There are many ways to arrive in Rome.
Few allow you to earn it step by step.
For more than a thousand years, the Via Francigena has carried travelers south toward the Eternal City. In 990, Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury recorded the stages of his journey along this road, preserving one of the earliest accounts of a medieval pilgrimage to Rome.
Over twenty-two days, we walk the Italian stretch from Lucca to St. Peter’s Basilica.
The journey begins in Tuscany. From Lucca’s Renaissance walls we move through vineyards, olive groves, wooded hills, and white gravel roads. San Miniato and its truffles. The towers of San Gimignano. Monteriggioni encircled by stone. Siena’s Duomo and Piazza del Campo. The rolling Val d’Orcia and the vineyards of Montalcino. Radicofani rising high above the Tuscan landscape.
Pilgrimage here is inseparable from culture: romanesque abbeys, hilltop towns, agriturismi, and evenings shaped by regional wine and cuisine.
Crossing into Lazio, the landscape opens. Lake Bolsena reflects the sky from its volcanic basin. From here, we make a meaningful detour to Orvieto in neighboring Umbria, linked to Bolsena through the Eucharistic Miracle of 1263. Its cathedral remains one of Italy’s great Gothic masterpieces.
In Viterbo, the medieval City of the Popes, we walk through narrow peperino stone streets before continuing south into the forests of the Monti Cimini and the quiet beauty of Lake Vico. In the archaeological park of Sutri, Roman and Etruscan remains carved into stone remind us how many civilizations have walked this road before us.
From Monte Mario, we glimpse the dome of St. Peter’s. We descend into Rome on foot and walk together to the Basilica, completing the pilgrimage in the most traditional way.
The Via Francigena is deeply Italian in character. Shaped by art, landscape, architecture, and cuisine. It is a journey that unfolds slowly, allowing the land to reveal its history.
Since 1995, Spanish Steps has guided travelers along Europe’s historic roads. On the Via Francigena, we combine balanced daily stages, carefully selected accommodations, dinners with wine, and full van support with healthy snacks and water with walking as a small community all the way to Rome.
An arrival, earned step by step.
