Via Francigena (Italy)

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Colle del Gran San Bernardo on the Swiss border / St. Peter's Square in Rome
• Length: 1,019.9 km
• Duration: 45 stages, averaging just under 23 km; seven to eight weeks with rest days
• Elevation: ↗ 30,478 m / ↘ 32,908 m
• Highest point: 2,467 m at km 0.1 on the Colle del Gran San Bernardo; the Apennines are crossed at the Passo della Cisa at 1,045 m (km 453.6)
• Landscape: high mountains and castles in the Aosta Valley, rice fields, Po floodplains, the Apennines, the coast, Tuscan hills, volcanic lakes in Lazio
• Operator / Waymarking: Associazione Europea delle Vie Francigene (AEVF) together with the regions; white-and-red signs with the little pilgrim figure, plus wooden posts and stickers
• Traces of the Francigena: Sigeric's stations of 990, the hospice on the Great St. Bernard, the Po ferry, pilgrim hospitals in Altopascio and Siena
• Accommodation: pilgrim lodgings in parishes, monasteries and municipal hostels, often by donation, plus ostelli, B&Bs and agriturismi
• Connecting routes: at the pass the Via Francigena (Switzerland); Vercelli–Piacenza shared with the Via Domitia; in Piacenza the Via Postumia, in Lucca the Cammino Toscana; from Montefiascone shared with the Via Romea Germanica Italy; in Rome the Via Francigena del Sud
• Best time / Certificate: mid-June to the end of September for the pass, otherwise start in Aosta; ideally April to June and September to October; in Rome the Testimonium for at least 100 km on foot or 200 km by bike

Overview

In the year 990, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sigeric, traveled to Rome to receive the pallium from the hands of Pope John XV. On the way home he had someone note down where he spent each night: station by station, from Rome to the English Channel. This short text in the British Library, shelfmark Cotton Tiberius B.V, is the reason the Via Francigena runs today exactly where it does. The Associazione Europea delle Vie Francigene redrew the route along Sigeric's stations; the Council of Europe declared it a Cultural Route in 1994 and a Major Cultural Route in 2004.

The Italian section is the longest and most varied stretch between Canterbury and Rome. It starts at 2,467 meters, drops 1,700 meters to Aosta in two days and then turns flat as a table: rice fields all the way to the Po. After that come the Apennines, the sea, Tuscany and the volcanic lakes of Lazio. The line worth reading aloud: you are walking a route whose stages an archbishop wrote down backwards more than a thousand years ago – for him, Rome is station number one.

Honestly, the Via Francigena is no Camino Francés. There is no chain of hostels, no pilgrim menu on every corner, and in the Po plain as well as in Lazio you walk alongside roads for long stretches. In return, more documented history lines this path than almost anywhere else, and until Lucca you meet few fellow pilgrims.

Other Names

Via Francigena means "the road coming from the land of the Franks"; the name first appears in 876 in a charter from the abbey of San Salvatore on Monte Amiata, issued in Chiusi. In the Middle Ages the same route was also called Via Francisca or Via Romea, the road of the Rome pilgrims. The section over the Apennines was the Strada di Monte Bardone, after the Latin Mons Bardonis for the Cisa Pass. In German you will read Frankenweg, in English Via Francigena or Sigeric's Route; the AEVF calls the whole route from Canterbury to Rome the Via Francigena and this part the Via Francigena in Italia.

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

Ideal if you have time and want to see art history not in a museum but along the way: Roman city gates in Aosta, Lombard churches in Pavia, Romanesque cathedrals in Fidenza and Lucca, Siena and, at the end, Rome. And ideal for section walkers who cover the route in yearly installments.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you expect a bed every evening without making a phone call: many pilgrim lodgings want to hear from you the day before, and in small villages there is exactly one. Not for you if you don't cope well with asphalt and heat – the Po plain is muggy in July, the Val d'Orcia shadeless. And not for you if you are hoping for a Compostela: the Via Francigena is a road to Rome, not to Santiago; at the finish you receive the Testimonium of St. Peter's Basilica.

Route & Landscape

Great St. Bernard to Pavia (km 0–257.5): From the Colle del Gran San Bernardo the route descends steeply via Saint-Rhémy to Aosta (km 26.2), then through the Aosta Valley past the castles of Verrès and Bard to Pont-Saint-Martin (km 90.6). Beyond Ivrea (km 113.6) come the moraine hills of the Serra and the Lago di Viverone, then the plain: rice fields around Santhià and Vercelli (km 178.9), the Lomellina with Mortara and Garlasco, and the Ticino before Pavia (km 257.5); the old town lies 0.7 kilometers off the route.

