Preparation: January 2022

 

To kick off our retirement travel goals in 2020, we had originally planned to walk the Portuguese Route of the Camino de Santiago!  However, alas, along came the pandemic and prevented that, or any other, travelling ....

So fast-forward to 2022 and travel is finally possible again!  However, before booking flights, we gave thought to our plans as we anticipated that record-setting numbers of peregrinoes will be bursting out of the starting gate on the Camino (delayed travel plans, a holy year, etc.), so we looked for a similar long walk with gorgeous scenery, delicious food and, hopefully, fewer people.  Friends suggested the Via Francigena!  And so, we set our sights on Rome!

We purchased the Cicerone Press guide books for walking the Via Francigena, written by Sandy Brown.  Since our plan is to "only" walk from Lausanne to Rome, we did not buy Part 1 of the series (Canterbury to Lausanne).  The guide books are excellent and can be purchased from the publisher's website or from Amazon for about $30 each.

Our guides arrived in December and planning began in earnest in January 2022.  Our window for travel would be May to July 2022.