There are literally hundreds of walks of various lengths in Europe. Some are regional trails, some span the width of an entire country, and a few span the width of the continent.

Probably two of the most famous trans-continental trails are: The Camino de Santiago (plus it’s feeder trails), and the Via Francigena.

The Camino de Santiago proper runs from St. Jean Pied de Port (France), to Santiago de Compostela (western Spain). There are multiple alternative routes and feeders all throughout Western Europe, totaling several thousands of miles … if you had a notion to walk them all.

The Via Francigena is a walk from Canterbury, England to Rome, Italy, about 1,200 miles.  Sigeric the Serious was the first (of note) to walk this route in 990 AD.  Seems he had something he wanted to pick up from the Pope.

Collectively, these two routes make an east-west and north-south cross of Europe, intersecting in Lausanne, Switzerland.  Our intent is to walk the whole of the Western and Southern portions of this crossing, roughly 1,800 miles.

It might be a tough read (double-click on map to enlarge it), but this year’s journey will be the section right after the RIGHT HAND TURN, from Lausanne, Switzerland to Pavia, Italy. (It’s in gray). We have walked the lower stretch of this Via Francigena route in 2019 (Lucca to Rome, Italy). Next year, God willing and the bodies working, we’ll finish this endeavor by hiking from Pavia to Lucca, Italy. We’ll see!

Thanks for being a part of our journey this year!