" (very loosely).

Other Names

In French the route is called the Voie Domitienne, officially GR 653D – Chemin de Saint-Jacques – Voie Domitienne; the D stands for Domitia, just as the A in GR 653A stands for the Via Aurelia. In Italy you'll read Via Domizia, and for the stretch through the Susa Valley also Via Francigena della Val di Susa. Camino Ninja extends the route all the way to Piacenza, because that is where the Via Francigena and the Via Postumia arrive. The Romans called the pass Mons Matrona.

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

Ideal if you have pilgrimage experience, enjoy walking alone and want a route that shows you something different every day: rice fields, an abbey on a rock, Vauban fortresses, a reservoir, lavender and, at the end, Roman cities.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you expect hostel life like on the Camino Francés: you'll rarely meet other pilgrims, and many beds need a phone call the day before. Not for you if you hate asphalt – the Po Valley and the suburbs of Turin are long straight stretches, and in the Susa Valley you share the valley with the highway, the railroad and the construction site of the Turin–Lyon base tunnel near Chiomonte. And not for you before June or after October: above Susa there will be snow, at Montgenèvre at over 1,800 meters.

Route & Landscape

Piacenza to Turin (km 0–234.1): From Piacenza you head via Calendasco to the Po; between Soprarivo (km 14.8) and Corte Sant'Andrea (km 19.0) you cross by boat, just like the Francigena pilgrims coming the other way. Via Orio Litta, Santa Cristina e Bissone and Belgioioso you reach Pavia (km 66.7), whose old town lies 0.7 kilometers off the route. Through the Lomellina with Garlasco, Mortara (km 112.6) and Robbio you come to Vercelli (km 146.7), where you leave the Francigena. Through rice fields via Saluggia and Chivasso (km 204.5) and along the Po via Gassino Torinese you reach Turin (km 234.1).

Turin to Briançon (km 234.1–352.5): Through Collegno, whose center stays just off the route, and Rivoli you leave the city; at the lakes of Avigliana (km 259.0) the Susa Valley begins. From Sant'Ambrogio the trail climbs to around 840 meters on Monte Pirchiriano below the Sacra di San Michele and drops to Chiusa di San Michele. Via Sant'Antonino and Bussoleno you reach Susa (km 293.3), and then it turns alpine: Chiomonte, Exilles with its fortress, Oulx (km 323.0), Cesana Torinese and Claviere, until at km 343.1 you stand at 1,853 meters on the Col de Montgenèvre. Nine kilometers farther lies Briançon (km 352.5).

Briançon to Arles (km 352.5–778.7): The GR 653D follows the Durance via L'Argentière-la-Bessée and the fortress of Mont-Dauphin (km 397.7) to Embrun (km 427.8), via the Abbey of Boscodon to the Lac de Serre-Ponçon at Savines-le-Lac, and via Chorges and Notre-Dame du Laus to Gap (km 489.3). Beyond Tallard it climbs into the quiet hills via La Motte-du-Caire and Saint-Geniez (1,106 m) and drops to Sisteron (km 566.1). Through lavender and olive country it continues via Ganagobie and Forcalquier (km 625.6) into the Luberon to Apt (km 678.0), via Cavaillon (km 715.2) along the Alpilles to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (km 743.7), and via Fontvieille to Arles.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We show the route in 37 stages. The distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 778.7 km; stage towns are places with accommodation.

1. Piacenza → Orio Litta (22.3 km) — across the Po by boat
2. Orio Litta → Santa Cristina e Bissone (16.3 km) — via Miradolo Terme
3. Santa Cristina e Bissone → Pavia (28.1 km) — long and flat, via Belgioioso
4. Pavia → Garlasco (25.1 km) — over the Ticino into the Lomellina
5. Garlasco → Mortara (20.8 km) — via Tromello
6. Mortara → Robbio (14.6 km) — short, past Sant'Albino
7. Robbio → Vercelli (19.5 km) — via Palestro and the Sesia
8. Vercelli → Ronsecco (16.0 km) — farewell to the Francigena
9. Ronsecco → Saluggia (27.6 km) — rice fields, little shade
10. Saluggia → Gassino Torinese (25.9 km) — via Chivasso
11. Gassino Torinese → Turin (17.9 km) — along the Po into the city
12. Turin → Avigliana (24.9 km) — through Collegno and Rivoli
13. Avigliana → Sant'Antonino di Susa (14.2 km) — short, but with around 500 meters of climbing to the Sacra
14. Sant'Antonino di Susa → Susa (20.1 km) — via Bussoleno
15. Susa → Exilles (15.2 km) — steep, via Chiomonte
16. Exilles → Cesana Torinese (27.5 km) — long, via Oulx up to 1,352 m
17. Cesana Torinese → Briançon (16.5 km) — over Montgenèvre, 1,853 m
18. Briançon → L'Argentière-la-Bessée (24.2 km) — along the Durance, with a counter-climb
19. L'Argentière-la-Bessée → Mont-Dauphin (21.0 km) — balcony paths above the valley
20. Mont-Dauphin → Embrun (30.1 km) — long, can be split at Châteauroux-les-Alpes
21. Embrun → Savines-le-Lac (21.1 km) — via the Abbey of Boscodon
22. Savines-le-Lac → Chorges (15.6 km) — over the ridge at 1,263 m
23. Chorges → Gap (24.8 km) — via Notre-Dame du Laus
24. Gap → Tallard (17.0 km) — back down into the Durance valley
25. Tallard → La Motte-du-Caire (24.6 km) — over the heights of Les Marmets
26. La Motte-du-Caire → Saint-Geniez (19.5 km) — remote, steeply uphill
27. Saint-Geniez → Sisteron (15.7 km) — down to the citadel
28. Sisteron → Châteauneuf-Val-Saint-Donat (20.4 km) — hills above the Durance
29. Châteauneuf-Val-Saint-Donat → Ganagobie (15.1 km) — via Peyruis up to the monastery
30. Ganagobie → Forcalquier (24.0 km) — via Lurs
31. Forcalquier → Reillanne (21.7 km) — via Mane and Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire
32. Reillanne → Apt (30.7 km) — long, can be split at Céreste
33. Apt → Coustellet (25.1 km) — at the foot of the Luberon
34. Coustellet → Orgon (17.9 km) — via Cavaillon and the Durance
35. Orgon → Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (22.7 km) — via Eygalières along the Alpilles
36. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence → Fontvieille (22.6 km) — past Glanum
37. Fontvieille → Arles (12.4 km) — to the finish together with the Via Aurelia

