Great up-date and comments on the waymarking and signage along the VF

 Copied with permission of Dave Whitson, leader of a group of students on the VF from Montreux to Montjovet and Fidenza to Roma, and Paul Chinn, co-author of the Lightfoot Guides to the Via Francigena

The complete 2010 LightFoot Guide to the via Francigena consists of three books:

Vol. One Canterbury to Besançon

Vol. Two Besançon to Vercelli

Vol. Three Vercelli to Rome

Information provided in each section:

Instruction sheet/s comprising:

Detailed directions corresponding to GPS way point numbers on the maps Distance (in metres) between each way point

Verification Point - additional verification of current position

Compass direction

Maps comprising:

A visual representation of the route with way point numbers and adjacent details

Altitude Profile for the section
Icons indicating places to stay, monuments etc Relevant signs to look out for along the route
Map reference number/s for the section.

In this 2010 edition the authors continue to use the official route in Italy, as approved and signed by the Italian Minister of Culture, but also offer dditional opportunities where it is too challenging for one or more groups. This density of information has increased the number of instruction sheets and the decision has been taken to transfer all cultural and historical information to the Companion to the via Francigena. 

Dave Whitson

My group of 9 successfully completed our pilgrimage on the Via Francigena on August 4. We walked from Montreux to Montjovet, hopped on a train, and then continued walking from Fidenza to Rome. Having skimmed through emails on the list while I was gone, I realize I'm going a little against consensus when I write this, but I remain very positive and excited about waymarking on the VF.

Now, the Lightfoot Guides remain critical, both for the occasional stretches when the WM dry up and for places where the authors' recommended route alternative is superior to the WM one. But, we typically felt very comfortable allowing our students to walk without a teacher-guide, leaving them to find their way along the route.

There are a handful of exceptions worth noting, though. It's possible that these were addressed in the 2010 version of the Lightfoot Guide -  I'm still working out of the 2009 edition.

Paul Chinn (Lightfoot Guides for the Via Francigena)

On the general issue of signing the situation has greatly improved over the years, but there remain provinces, principally in areas of the north which you were lucky to skip, where the situation remains poor.

It seems that you have also encountered the issue of what I think of as the Tower of Babel of signing. The 2009 edition of the book generally follows the "official route" as defined by the Ministry of Culture. The ministry, via the communes intended to fully sign this route, however the work is incomplete, and many of the WM's that you describe relate to other/prior views of the route and can and do conflict with the "official route". Hence some of the angst we have expressed on the issue.


Dave:

1) On the walk from Villeneuve to St. Maurice, the book instructs you to stay on the canal at 37.14. WM guide you away from it, towards the small town of Chessel. I would follow the WM, as this is your last good chance at a fountain for a while.

Paul:  It is often a tough call between distance and amenity. I think the WMs that you mention must lead to the Rhone and then rejoin our route a couple of waypoints further on. If this is the case it would add about 1500m to the section. Happy to add a comment on this to the next edition, do you recall the style of WM - we are well off the official/70 route at this point?

2) On the walk from Martigny to Orsieres, soon after Chamoille d'Orsieres, yellow arrows will lead you sharply downhill on a footpath, past a house on your right, eventually taking you to the

highway. Ignore these and stay on the flat, paved road. The approach to Orsieres is much more pleasant.

Paul:  Agree. The current edition sticks with the small road.

3) Our students were not pleased with the "official" route from Aosta to Chatillon. The assorted uphills seemed unnecessary and particularly frustrating given the toll the previous two days of walking had taken on their bodies. I would probably follow the authors' alternative in the future.

Paul:   I am afraid this is an example of the challenges that face the route designer. The Ministry, I think, were very insistent on minimizing the amount of tarmac used - perhaps an over simplification of safety concerns. The official route then searches for pathways. In general these are not new paths but ones used by day walkers that are out for a short burst of vigorous exercise, but that also go in the right general direction. We have been lobbying, so far with no great impact, that the official route should reflect the specific needs of the (very) long distance pilgrim - so we come back to having to respect the "official route" but offer alternates.