Pavia to Siena (km 257.5–738.9): Via Santa Cristina and Orio Litta you reach the Po at Corte Sant'Andrea (km 305.6), cross by boat to Soprarivo and walk via Calendasco to Piacenza (km 325.1). Via Fiorenzuola to Fidenza (km 380.0), then up the Taro valley via Berceto to the Passo della Cisa (1,045 m, km 453.6). On the far side lies the Lunigiana with Pontremoli and Aulla; via Sarzana you reach the coast, with the ruins of Luni one kilometer off the route. Via Massa and Pietrasanta beneath the marble mountains you continue to Lucca (km 603.2), via Altopascio to the Arno and on to San Miniato, then via San Gimignano and Monteriggioni to Siena (km 738.9).

Siena to Rome (km 738.9–1,019.9): Through the Crete Senesi and the Val d'Orcia with San Quirico and the thermal pool of Bagno Vignoni, the route climbs to Radicofani (780 m, km 823.4), leaving Bagni San Filippo a good kilometer off to the side. At Acquapendente Lazio begins; the route follows the shore of Lago di Bolsena to Montefiascone and Viterbo (km 903.4), then via Vetralla and Sutri into the Campagna Romana and via La Storta and Monte Mario to St. Peter's Square.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We show the route in 45 stages. The distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 1,019.9 km; stage towns are places with accommodation.

1. Colle del Gran San Bernardo → Échevennoz (14.5 km) — steep descent from the pass
2. Échevennoz → Aosta (11.7 km) — short, along old irrigation channels
3. Aosta → Châtillon (29.8 km) — long, on the north flank of the valley
4. Châtillon → Verrès (18.5 km) — via Saint-Vincent
5. Verrès → Pont-Saint-Martin (16.1 km) — past the Fort of Bard
6. Pont-Saint-Martin → Ivrea (23.0 km) — vineyard terraces, into Piedmont
7. Ivrea → Viverone (19.8 km) — moraine hills, lake views
8. Viverone → Santhià (17.1 km) — down into the plain
9. Santhià → Vercelli (28.4 km) — long, rice fields
10. Vercelli → Robbio (18.9 km) — across the Sesia
11. Robbio → Mortara (14.6 km) — short, Lomellina
12. Mortara → Garlasco (20.7 km) — via Tromello
13. Garlasco → Pavia (24.4 km) — to the Ticino
14. Pavia → Santa Cristina e Bissone (27.9 km) — long and flat
15. Santa Cristina e Bissone → Orio Litta (16.2 km) — via Miradolo Terme
16. Orio Litta → Piacenza (23.5 km) — ferry across the Po
17. Piacenza → Fiorenzuola d'Arda (32.3 km) — long, along the Via Emilia
18. Fiorenzuola d'Arda → Fidenza (22.6 km) — to the cathedral of San Donnino
19. Fidenza → Medesano (22.1 km) — first hills
20. Medesano → Sivizzano (19.2 km) — via Fornovo
21. Sivizzano → Berceto (23.4 km) — via Cassio, steep
22. Berceto → Pontremoli (28.2 km) — over the Passo della Cisa
23. Pontremoli → Aulla (31.3 km) — long, can be split at Villafranca
24. Aulla → Sarzana (18.0 km) — steep, then sea views
25. Sarzana → Massa (28.9 km) — past Luni
26. Massa → Camaiore (25.4 km) — via Pietrasanta
27. Camaiore → Lucca (26.7 km) — to the Serchio
28. Lucca → Altopascio (18.5 km) — via Porcari
29. Altopascio → San Miniato (27.8 km) — via Fucecchio
30. San Miniato → Gambassi Terme (24.9 km) — hill ridges
31. Gambassi Terme → San Gimignano (13.5 km) — short, time for the towers
32. San Gimignano → Monteriggioni (30.5 km) — long, via Colle di Val d'Elsa
33. Monteriggioni → Siena (20.5 km) — through woodland
34. Siena → Ponte d'Arbia (25.6 km) — Crete Senesi
35. Ponte d'Arbia → San Quirico d'Orcia (26.7 km) — via Buonconvento
36. San Quirico d'Orcia → Radicofani (32.2 km) — long, steep, little shade
37. Radicofani → Acquapendente (22.9 km) — down into Lazio
38. Acquapendente → Bolsena (23.2 km) — to the lake
39. Bolsena → Montefiascone (16.1 km) — up onto the crater rim
40. Montefiascone → Viterbo (17.8 km) — on the Via Cassia
41. Viterbo → Vetralla (22.2 km) — Monti Cimini
42. Vetralla → Sutri (23.3 km) — hazelnut groves
43. Sutri → Campagnano di Roma (24.7 km) — via Monterosi
44. Campagnano di Roma → La Storta (21.6 km) — Parco di Veio
45. La Storta → Rome (24.7 km) — over Monte Mario

Technically the route is easy, physically it is not: the descent from the pass hits your knees, the Cisa and the Lunigiana are the hilliest days, Tuscany is a constant up and down, and the Po plain wears you down with its straightaways. Plan rest days in Lucca and Siena.

