We purchased our air tickets in March: fly into Geneva and return home from Rome. Perfect!
Our research and planning continued with Sandy Brown's Walking the Via Francigena. Uh oh -- we were dismayed to learn that much of the trail through the Alps would still be closed in May, due to snow, and would not open until mid-July or later. We would not even be able to walk along the highway through the Great St. Bernard Pass, as the road only opens in early to mid-June! Therefore, our trek would have to take a bus detour through a tunnel, skip the pass, and then resume the trail in Aosta, Italy.
We also watched many YouTube vlogs by Francigena pilgrims. Cuban traveler, Efrén González, has a wonderful channel that offers 5-10 minute videos of the daily stages of the Via Francigena and other long hikes, including many of the Spanish Caminos. His entries include beautiful aerial drone-shots of the trail, as well as examples of expected food and accommodations.
While conducting such online research, we came across an informative blog called "Just a Little Further" by David and Marcie Lynn. The Lynns walked the Via Francigena in the backward direction, i.e. from Rome to Canterbury. This got us thinking ....
If we changed our direction and walked from Rome to Lausanne we would solve two climate-related issues. We would walk through Tuscany in cooler temperatures (May and early June versus July) and we would walk through the Alps in July, when the St. Bernard pass is open, instead of in May when it is still buried under snow.
We changed our tickets to be a return flight to Rome! More perfect!
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