November 8, 2024
During the Roman Empire (27 BC – 476 AD), a vast network of routes were built to connect their territories to Rome. These Roman roads totaled more than 250,000 miles and were said to be an origin of the phrase, “All Roads Lead to Rome.” After 46 stages and over 600 miles of trekking, we had just six stages and 79 miles left until our own hiking “road” led us to Rome.
Following an Old Roman Road to Our Final Rest Day
We left the village of Montefiascone on a 11.6-mile stage by negotiating a steep hike down from the top of the hill town. When we reached the bottom of the descent, we took one last look at Montefiascone behind us.
Turning around, we saw a new hiker just ahead. Most pilgrims we encountered on this trek tended to exchange pleasantries and move on. This was partly because many people we saw didn’t speak much English. But in this case, the young woman was from the UK, so we decided to walk together for a time.
We ended up hiking with her for about an hour and had a nice conversation. While we walked, she offered to take a photo and video of us hiking together.
We joined a section of flat, rounded stones that were part of one of the ancient roads to Rome. As we walked, we could make out faint wagon ruts on some of the stones. During our stage we joined with another “road to Rome” – the Via Romea, a pilgrimage trail that begins in Northern Germany.
After hiking through a series of farms, our day ended in the city of Viterbo. It dates back to Etruscan culture in the 9th to 4th centuries BC. Later, it was the location of an outer defense of the Papal States, and still has intact walls.
We took our last rest day in the city of 65,000 people. It was busy with a weekend Halloween kids celebration, so there were many families visiting. We did take some time to walk around the historic center, where our B&B was located.
Exploring Viterbo on our rest day
Passing through Serene Forest and Archeological Sites
As we began our final five days of trekking to Rome, we figured that our last few stages would be pretty urban and might even be a little boring. But we were pleasantly surprised by what we saw as we continued south.
We left Viterbo on a short 10.2-mile stage. Before leaving the city we passed by its 12th century Romanesque Cathedral of San Lorenzo in the Piazza Duomo.
Early in the stage we walked through the Via Cava Sant’Antonio. It is one of the Etruscan Vie Caves that consist of narrow roadways cut into the soft tufa stone over 2,500 years ago.
Later, the route ran along farm areas with olive trees and lettuce crops. Seeing the crops reminded us of our time walking through the Salinas Valley during our California Missions Trail trek.
Olive trees and lettuce fields
After a nice lunch break at a viewpoint, we hiked through some undulating hills before arriving in the town of Vetralla, where we checked into a B&B for the night.
The next morning we left Vetralla on a 15.4-mile stage. During the first five miles we climbed past oak trees and farms to a high point.
There, we passed the remains of funeral monument towers from the Roman period.
Passing the remains of funeral monument towers
A few miles later we walked through the Castrovecchio historic center in the village of Capranica.
After leaving Capranica, we headed back into the forest to join a trail along the Fosso Mazzano stream.
We marveled at the beautiful scenery as we hiked on the forest path. As we walked, we slowed down to enjoy the peaceful surroundings while taking many photos.
Hiking on the forest path
The trail ended at the Etruscan Archeological Park, which contained many ruins, including a Roman amphitheater. The inside was closed when we arrived, but we were able to walk around the exterior of the park.
Ruins and amphitheater at the Etruscan Archeological Park
We stopped at a B&B just outside the town of Sutri. As a former border town between Rome and Etruria, it is mentioned in 3rd century BC documents.
Hiking Past Waterfalls and to the Final Hill Towns
Alternating between farms and forests, we completed a 15.1-mile stage the next day. The route started out along several busy roads before turning into farmland.
With just three stages left, we valued every minute that we could hike in rural areas.
Hiking through farms
After reaching the village of Monterosi and walking past its church, we stopped for a lunch break.
After lunch the route took us through beautiful neighborhoods, with iconic cypress trees, and past some forest.
Enjoying the neighborhoods and forest
We came to the Parco Valle del Treja, where we paused to view several waterfalls. The park area was once a mill complex and before that an ancient settlement with a Roman villa.
At the end of the day, we began a steep ascent to the hill town of Campagnano di Roma. As was the case with many of the hill towns we climbed to, we could not see any sign of civilization until just before arriving at the top.
In this case, we were in a forested area and genuinely confused about where the town could possibly be located. Finally, we saw some buildings, and knew that the climb was almost over.
Making the climb to Campagnano di Roma in the forest; seeing some buildings toward the end of the ascent
Originally known as Baccano, Campagnano di Roma was taken by Rome from the Etruscans in 241 BC. Campagna translates to “countryside,” and the town was changed to its current name as 13th century wealthy Romans sought refuge in the area to avoid plagues.
Our apartment rental was located just down the street from the main piazza in the town’s medieval quarter.
We walked out of Campagnano di Roma’s historic center the next morning as we set off on a 14.5-mile stage.
As we progressed through the day, we began to see markers counting down our remaining distance to Rome.
Sandy at a marker with 36 kilometers / 22.4 miles to go; Darren at a marker with 26.9 kilometers / 16.7 miles to go
Our hike took us in and out of the Parco Veio for much of the stage. It was established as an urban greenbelt regional park in 1997.
We passed through the town of Formello and the final historic center of our trek. It was bittersweet for us to walk through the charming medieval streets and past several 11th and 12th century buildings for the last time.
Walking through Formello – the final historic hill town on our trek
After climbing down stairs to leave Formello, we re-entered Parco Veio.
Over the past few stages we saw more farm animals than any other time during our trek. We encountered donkeys, horses, cows, goats, chickens, turkeys, and sheep.