The first eleven stages are flat but tough going: asphalt, farm tracks between rice fields, and in summer humidity and mosquitoes. Then comes the mountain. Between Avigliana and Briançon lie the stages with the most climbing, and in Haute-Provence it goes up and down constantly once more – Saint-Geniez at 1,106 meters is the last real climb. Plan rest days in Turin, Briançon and Sisteron.

The First Pilgrim on This Road Was Headed for Jerusalem

The oldest Christian pilgrimage account we know of begins in Bordeaux. An anonymous pilgrim traveled to Jerusalem in 333 and had every station and every change of horses recorded: "ambulavimus Dalmatico et Zenophilo cons." – we traveled under the consuls Dalmatius and Zenophilus. His Itinerarium Burdigalense leads via Arles, Gap and Briançon up to the Mons Matrona, Montgenèvre, and down to Susa, Turin and Pavia. The line to read aloud: the first pilgrim to write down this road walked it in the opposite direction from you – and not to Santiago at all, because the apostle's tomb had not yet been discovered.

After him the corridor became the road of emperors, kings and Rome pilgrims. Near Mortara, Charlemagne defeated the Lombards in 773 at the Battle of Pulchra Silva, and the Abbey of Sant'Albino became a burial church and pilgrim hospice. On Monte Pirchiriano the Sacra di San Michele was built between 983 and 987, and since 1994 it has been the symbol of Piedmont. And at the pass Napoleon had a road built, commemorated since 1804 by an obelisk.

The French St. James associations have breathed new life into the old corridor: the Association des Amis des Chemins de Compostelle et de Rome PACA-Corse was founded in 1998, and in 2007 the Fédération Française de Randonnée officially approved the GR 653D. Its own verdict on the Roman road is remarkably modest: "Le tracé retenu suit très librement les axes de l'ancienne voie romaine" – the chosen route follows the axes of the old Roman road very loosely. In practice, that means you'll mostly look in vain for Roman paving, but you'll find Roman places almost every day.

Highlights Along the Way

• Piacenza (km 0) — cathedral from 1122 to 1235, Palazzo Gotico from 1281, the Farnese equestrian statues on Piazza Cavalli; in 1095 the council that prepared the First Crusade met here.
• Sant'Albino near Mortara (km 112.6) — abbey with a pilgrim hospice and frescoes from 1410; the bones of the paladins Amico and Amelio, found in 1928, were radiocarbon-dated to around the year 1000.
• Vercelli and Turin (km 146.7 and 234.1) — the Basilica of Sant'Andrea and the Vercelli Book; the Savoy residence with the Shroud in the cathedral.
• Sacra di San Michele (km 265.5) — abbey on Monte Pirchiriano with the Scalone dei Morti and the Porta dello Zodiaco; a model for Eco's "The Name of the Rose."
• Susa (km 293.3) — Arch of Augustus from 9/8 BC, donated by King Cottius; the inscription names 14 Alpine peoples, among them the Caturiges, after whom Chorges is named.
• Col de Montgenèvre (km 343.1) — 1,853 m, source of the Durance, Napoleon's obelisk; entirely on French territory since 1947.
• Briançon and Mont-Dauphin (km 352.5 and 397.7) — Vauban fortresses, Mont-Dauphin founded on a plateau in 1692, both UNESCO World Heritage since 2008; Briançon is considered the highest town in France.
• Embrun (km 427.8) — Cathedral of Notre-Dame du Réal from 1170 to 1225; Louis XI wore a lead pilgrim badge of Our Lady of Embrun on his hat and, according to tradition, called on her to the very end: "Notre-Dame d'Embrun, ma bonne maîtresse, ayez pitié de moi." (Our Lady of Embrun, my good mistress, have mercy on me.)
• Abbey of Boscodon (km 440.4) — founded in 1142 by the Order of Chalais, under restoration since 1972.
• Lac de Serre-Ponçon (km 448.9) — reservoir built from 1955 to 1961; the old village of Savines vanished beneath the water.
• Notre-Dame du Laus (km 478.7) — Marian shrine where Benoîte Rencurel had apparitions from 1664 to 1718; recognized by the Church in 2008.
• Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire (km 636.3) — the Haute-Provence Observatory from 1937; here Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz found the first planet orbiting a Sun-like star in 1995, and in 2019 came the Nobel Prize.
• Apt and Pont Julien (km 678.0) — Cathedral of Sainte-Anne; eight kilometers to the west, the Roman bridge from 3 BC.
• Glanum near Saint-Rémy (km 743.7) — Roman town destroyed by the Alamanni in 260, with the mausoleum and arch in front of it, the "Antiques"; next door Van Gogh painted in 1889 and 1890.
• Arles (km 778.7) — amphitheater, Alyscamps, Saint-Trophime with its portal and cloister; UNESCO World Heritage since 1981.