This situation also applies between the Cisa pass and Pontremoli and around Massa where CAI paths have been subsumed into the VF

4) On the walk from Chatillon to Montjovet, take note on 42.045 the point about ignoring the turn to the R. Insistent yellow arrows will try to convince you to turn R downhill. This route just buys you a

lot of highway walking. Stick with the book.

Paul:  I think this might be an example of the Tower of Babel of signing.

5) Last time, I wrote that the Felegara area had no WM. It is now fully waymarked.

Paul:  The province of Parma have done a great job in signing. However, in Fornovo it seems that their job was too good. The pretty metal signs with the pilgrim have now become souvenirs - we have photos that show the existence of signs 2 years ago where there are no signs now and even a photo of a bracket minus its sign. There is a nice piece of research to be done here on the optimum capital cost/aesthetic/frequency/maintenance interval for signs - I am from the school in favour of cheap,easily maintained, vandal proof(ish), but frequent painted signs. Unfortunately I suspect the ministry would not wish to be associated with graffiti.

Very interestingly the VF route from Montgenevre to Vercelli is generally excellently signed with the painted yellow pilgrim and yellow/white arrows while the many CAI and Italian walking association routes also successfully follow this convention.
 

6) IMPORTANT - A shiny new WM has been added on the walk from Berceto to Cisa Pass, encouraging you to turn R off the route towards a hostel. This is one place where our students erred and I can easily understand. Without a careful look and knowledge of the route, I would believe the official route went that way. I'm not happy about this marker.

Paul: It does say Ostello on the sign, but it is (shades of the Camino) remarkably like an official route sign. I will try and strengthen the words of warning in the book.

7) The walk from Pietrasanta to Lucca involves some stretches badly overgrown with blackberry / sticker bushes. In particular, right after 59.007 and just before Montemagno are really, really bad.On the latter, I would just follow the road. 

Paul:  59.037? I know that thicket well. Despite having dragged a bike through it and ripped my shins, there were signs of some extra efforts to cut it back and so I had preferred it to the risk of the busy road. I gather that it must not have improved and so will note and offer the road with safety caveats.

8) The WM continue to disagree with the book on the walk from Siena to Isola d'Arbia, turning L instead of R at 64.014 (the WM route goes through Isola d'Arbia while the book's route bypasses it), from Bagno Vignoni to Gallina (the WM lead you past a spa, along a gravel road, and eventually deposit you on the Via Cassia, leading you through Gallina, which the book bypasses), and from Ponte a Rigo to Acquapendente (the book calls for you to turn R on the Via Cassia, while many insistent WM call for a L)

 Paul:  The book route is/was signed with the fancy new ministry signs. The prior route through Isola d'Arbia (where there is a nice watering hole) also involved the crossing of a muddy maize field of which I have other fond memories with the bike. Did you take the book route? Of course no one has taken responsibility to remove the old signs. On the route through Gallina this is a similar story, but I would argue strongly for keeping away from the via Cassia.

Ponte a Rigo to Aquapendente ditto.

9) The WM have changed slightly on the walk from Acquapendente to San Lorenzo, pulling you back to the Via Cassia a little sooner than they used to. The WM from San Lorenzo to Bolsena were unreliable in places. Fortunately, that lake serves as a handy navigational aid.

Paul: The book route, after leaving San Lorenzo, involves just 150m of the Cassia - did you follow the book here?

10) I have now twice tried and failed to find the Strada Sasso San Pellegrino called for on 70.027 on the walk from Viterbo to Vetralla. I've looked really diligently. I find it hard to believe, at this point, that the street exists. Instead, we followed the WM along the Cassia for probably 2km (maybe more) before WM took us L off of the Cassia shortly before arriving in Vetralla.

