The Via Francigena

As I mentioned earlier, the Via Francigena is a transcontinental trail that runs from North France to Jeruselum. This trip gave me the amazing opportunity to hike part of this trail. We arrived in Gambassi Terme in the evening and stayed in the most adorable hostel. This was my first experience staying in a hostel and it couldn't have been more different than what I expected. It was a lovely little bit of land with a garden and chapel on site. The hosts cooked us a delicious dinner, made breakfast in the morning and even gave us lunch to take on our travels the next day.

So the next morning we started our trek to San Gimignano, which was only about 7-10 miles, a simple fraction of what most pilgrims and hikers are travelling on the Via Francigena. The hike was beautiful, in fact, it was absolutely stunning. We saw the most amazing Tuscan views, I felt like I was living in a screensaver. The rolling hills and tiny towns went on forever.

For most of the Via Francigena, there are two routes. A lower/valley trails which are faster but known to be more risky because they are near water, increasing the risk of disease and flooding. You were also more likely to encounter bandits on the lower trail. The higher/hilly trails on the otherhand were much safer but also more difficult and slower.

We arrived to San Gimignano, another lovely little town, known as the "Manhatten Tuscany" because it has the most towers still standing.