Montgenèvre Beats the Somport

Anyone walking from Italy to Santiago has two mountain ranges ahead: the Alps on this route, the Pyrenees on the Via Tolosana. The numbers from our map are clear: at 1,853 meters, the Col de Montgenèvre is 221 meters higher than the Col du Somport at 1,632. So the tougher pass comes first, after eleven flat stages.

In practice, that means the three stages from Susa to Briançon set your schedule. Start so that you're at the top between mid-June and early October; in May or late October there can be snow on the pass, even when it's already 25 degrees in Piacenza. To be honest, the pass itself is no high-mountain experience – there are ski lifts and hotels at the top – and the most beautiful mountain kilometers lie around Exilles and on the way down to Briançon.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Most come from Italy. If you're on the Via Francigena (Italy) coming from the Great St Bernard, you meet the Via Domitia as early as Vercelli and head west from there; if you want to walk the whole route from Piacenza, you arrive via the Via Postumia from Trieste and Verona. You can join directly in Piacenza, Vercelli or Turin, all with train stations; from Turin it's another 544.6 kilometers to Arles.

Many walk only the French section from Briançon, which has a train station. From the Ligurian coast, the Via Aurelia leads to Arles; it joins this route at Fontvieille.

Continue the pilgrimage?

Yes – all the way to Santiago. In Arles the Via Tolosana, the GR 653, begins and leads 786.4 kilometers via Montpellier and Toulouse up to the Col du Somport. There the Camino Aragonés takes over as far as Puente la Reina, where the Camino Francés carries you through the final weeks to Santiago.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. As on all French Ways of St. James, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to stay in pilgrim accommodation and – if you continue to Santiago – to receive the Compostela at the end. It's best to order it online in advance so it reaches you in time for the start of your trip; the Association PACA-Corse issues it. The easiest way to plan the route is directly in the Camino Ninja App, where you put together your stages and plan suitable accommodation right along with them; you have the map and track with you offline.

Waymarking and accommodation. In France the red-and-white GR stripes guide you in both directions; in Italy the Francigena signs are often hard to see when walking against their direction, and there are gaps between Vercelli and Turin. In Italy you sleep in parishes, monasteries, ostelli and B&Bs; in France in gîtes d'étape, chambres d'hôtes, at the Ganagobie monastery or with host families of the Chaîne d'Accueil. Between Tallard and Sisteron and in the Luberon the options are thin: call the day before. Book the Po ferry in advance.

Season. Start in Piacenza in mid-May and you'll be at the pass in mid-June. The Association recommends April to October for the French section; above 1,000 meters there can still be snow in April, and fall is hunting season.

What the journey will cost you

The credencial from the Association PACA-Corse costs 5 € if you pick it up and 8 € by mail (as of October 2026). In Italy pilgrim lodgings cost 15 to 25 € or a donation, B&Bs 50 to 90 € for a double room. In France you pay around 18 to 25 € a night in gîtes d'étape and 45 to 55 € with half board; the Chaîne d'Accueil works on a donation basis (as of October 2026).

Budget 45 to 65 € a day with simple accommodation and meals, rather more in Provence in summer (as of October 2026). Honestly, the Alpine stages are more expensive, because there are hardly any pilgrim lodgings there.

Getting Here

To the start. Piacenza is on the Milan–Bologna railroad line; regional trains take around 45 minutes from Milan. You can reach Milan by EuroCity or by plane. You get to Briançon by bus via Oulx or via Grenoble.

From the finish. Arles has a train station with connections to Avignon, Marseille, Nîmes and Montpellier, where you change to the TGV to Paris, Lyon or Barcelona. The nearest airports are Marseille-Provence and Montpellier.

• Rail Italy: trenitalia.com — connections to Piacenza, Turin and Oulx
• Rail France: sncf-connect.com — Briançon and Arles
• Route and credencial: compostelle-paca-corse.info — Association PACA-Corse with map and accommodation