Long-distance walks and journeys on foot: slow travel on the trails of Italy and Europe
Long-distance walks and journeys on foot: the guide to slow travel on the trails of Italy and Europe, from the Via Francigena to clifftop sanctuaries.
Walking changes the way you measure a destination. **Journeys on foot** turn travel into an exercise in **slow travel**: in Italy and Europe there are routes hundreds of kilometres long, but also single stages of just a few hours, that let you arrive at an abbey or a sanctuary through the effort of your legs rather than the engine. This guide lines up the great real-life long-distance walks and the destinations worth the climb, because often the meaning of a place only becomes clear after the final bend.
The Via Francigena
The starting point, for anyone living in Italy, is the **Via Francigena**. The Italian stretch, from the Great St Bernard Pass to Rome, measures around a thousand kilometres divided into 45 stages, reconstructed from the diary of archbishop Sigeric, who in 990 noted the stops on his return from Rome to Canterbury. You don't need to walk it all: you can cover single segments in Tuscany or in the Tuscia of Lazio in a few days. Along its route and its variants you come upon places worth a detour, like the Cistercian abbey of San Galgano, roofless and with its sword in the stone, one of the most recognisable images of inland Tuscany.
The Camino de Santiago
Anyone looking to Europe thinks immediately of the **Camino de Santiago**. The Camino Francés, from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela, covers around 780 kilometres, but the network is far wider. The Via Podiensis (the French GR65 trail) starts from Le Puy-en-Velay and, after spectacular stages on the Aubrac plateau, descends to the village of Conques: its abbey church of Sainte-Foy is one of the best-loved Romanesque stops of the pilgrimage, and arriving on foot from above remains a different experience from arriving by car.
In Italy, alongside the Francigena, a dense network of **Italian walking routes** has taken hold. The Via di Francesco and the Cammino di Assisi cross Umbria and the Valnerina: along these paths you reach jewels like the Lombard abbey of San Pietro in Valle at Ferentillo, buried in the woods. The Cammino di San Benedetto links Norcia, Subiaco and Montecassino over around 300 kilometres. Further north, the Cammino di San Romedio in the Val di Non leads to the Hermitage of San Romedio, clinging to a spur of rock with its stacked chapels: a finale that repays the elevation gain.
The beautiful thing about these walks is that you don't have to be a long-distance pilgrim. Many of the most striking destinations can be won in a single day on the trail. In Lombardy, the Romanesque abbey of San Pietro al Monte above Civate can only be reached on foot, with a climb that becomes part of the visit. Also on Lake Maggiore, the Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso looks out sheer over the water and is reached by descending a long stairway cut into the rock. In Piedmont, the Sacra di San Michele dominates the Val di Susa: climbing the Scalone dei Morti gives you the measure of what it means to earn a view.
Sanctuaries and hermitages
Sanctuaries and hermitages have always been a natural destination for the journey on foot. In Liguria, the Sanctuary of the Guardia on Monte Figogna is reached along silent ridges above Genoa; on the coast of the Portofino promontory, the abbey of San Fruttuoso has no roads and can be reached only by trail or from the sea. In Abruzzo, the Hermitage of San Bartolomeo in Legio is carved into a wall of the Maiella, along the steps of the ancient penitents. In Molise, the Hermitage of Sant'Egidio and the drove roads of the Matese recall another form of slow mobility, that of transhumance.
Not all walking has a built destination: sometimes the forest itself is the arrival. In the Casentino Forests, the strict nature reserve of Sasso Fratino, with its centuries-old beeches, is the heart of an area crossed by the Cammino di Assisi and close to La Verna. And for those who dream big, the Sentiero Italia CAI links the entire country, islands included, over thousands of kilometres of stages that can be connected at will.
Practical advice
A few practical tips. The best seasons are spring and autumn, when the heat doesn't penalise the climbs and the mountain huts and hostels are open; in summer it's best to go for altitude. Reckon on an average of 20 kilometres a day, shoes already broken in, water and a pilgrim's credential if you want the stamp for each stage. The rule of slow travel remains just one: book the stage accommodation in advance during busy periods, and leave room for detours, because often the strongest memory isn't the destination, but the stone church you came across halfway there.
Practical guides for Assisi
Practical info
When is the best time to visit Long-distance walks and journeys on foot?
The recommended time is April, May, June, September and October, when it is less crowded.
Where is Long-distance walks and journeys on foot?
Long-distance walks and journeys on foot is located in Italy.
How to get there
- ✈️ Nearest airport: CdV Ali Venete ~30 km as the crow flies
Nearest points as the crow flies (source OpenStreetMap): actual times depend on the roads, often mountain ones.
