In the summer of 2009 I walked from Rome to Santiago de Compostella. It took me 78 days to walk the +- 2800 kilometers and a week extra to take the trip to Muxia an Finisterra and back to Compostella (+- 200 kilometers). As I am considered a tough walker (more than 35k average a day) I hope you don’t take this pace as a guideline. The pilgrimage is a spiritual march and was never meant to be a competition.
This is a sketchy information page for all people who want to walk the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella starting from Rome. It contains mainly practical information about roads to follow, refuges and places of interest. I am building this page because there is a lack of good information on certains parts of the road. However, I have also experienced this as an advantage: you get the freedom to make your own way. Anyone who feels to add important information may do this by emailing me at hermanloos (at) yahoo (dot) com or by writing a comment to this page. Those who just want to see some random pics, click.
PART 1: VIA FRANCIGENA (Rome – Sarzana)
The Via Francigena is a medieval pilgrimage from Canterbury to Rome. It finishes at Vatican City, which is the starting point of my pilgrimage. The signing in Italy is okay if you walk the ‘right’ way, but more difficult if you walk in opposite direction. I would recommand buying the Italian book “A piedi sulla Via Francigena” by F. Cosi and A. Repossi. I started off with a German book, yellow Outdoor edition, but it sucked. You don’t really have to understand Italian, for those with good knowledge of French and / or Spanish (I speak and read both) it is interesting, all others will enjoy the good maps in the back. You can buy this book almost anywhere on the road.
Starting from Vatican City, you will see blue and yellow stickers marking the Camino de Santiago, but they end after just a few kilometers on Monte Mario. If you get lost in the first part, you just need to walk to the SS 2 (Via Cassia) to find the right direction. As the Via Francigena leads past main roads on some parts, I would recommend to buy a good local map and find your own way. I took smaller roads to the west and walked past Lago Bracchiano, which is beautiful.
The Via Francigena is still developing. The upsides are that it is not too crowded with pilgrims and the infrastructure is little but genuine. You will sleep in monasteries, parochial centres and old schools. Some of these refuges I would strongly recommend. Most of hte nights I slept outside in the hills or fields, usually without a tent. You will need to avoid private grounds, but there is enough space to find a good night’s rest. You can find fresh water in most villages at fountains or cemeteries, so there is really no need to sleep inside every night. I just give information on the places where I slept or passed by, but there are more refuges on the road.
The first recommended spot is Radicofani in Tuscany, a beautiful village on a hill top. There is a little house in the center of the village where hospitaleros of the Confraternitatis Sancti Jacobi Perugiae will give you a very warm welcome. Secondly you have the Accoglienza Santa Luisa in Siena, near the Roman Porta, where Suor Ginette receives you with a warm heart and a great sense of humor. From Siena it’s a days walk to San Gimignano (about 40 km) where you can sleep in the Convento San Agostino, but do not expect a warm welcome from father Brian. You can make up for yourself the next morning in Santo Pietro at the house of Mario, who is willing to drink a coffee and talk with you at his house.
In San Miniato Alto, the book indicates that you can sleep at the Convento San Francesco but don’t get your hope up high. It is better not to climb the mountain and go directly to the Misericordia at San Miniato Alto where you can get a bed and a shower. In Altopascio you need to go to the public library instead of the indicated adress, where the beds are. The ladies of the library are nice enough to give you the keys to a bedroom in the Via Marconi. In Camaiore there is a house which is not in the book, but local man Mario can give you the keys to sleep in this house, which used to be the priest’s. The last stops on the Via Francigena are the monastery La Rocca in Pietrasanta and the parrocchia San Francesco in Sarzana with Don Renzo.
PART 2: VIA AURELIA (La Spezia – Ventimiglia)
The ways separate in Sarzana. I decided to take the coastal road at Cinque Terre. You can take the main road directly to Riomaggiore or look for some smaller roads to the coast just south of La Spezia. I took the second option to avoid heavy traffic. It is best that you buy a good roadmap for the walk. In Cinque Terre you can take the high panorama path through the hills to Levanto or the lower paths at the seaside. You need a ticket (5 euro) to enter the walking paths but it is really worth the money. You can have a good night’s sleep on the small beaches, but I would recommend climbing the hill path to Levanto and sleep up at the ruins of a little church to see the sunset and the sunrise the next morning.
Once you get out of the nature reserve, you can follow the SS1 (Via Aurelia) past the Ligurian Coast. This means that on some parts traffic will be a bit heavier, but I thought it was still okay, there are a lot of busier roads on the official pilgrimage road which is the Via Francigena. On many places, you can leave the main road to walk on little paths or on the beach. Sleeping on the beach is a bit tricky, for many beaches are private, but you can still use the showers there. Buy some biodegredable soap!
I have a list of places where it is said that you will find a place to sleep inside, but in the end I just slept outside at the beach or on the steps of the church, even if it meant I have been chased by the carabinieri a couple of times. Don’t count too hard on being received by monasteries or parrocchias anywhere on the coast …
Albisola: Madonna della Pace
Loano: Padr Agostiniani
Camogli: Monastero Suore Francescane
Sestri Levante: Madonna del Grappa
Taggia: Cappucine
Porto Maurizio: I was received by the sisters of the Monastero Santa Chiara, uphill behind the cathedral. They will give you the keys to a beautiful little house with a laundry machine (!). In town people told me about an old priest that receives pilgrims just a few miles inland, but I was so happy with the little house that I didn’t want to leave. Check the golden book of pilgrims and you’ll be surprised …
Bordighera: Seminario Vescovile is a rather weird place, but you can get a meal, a shower and a bed. It is located really at the end of the city, opposite to the hospital. You are at about an hours’ walk from the French border.