Paul: Our error the instruction is not clear - there is a bridge over the via Cassia before you take the ramp down to meet the road proper. You need to take the bridge to find Strada Sasso San Pellegrino on the far side. We will put this right in the 2011 edition.

11) The book instructs you to turn L on Via Dante before entering Monterosi, just missing all facilities in town - and getting an ugly walk out of the deal. Instead, walk straight into the center of town. At the central piazza, you'll find WM calling for a L. Proceed along that road, over a bridge, and eventually onto the highway. Very soon after, you'll fork left off of it. Again, soon after, you'll hit an inter-section with WM pointing you both L and straight ahead. Turn L. You'll be on a white road, the same one that the book instructs you to turn L onto at 71.030

Paul:  This stretch of the highway/via Cassia for me is one of the most dangerous parts of the entire journey . We have stuck with the official route to give it the widest possible berth.  

12) IMPORTANT - 71.031 is one of the most important route choices on the walk. WM will instruct you to turn L onto the paved road. This will result in you spending most of the rest of your walk to Campagnano on pavement and often on highway. Ignore these and follow the book, continuing straight on the dirt road. Eventually, WM will start up again. I can't understand why they don't have one at this

pivotal moment.

Paul:  Agreed

13) IMPORTANT - They have, for some unknown and bizarre reason, to add a shiny new WM in the Madonna del Sorbo park, instructing you to turn R off of the dirt road and walk through the park. I followed this last year. It was a near disaster. Maybe they've developed the route and it's nicer now, but it was a total fiasco 9 months ago. This is one of those frustrating VF spots where one group seems to have decided that they know better than everyone else and so they inserted a definitive WM, instead of indicating that both options are possible. Follow the book and continue straight. WM will resume in 100m.

Paul:  As you know we have battling to try and get some rationalization of the signing

14) IMPORTANT AGAIN - Sorry for three straight importants, but there's a lot going on along these final stretches! A new VF route was just opened in Formello and it's really nice! As you arrive on the edge of town, follow the old VF sign along the steeply descending road into town. Shiny new WM will lead you into the historic center and then out the other side. Purpose-built gravel roads follow, eventually transitioning onto dirt roads. It's a great walk, really pleasant scenery, and it eventually reconnects with the old route at Via Monte Michele. I enthusiastically encourage you to follow this instead of the older approach. 
More than anything, I was struck this time by the incredible level of hospitality offered in many of the stops along the way. My greatest concern with taking my students on the VF instead of the Camino is that they won't get the full sense of the pilgrimage experience with so many fewer pilgrims in Italy. Certainly, we missed the pilgrim community. But, the upshot of a more intimate route is that the level of hospitality offered can potentially be much higher and that it can be much more deeply personal, especially in Tuscany and Lazio. In Altopascio, the mayor actually welcomed us and asked to have his

picture taken with us. In Monteriggioni, Siena, Radicofani, Campagnano, and Rome pilgrim dinners (and sometimes breakfasts) were prepared by the hospitaleros or the community. When our hosts in

Siena and Bolsena learned we were leaving early in the morning, they stayed up and prepared sack breakfasts for the kids. Even in places where the accommodations were very simple, the priests or nuns were often very enthusiastic to have us, extracting all of the conversation they could out of our limited Italian.  On the Camino, quite often the popularity prompts the need for streamlining and efficiency in the albergues. On the VF, we were really touched by just how welcomed we were made to feel.

Paul: Thanks for this. The new route was inaugurated at the end of July and we have written to the municipality for more detail on its routing. If anyone has a GPS trace of this section we would be very grateful to receive it.

I think you have the sense of the VF experience just about right - for us the engagement with the communities en route has been the great joy of the route.


Paul Chinn and Babette Gallard - http://www.pilgrimagepublications.com/

A new VF Route through Italy

Visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/via-francigena/ for up-to-date news on the Via Francigena.