Station I Is Urbs Roma: Sigeric's Travel Notes Read Back to Front

The account begins with "Adventus archiepiscopi nostri Sigerici ad Romam" – the arrival of our archbishop Sigeric in Rome. Then follow 23 Roman churches, lunch with the pope and finally the sentence this whole route rests on: "Istae sunt submansiones de Roma usque ad mare" – these are the stations from Rome to the sea. Depending on how you count, there are 79 or 80, and because Sigeric wrote on his way home, Rome sits at the top as "I Urbs Roma". The line worth reading aloud: anyone walking the Via Francigena to Rome reads Sigeric's list from the bottom up – and arrives, in the end, at number one.

The first 48 entries lie in Italy, many of them right on your route today. "XLVIII Sce Remei" is Saint-Rhémy, "XLVII Agusta" Aosta, "XLIII Vercel" Vercelli, "XLI Pamphica" Pavia, "XXXIX Sce Andrea" Corte Sant'Andrea on the Po, "XXVI Luca" Lucca, "XIX Sce Gemiane" San Gimignano, "XV Seocine" Siena, "XII Sce Quiric" San Quirico d'Orcia. Even hamlets are listed: "XIII Turreiner" is Torrenieri, "II Johannis VIIII" La Storta. Sigeric covered about 20 kilometers a day – almost exactly your stage length.

Pilgrims were on the road before and after him. The Icelander Nikulás of Munkaþverá described the same route over the Great St. Bernard to Rome around 1154 in his Leiðarvísir, and the French king Philip II Augustus passed through here in 1191 on his way back from the crusade. The biggest rush came in 1300 with the first Holy Year, proclaimed by Boniface VIII with the bull "Antiquorum habet fida relatio"; Dante and the chronicler Giovanni Villani were in Rome. After the Reformation and the railways the route fell asleep; only from the late 1980s did the anthropologist Giovanni Caselli reconstruct it on the ground, the AEVF was founded in 2001, and for the Holy Year 2025 some 33 million pilgrims came to Rome.

Highlights Along the Way

• Hospice on the Great St. Bernard (km 0) — founded around 1050 by Bernard of Menthon, just on the Swiss side; home of the St. Bernard dogs, the most famous of which, Barry, saved 40 people.
• Aosta (km 26.2) — Augusta Praetoria, founded in 25 BC, with the Arch of Augustus; birthplace of Anselm, who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093 – the son of Sigeric's station XLVII later sat on Sigeric's own throne.
• Vercelli (km 178.9) — Basilica of Sant'Andrea; the chapter library holds the Vercelli Book, an Old English manuscript from Sigeric's century, discovered in 1822 by Friedrich Blume.
• Pavia (km 257.5) — San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, consecrated in 1132, with the tombs of Augustine, brought here by King Liutprand around 725, and of Boethius.
• Ferry across the Po (km 305.6) — the Transitum Padi from Corte Sant'Andrea to Soprarivo, Sigeric's station XXXIX.
• Fidenza (km 380.0) — cathedral of San Donnino with sculptures by Benedetto Antelami; the figure of St. Peter on the façade points its finger toward Rome.
• Pontremoli (km 472.9) — in the Castello del Piagnaro, the Bronze Age stele statues of the Lunigiana.
• Lucca (km 603.2) — the Volto Santo in the cathedral of San Martino, a wooden crucifix that, according to legend, drifted ashore unmanned at Luni in 782; radiocarbon dating says 770 to 880.
• Altopascio (km 621.7) — pilgrim hospital, first mentioned in 1084, seat of the Knights of the Tau, dissolved in 1773.
• San Gimignano and Monteriggioni (km 687.9 and 718.4) — tower houses and a ring of walls from 1213 to 1219 with 14 towers, which Dante sang of in Canto XXXI of the Inferno: "Montereggion di torri si corona".
• Siena (km 738.9) — the cathedral, Piazza del Campo and the pilgrim hospital of Santa Maria della Scala.
• Bolsena (km 869.5) — in Santa Cristina, in 1263, the host of a doubting Bohemian priest bled; the feast of Corpus Christi followed in 1264.
• Viterbo (km 903.4) — the Papal Palace where the cardinals deliberated from 1268 to 1271, until the citizens locked them in, took off the roof and put them on bread and water; out of this came the conclave rule of 1274.
• Rome (km 1,019.9) — St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica, the tomb of the apostle and the Testimonium.

