The Via Francigena is the great pilgrim road to Rome. It links Canterbury to Rome over about 1,900 km, through 4 countries: England, France, Switzerland and Italy. Its high point is the Great St Bernard Pass, at 2,469 m. Count about three months for the whole thing, or one section per trip. Two of those countries, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, sit outside the EU roaming area, so a single eSIM saves you from swapping cards there.
The Camino de Santiago made pilgrim walking famous, but the Via Francigena tells another story: a road traced from England to Rome, straight across half of Europe. It is quieter, wilder in places, and it gives the rare feeling of linking four cultures on foot alone.
Here is how it is organised, country by country, the pass that marks its summit, and the practical point that often catches walkers out: two of its countries do not follow the same phone rules as the rest of the Union.
A road a thousand years old
The Via Francigena is no tourist invention. Around the year 990, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sigeric, travelled to Rome to receive his pallium from the Pope, then noted his route home. His diary describes 80 stages of about twenty kilometres each.
That journal became the reference track. Today the Via Francigena is a Council of Europe cultural route, waymarked on most of its length, with its hostels and pilgrim welcomes. People walk it the opposite way to Sigeric, north to south, to finish on St Peter’s Square.
The four countries, stage by stage
Each country gives the walk a very different colour.
England
The start is in Canterbury Cathedral, in Kent. A short English section takes you to Dover, where you cross the Channel by ferry to Calais. It is the prelude, brief but symbolic.
France
The longest northern section. You cross Artois, Champagne, then Franche-Comte, by way of Arras, Reims and Besancon. Farmland, villages and abbeys, on gentle ground as far as the edge of the Jura.
Switzerland
The road climbs towards the Alps and crosses the Great St Bernard Pass, at 2,469 m, where the hospice has sheltered travellers since the 11th century. This is the high point of the route, walkable from June to September depending on the snow.
Italy
The longest and most famous: about 1,000 km and 44 stages from the pass down to Rome. You drop into the Aosta Valley, follow the Po plain, then come Tuscany and its hills around Siena and San Gimignano, before Lazio and the way into Rome.
The main sections at a glance
Enough to place the effort by country.
| Country | What you cross | Terrain |
|---|---|---|
| England | Canterbury, Dover, ferry to Calais | Short, easy |
| France | Arras, Reims, Champagne, Besancon | Gentle, hillier near the end |
| Switzerland | Lausanne, Great St Bernard (2,469 m) | Mountain, demanding |
| Italy | Aosta Valley, Tuscany, Siena, Rome | Varied, Tuscan hills |
How long, and how to split it
The full route takes about three months, so 80 to 90 walking days. Few people have that window in one go. Most split the route over several years, or pick one section.
The most popular part is Italy, from the Great St Bernard to Rome, done in 40 to 45 days. Walkers short on time often aim for the final 100 kilometres from Acquapendente or Viterbo, which earn the Testimonium, Rome’s answer to the Compostela.
My advice: for a first taste, Tuscany between Lucca and Siena offers the best mix of beauty and easy logistics, over one to two weeks.
One practical detail people forget: to collect the Testimonium in Rome, you need a pilgrim credential, stamped at hostels, churches and bars along the way, with at least two stamps a day on the final stretch. Pick one up before you start or at the welcome points on the route. Cyclists have their own long-distance option too: EuroVelo 5, named the Via Romea Francigena, which also links Canterbury to Rome on its own dedicated cycle route rather than the walking path.
The two borders that cut your plan
On the Via Francigena the phone earns its keep every day: following the track between two villages, spotting the next hostel, booking a ferry, reading a menu. The catch hides in the route’s phone geography.
France and Italy apply EU roaming: your plan works there as it does at home. But the United Kingdom left it after Brexit, and Switzerland was never part of it. On those two stretches, an ordinary plan can charge data at full price.
The case is very real here. You start in England, so outside roaming from day one, then cross the whole of Switzerland to clear the Alps. Two of the four countries where your usual card risks costing you dearly, exactly where you most need to find your way.
Walking connected all the way to Rome
The GPX track and the maps download offline before you leave. For the rest, booking in the evening, reassuring family, checking the forecast before the pass, you want data that follows you from one country to the next without a break.
With a eSIM for Europe set up before departure, one eSIM covers all four countries on the route, United Kingdom and Switzerland included. The phone switches to the right network on its own at each border, from Canterbury to St Peter’s Square. To see where EU roaming ends and why it matters, read One eSIM for all of Europe.
- For a first section, aim for Tuscany between Lucca and Siena: beautiful and well served.
- The Great St Bernard Pass is walkable from June to September depending on snow.
- The final 100 km from Viterbo earn the Testimonium in Rome.
- Two countries outside EU roaming: the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
- Download the track and the maps offline before each section.
- One eSIM covers all four countries: no card to swap along the way.
With Orange, the service used by more than 300 million customers, you walk with a clear head: 200+ destinations covered, human support 24/7, and fully refunded if you never use your eSIM.
Ready to reach Rome on foot without ever losing the thread?