Alberto Conti joined the VF Yahoo group this week. This is his introduction:

I joined the group because Via Francigena is my passion, and my main job application: I work on walking and cycling routes, analyzing the country, walking on routes recording GPS tracks, processing them to obtain guides, maps and information useful for my customers. In 2005-2006 I worked for the European Association of Via Francigena (AEVF) collecting material, verifying on the ground the complete route (walking and biking) and preparing the maps published on website www.viafrancigena.eu.

From 2006 to 2008 I worked for Italian Culture Ministry on route upgrade, cooperating with local agencies and municipalities to improve safety and to go as far as possible from traffic roads. The result is a new guide, published free of charge on internet with GPS and Google Earth tracks, on the following link: http://www.librari.beniculturali.it/generaNews.jsp?id=98 . The route shall be definitively approved by the evaluation board (Consulta), within the end of 2008, and then it will become the official route for the government, on which they will install signposts etc.

The headquarter of my company, called itinerAria, is in a country house in Roppolo, in Piemonte, on Via Francigena. We have space and rooms, so I am pleased to host pilgrims free of charge, if they contact me in advance and I am not traveling. I know all Italian route very well, so please do not hesitate to contact me to have up to date information on the Via Francigena. Buon Cammino, Alberto Conte
itinerAria www.itineraria.eu


In response to a query re maps and routes, Alberto had this to say:

The AEVF maps have been replaced by the maps and road-book you can download by the following link: http://www.itineraria.eu/wp-content/gpx-viewer.php?gpxfile=http://www.itineraria\ .eu/wp-content/uploads/francigena/gpx/Francige_index0.xml By clicking on the pilgrims you can open more detailed maps of 5 different areas of Via Francigena: clicking again on the pilgrim you can choose to download the road book in pdf, the GPX track or the KMZ. The maps are about 1:25.000, but they are not very detailed because are obtained by Garmin vector maps. I hope that next year new paper topo maps will be prepared.

I went onto his website and although it has an English link, there is no English on the site as yet.

I also opened the link he gave and clicked on the pilgrims and downloaded one of the 'road-books' - a pdf. file with 10 pages of instructions and directions for using gps and other info.

I wonder how this new route affects the existing guide books by Monica D'Atti and Franco Cinti as well as the Engloish guide books by Lightfoot?



I also found this link for a Via Leona Romea trail which is a 300kms route that starts at Venice and connects with the VF at Altopascio
http://www.amicidisantiago.it/romea/leona.htm

In June 2008 a group of pilgrims walked the path specifically to check the feasibility. The consensus was that that the route identified is feasible and interesting, indeed it could hardly have been imagined that in this part of Italy so urbanized, industrialized inhabited, that there could be paths so quiet.

During the journey they added yellow arrows (where possible) to assist those who will come later. Moreover, the path was also created with GPS for those who want to use this modern guidance system.
They talk about a lack of signs, infrastructure and accommodation but hope that the popularity of the trail will grow so that the relative authorities will consider supporting the route.