Transitum Padi: A Ferryman Instead of a Bridge

Sigeric crossed the Po at "Sce Andrea", and that is exactly where the Via Francigena still crosses today. At Corte Sant'Andrea, at the mouth of the Lambro, a boat waits to carry you downstream to the landing stage at Soprarivo near Calendasco; you sign the ferryman's register with your name and where you come from, and Calendasco stamps the crossing. The Council of Europe has recognized the Transitum Padi since 1994, and two Italian ministries have done so since 2009.

In practice this means: book the crossing by phone a few days ahead; in high water or storms it is canceled. Otherwise your only option is the detour via a road bridge. Honestly, the boat is the best reason not to dawdle that day.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Anyone walking the entire Via Francigena starts in Canterbury, crosses France and arrives via the Via Francigena (Switzerland) at the Great St. Bernard, where this route begins. Most people join in Aosta, Pavia, Lucca or Siena, all with train stations. For the Testimonium, starting in Viterbo is enough; from there it is 116.5 kilometers to Rome.

Other routes cross along the way. In Piacenza the Via Postumia arrives; between Vercelli and Piacenza the Via Francigena shares its path with the Via Domitia, which leads from Piacenza west over the Alps to Arles. In Lucca the Cammino Toscana crosses the route, and from Montefiascone the last stages run together with the Via Romea Germanica Italy, which comes down from the Brenner.

Continue the pilgrimage?

In Rome, further routes begin or end:

• Via Francigena del Sud — the continuation south via Benevento and Bari to Santa Maria di Leuca, in the footsteps of the Jerusalem pilgrims
• Cammino di San Tommaso — across the Abruzzo to the Apostle Thomas in Ortona
• Cammino di Francesco — in the opposite direction to Assisi and on to Florence

If you want to go to Santiago, take the Via Domitia from Piacenza toward Arles, and with it the connection to the French Ways of St. James.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. As on all Francigena sections, you need a pilgrim passport (credenziale) to stay in pilgrim lodgings and to receive the Testimonium 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 AEVF issues the official credenziale. The easiest way to plan the route is directly in the Camino Ninja App, where you put together your stages and plan suitable accommodation at the same time; you carry the map and track offline.

The Testimonium. St. Peter's Basilica issues it as confirmation of a pilgrimage made "devotionis causa" if you have come to Rome at least 100 kilometers on foot or 200 by bike, documented by stamps in your credenziale. You enter the basilica via the prayer route "Percorso Oranti" and collect the certificate at the reception desk.

Accommodation and season. The pass road to the Great St. Bernard is usually open from mid-June to the end of September; before and after that, you are better off starting in Aosta. Call pilgrim lodgings the day before. The best time is April to June and September to October; in July and August the Po plain, the Val d'Orcia and Lazio get very hot, and Rome is packed.

What the journey will cost you

Pilgrim lodgings in parishes, monasteries and municipal hostels usually cost 15 to 25 € or a donation, ostelli 20 to 35 €, a B&B or agriturismo 50 to 90 € for a double room, more in Tuscany and in Rome (as of October 2026). A trattoria meal costs 15 to 25 €, a panino from a shop a few euros. The credenziale costs a few euros, the Testimonium nothing.

Budget 45 to 60 € a day with pilgrim lodgings and simple meals, 70 to 100 € if you mostly sleep in B&Bs (as of October 2026).

Getting Here

To the start. By train you travel via Turin or Milan and Chivasso to Aosta; in summer a bus runs from there to the pass. From the Swiss side, take the train to Martigny and the bus via Orsières to the Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard, likewise only in season.

From the finish. With Termini, Rome has one of Italy's largest train stations, plus Fiumicino Airport with direct flights to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Roma San Pietro station is about a ten-minute walk from St. Peter's Square, and Metro line A stops at Ottaviano.

• Rail Italy: trenitalia.com — connections to Aosta and from Rome
• Rail Switzerland: sbb.ch — getting there via Martigny
• Route and operator: viefrancigene.org — AEVF with credenziale and stage information