PART 3: VOIE AURELIENNE (Menton – Arles)
This is probably the most interesting part for pilgrims on this page. At this part, you will try to follow GR 653A, but this walk is very badly signed and there is, like at the Italian coast, a lack of infrastructure. Of course, there is an upside to this, for churches and paroisses are willing to help the few pilgrims on the road. The way consists partly of forest and hill tracks, some parts are on minor roads. I just used a list of village and then made my own way using some good road maps with indications of GR tracks or using local information on walking tracks. Building this page, I stumbled on more information, for example these maps.
There is sleeping ability in some of the villages on the way. I just give the list as I copied it from an Italian pilgrim.
Tourette-Levens – Paroisse
Castagnier – Abbaye Notre Dame
Saint-Jeannet – Ask around in the village, there is a man who can receive you (unconfirmed by me).
Vence – Well, there is a place where you can sleep, no water or toilet available, and when I was there there was a priest ad interim who didn’t have the key to the place. Basically what I’m trying to say by a lack of infrastructure which makes it interesting. I just slept in a forest near Vence.
La Colle sur Loup – Maison Saint Bernard
You go back to the coast past Notre Dame de Vaucluse to Théoule sur Mer. The next place you meet is Fréjus.
Fréjus – Paroisse Rue Montgolfier. You can get an old room with a shower. It’s a beautiful city center so it is really worth the stay.
Les Arcs – Paroisse
Taradeau – You can sleep in the salle de paroisse, no shower or hot water.
Le Thoronet – Monastère Betlehem
Le Val – ask in the paroisse, inside the church. You can have a shower there and the father can show you a little public yard with beautiful flowers where you can sleep or even put up a tent. There is fresh water from an old laundry place (lavoir) nearby.
Brignoles – Soeurs Saint Jean
Saint-Maximin – Paroisse
Plan d’Aups – Paroisse
Puyloubier – You can get a bed and a meal in the infirmery of the Légion Etrangère just two miles before the town, but I preferred sleeping on a bench at the central square where there is a place to play jeux de boules.
Eguilles – Ask for père Denys at the church, he is a very interesting man and he will look with you for a place to sleep.
La Fare des Oliviers – Soeurs
Salon de Provence – Soeurs in the Rue Saint François or Eglise Saint Lambert. I was late and slept on the steps of this last church. From Salon it’s just two days to Arles.
PART 4: VIA TOLOSANA (Arles-Puente la Reina)
There is some signing just outside Arles which will take you to La Chapelle Saint-Honorat, which is the starting point of the official and very well marked Voie d’Arles, one of the four main pilgrimage ways in France. I bought the book ‘Chemin d’Arles (Rando Editions) by Laborde-Balen and Siréjol. You can buy this in about every book shop with a traveller’s section in the world, I guess. It has a very good road description, but do not always trust the commercial information. There might be shops or places to sleep that are not included.
There is not so much to say about this road that isn’t in a good guidebook, except that it is truly beautiful. The part from Saint-Guilhem le Désert up to Angles is one of the most rewarding walks I ever did. You walk on GR-roads that are very well marked – however I would still recommend a guidebook like the one I used. There are some pilgrims and walkers, but the road is far from being too heavily used. The part in Spain is becoming more popular because lots of pilgrims start in Canfranc or Jaca, just behind the Pyrenees.
At Seuil de Narouze, you can follow the GR or the Canal du Midi up to Toulouse. I took the second option because I like walking past rivers or any other natural water. South of Pau, you will choose if you go to Lourdes and Saint-Jean Pied de Port or to Bédous and Somport. The second one is about 50 km larger and is the road I took. A lot of guidebooks tell you to skip Somport, for being to dangerous, but I tell you that would be a big mistake. Somport is splendid!
PART 5: CAMINO FRANCES (Puente la Reina – Santiago de Compostella)
Welcome to Club Med! What can I say on this road, except that it is too busy … I never bought any guidebook, kept no information on roads, accomodation or albergues whatsoever. Because there is no need to do so. When you have survived the way up to here, you can lay back and enjoy the ride. Just follow the yellow arrows, if there are alternative sections just take a guess. Don’t enter the pilgrimage competition for finding a place to sleep: there is always a solution on the camino! Walk and enjoy, Saint James is just around the corner.
PART 6: CAMINO ATLANTICO (Santiago – Muxia – Finisterra – Santiago)
If you want to go to Finisterra, don’t take the bus! Galicia is such a beautiful region to walk. It’s the same story as on the Camino Françes – too crowded and turistic atmosphere. With a tent, you will always find a place at the albergues. The roads are very well marked, you get your distances to the finish up to one metre. Sometimes, it will start annoying you …
It is one extra day if you walk to Muxia (you can go there first, that’s what I did, or you can walk this way after Finisterra) and it is really worth it. Muxia is an important pilgrimage place for the Galicians and it has a beautiful chapel on the rocky coast. There’s a nice albergue especially for those walking up there.
Volver – walking back. I walked three days back from Finisterra to Santiago. There is some signing, but prepare to get lost. Enjoy this! I just walked up to the highest hill I could see and then sort of guessed my way back. There is no need for maps or guidebooks, all ways lead to Santiago. I was especially surprised to find the Galicians being extremely friendly – maybe they consider you a “real” pilgrim for walking back.
I never found out what it means to be a real pilgrim … I have some strong indications, but the way does not end in Compostella. Not the first time, not the second visit. I can just give you this: walk, reflect, be friendly and be helpful. Lay back, enjoy the ride … Ultreia!
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