TUESDAY, 27: DAY TWELVE - Pontremoli to Lucca 14kms

TUESDAY, JUNE 27: DAY THIRTEEN - Pontremoli to Lucca 14kms

Sil: Kathy Marion and I took a walk down the treelined lane that runs between our old farm house B&B and green fields. An elderly woman on a bicycle was picking poppies and field grasses for her husband's grave. The fields and the farmhouses are bordered by an old stone wall that encircles the property of a past Marquis of Pontremoli. (Pronounced to rhyme with Emily - emphasis on the TRE and not on the Moli). We got to the station at 8.30 and had an hour and half wait so Kathy and I went back into town to the post office,. I had a large padded envelope with my vest, Fleece jacket, Italian plugs and a few other odds and ends that I wanted to post to myself Poste Restant in Rome. Although it was a modern Post office this request was met with - first a blank stare, then frustration that I couldn’t post an item with my name on it to myself. After some heated consultation with other colleagues and a phone call to Rome, I was given triumphant confirmation that my item could in fact be posted to Rome's Central Ferme Post Office. Whether I will ever see it again remains to be seen!The train journey to Lucca was uneventdful and we found our hotel inside the old stone walls that encircle the old town. The description of the hotel was 'Art Deco' - think shabby chic and you'll have an idea of what it looked like. We were given a capacious room dominated by a large double bed which Kathy and Rayna shared. Besides another three single beds, a desk and chair, pink draylon boudoir chair and a huge wardrobe, there was still enough floor space to do the tango! There was an art deco painted border around the walls with the design repeated in the middle of the ceiling from which a 6 arm chandalier hung rather grandly. The whole affect was spoilt by Rayna and Sylvia's skimpy undies hanging from the chandalier on plastic hangars! If we activated our red flashing lights - you could have thought ‘Bordello!' The smells of deep heat, shampoo, deodorants, arnica rub and muscle rubs completed the scene. Just a few words about Lucca. Although today was a no walking day we still managed to clock up 14kms on our digi-walkers. Some of that was climbing up the 45m , 230 step tower – and down again - in Lucca. We were thrilled to find an internet cafe, booked 3 machines and posted 4 days onto our blog. Then more sightseeing and a lovely dinner of Tarte d'Erbe, and salads made in the communal kitchen on our floor.

Marion: This morning before we left Pontrmoli I decided to leave my red hat behind as I could repklace the space it took with an apple. I put my hat on top of the bin downstairs so that our hosttess could see that i was throwing it away. I did not want her to come down the road after us shouting 'You have left your hat!? After breakfast we left and walked to the station to catch our train. As we arrived, a car pulled up with opur hostess jumping out with my hat! Did we laugh! I then left it on top of a post box - and hopefully it won't come back to me a second time!

VAL: The Italians are very honest, good citizens which can be very annoying when you are trying deliberately to leave something behind. As Marion has told you about her red sunhat, a Durban beachfront special, which much to our relief she hasn't worn was destined for the 'I'm leaving this behind bin.' We are still expecting it to turn up. Int he supermercato I deliberately left two water bottle and replaced them with new full ones. As we were leaving a woman came running after us with my water bottle, next a shop assistant came running out with my stick, thank goodness the Italians are such good citizens! Lucca is so special - what a buzz! It reminds me of a Varsity town- lots of students and bicycles. Lots of history and lots of gorgeous shops. Backpacking is cramping my shopping stryle, credit card is in shock. I'm expecting my credit card company's Fraud dept to phone me any moment and advise me that my card must have been stolen by someone that isn't using it! Well I couldn't reist in one shop they had the most amazing display of masks - the kind you would wear to a masked ball - they were all made in Vienna and so authentic that they even had those that the muderer in Agatha Christie's muder novels would wear. I had to have one - I just had to! They are so light. So I did! The look of horror on the other girls faces made it even more exciting. It fits int he backpack, see? My masks walked 20kms today and no problem.

Kathy and Rayna: K & R are so pleased that they were at the back of the scribe queue today. All Kathy wants to add is that she paid E5 (R45) for the privelege of walking 230 steps up and 230 steps down an anicent tower in Lucca. Rayna who didn't run up and down the steps, asks "Are they crazy or what?"

Addendum to Tuesday by Kathy:"The pilgrims are revolting - all but one that is!" Silvia had a revolt on her hands at bedtime. Four revolting pilgrims refused to wash their clothes (as it is such a pain!) and went off to bed after dinner and a toothbrushing. All that got washed were "our smalls" and these - as you have read - were left to dry on the chandelier. Kathy had already worn her red shirt for 24 hours (yeuch!) Poor Silvia - she dutifully washed hers, crept quietly into our shared room and hung her washing up to dry. By this time the other revolters were sound asleep. In the morning when we woke up we put on our slightly used clothing and Silvia made us stand in line like cormorants in a row, while she sprayed Joy perfume under our arms. Silvia is still complaining that she now knows why she didn't sleep so well last night.