A few of the farm animals we saw on the route
Late in our stage we came across something we had never seen in all our years of trekking – a large flock of sheep coming straight toward us on the path. What made this unique was that they were being herded by only four dogs. We quickly climbed up on the side of the trail to let them pass us.
Our stage ended in the city of La Storta, just outside of Rome. Our hotel was located just off the busy Via Cassia Highway SS2, making it the most urban night we spent on the trek.
We went to sleep knowing that we had just one more stage to take us to St. Peter’s Basilica and the completion of our Via Francigena trek!
Completing Our Road to Rome on Our Final Stage
Our last 12.2-mile stage began along Highway SS2 as we left La Storta.
After about three miles, we turned off the highway into the Insugherata Nature Reserve. We enjoyed a peaceful respite hiking in the trees with the sounds of birds chirping around us.
We left the park to tackle another urban section before climbing up a trail in the Monte Mario Park to a viewpoint. Here, we had our first views of Rome and St. Peter’s Basilica, our final destination. Two Belgian hikers we had met during the last couple of stages took our photo.
We decided to eat our picnic lunch while taking in the view. As we sat there, church bells began to toll across the city, as it happened to be noon. Listening to the echoing bells as we looked upon St. Peter’s was a magical experience, as it was hard to believe that we were so close to the end of our trek.
After beginning to hike again, we came across one of the last Via Francigena signs. It indicated that we had only 2.6 kilometers / 1.6 miles to go!
Another view of St. Peter’s and Rome; one of the last Via Francigena signs
A set of cobblestone switchbacks took us down to the streets of Rome. We made a final turn to walk straight toward Vatican City.
Hiking down the cobblestone switchbacks; walking on the final street to Vatican City
Soon after, we came to St. Peter’s Square and the end of our trek at St. Peter’s Basilica!
Arriving at St. Peter’s Square to end our trek
One advantage of completing at least the last 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the Via Francigena was that hikers could go directly into St. Peter’s Basilica and bypass the lines. After presenting our pilgrim passports with the stamps we had obtained from each day of our trek, we were escorted into St. Peter’s by a volunteer.
Once inside at the church’s atrium, we received our final stamps in our passports.
Being escorted into St. Peter’s Basilica and receiving our final stamps
Our pilgrim passport stamps from our trek
We each received a Testimonium document, signifying our trekking achievement.
This was not our first visit to Rome, but viewing St. Peter’s Basilica never gets old. It is the largest church building in the world and a wonder to explore. Using an audio guide, we lingered at the nave and altar, Michelangelo’s dome, the 13th century statue of St. Peter, and the 15th century Michelangelo Pieta sculpture.
Looking down the basilica’s nave; Michelangelo’s dome; St. Peter statue; Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture
After leaving the Vatican, we walked to our hotel in Rome, where we had a celebratory dinner that evening. Later, we couldn’t resist taking a nighttime photo of St. Peter’s Basilica from the Tiber River.
Pursuing the Road with Eager Feet
“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say”
— J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
When we left Montreux, Switzerland on August 10 to begin trekking 700 miles on the Via Francigena, it was hard to imagine what it would be like to hike all the way to Rome, Italy. But we were eager to pursue every mile and be up for whatever came our way on the trail.
It was not easy. Even though we have trekked and backpacked on challenging paths all over the world, the Via Francigena had its own set of obstacles to overcome. We started the trek with almost continual (and sometimes very steep) climbing during the first five days through the Swiss Alps to the top of the Great St. Bernard Pass at 8,100 feet.
Before we left, we set up our hiking schedule to maximize the weather window for climbing over the Alps and hiking through Italy. But the weather still ended up being a problem. We had rain off and on in the Alps. When we reached the flat Po Valley at the beginning of September, after the worst of the summer heat, we still had many days of humidity and hot temperatures over 90°F. On several days the heat index hit 96°F by the end of our stage.
At the end of the Po Valley we took a planned three-and-a-half week break in the Balkans to ensure that the heat would no longer be a factor when we entered the hilly Tuscany region. And it was cooler when we returned to trek through the Apennine Mountains and over the Cisa Pass (3,415 feet).
However, hiking this mountain section was the most challenging portion of the entire trek, with days of heavy rain, wind, and fog. Faced with potentially skipping stages, we decided that we were eager to continue, no matter what. Instead, we chose to walk for hours in the elements on the bike route along the roads. It was safer than the mountain trails that had become so treacherous after all the rain.
The hardship was well worth it when we reached Lucca and began trekking through the heart of Tuscany. Our overnights at historic hill towns, such as San Miniato, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Siena, and Radicofani, were highlights of our entire trek.
Exploring San Gimignano; enjoying Siena on a rest day
We still had to make several route adjustments in the Tuscany and Lazio regions, as continual rain made the path very muddy and near impassable in spots. In fact, almost half of our final 20 stages had to be modified because of the worst October rain locals told us they had seen in years.
The trail continued to amaze us throughout with natural scenery in the forests, along creeks, and with hillside vistas. History came to life during every stage, with countless churches, castles, fortresses, and medieval quarters to pass through. As a result, during our two months of trekking in Italy, we entered a flow state. We focused on just hiking, eating, and sleeping while becoming immersed in Italy’s history, culture, and beauty. The simplicity of this made up for any difficulties that we faced along the way.
With all that we experienced over 52 stages and 700 miles on our Via Francigena trek, it will take us some time to return to the “real world.” But, in the end, we are so grateful that our “pursuit with eager feet” allowed us to complete every stage of our road to Rome.
Thank you for following our adventure and supporting us during this journey!
What an awesome experience. Well done!!!
Thanks so much, John! Appreciate your support.