Steven – Following your feet

Day 199: Meilingen to Füssen

After a great breakfast I was on my way on a short 12km trip to Füssen, on the Austrian-German border. Today marks the end of my autumn journey where I have walked ca. 600km in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Germany. Five countries on one trip, I don’t think that I ever walked in more…

Day 198: Rettenberg to Meilingen

The church bells rang all night. Once at quarter past, twice at half past, three times at quarter to and four times on the hour. On the hour the four chimes were followed by the time of day, twice – so at 5am the bell rang 14 times. But it got worse, at 6am, beyond…

Day 197: Oberstaufen to Rettenberg

A day that didn’t live up to the very high standards set by yesterday’s hike, but enjoyable non the less. 26km and the only noticeable climb was at the end, climbing into Rettenberg. I had a good nights sleep and an enjoyable breakfast. The man managing the breakfast room knew everybody, many giving him a…

Day 196: Bregenz to Oberstaufen

What a beautiful day. A beautiful stage through the green and rolling hills of the lower Alps. Beautiful weather, sunny with mostly blue skies, no wind and temperatures in the lower 20’s. The Bergenz JUFA offer a very nice and varied breakfast and I was down to enjoy it just after 7 o’clock. I would…

Day 195: Lustenau to Bregenz

Day 18 of this trip and my 195th walking day since leaving Sagres. Today I reached Bregenz which marks the end of the Via Francisca del Lucomagno for me. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the official route ends in Constance in Switzerland, elsewhere on the Lake Constance. Today is a two part walk.…

Day 194: Ruggel to Lustenau

The most noteworthy thing from today’s walk was that I visited three countries. I started in Liechtenstein, walked through Switzerland and ended up in Austria. A first for me. I have never walked in three countries in one day before. Otherwise it was a very uneventful day. I walked 24km and there was 100m of…

Day 193: Maienfeld to Ruggell

This could be the shortest post I have ever written. A very uneventful day, perhaps apart from visiting a country, Liechtenstein, which I have never visited before. After a fine breakfast at the Heidi hotel, I was on my way shortly after 8 o’clock. It was grey and damp as I passed the village, Maienfeld,…

Day 192: Chur to Maienfeld

Back in Chur and ready to continue along the Via Francisca del Lucomagno, where I left off in spring, where I’d walked from Pavia to Chur over the Lucomagno Pass in the Alps. The Via Francisca del Lucomango is normally walked from Konstanz on Lake Constance to Pavia in Italy, but I walked it in…

Day 191: Montreux to Lausanne

Today is the last day of my walk along the Via Francigena – at least for now. Arriving in Lausanne, I will have walked between between Lausanne and Rome, over three stages. Whether I continue through France to Canterbury, time will tell. It was a beautiful walk to end on – partly along the banks…

Day 190: Saint-Maurice to Montreux

A 28km day turned into 32km thanks to diversions, missed turns, a coffee break and doing laundry. Far from the most exciting day, in fact perhaps one of the most boring and irritating days I recall. An 8am start and a day without even the smallest climb, meant that despite the extra kilometers and an…

Day 189: Martigny-Bourg to Saint-Maurice

After several hard days, today was, at last, a relatively short day. 20km with a minor detour to see one of only two gorges listed as national heritage sites in Switzerland – at least according to worker in the florist selling tickets to see it – yes tickets were sold at a florist. It was…

Day 188: Bourg-Saint-Pierre to Martigny-Bourg

Thankfully I sleep with earplugs. Therefore, I didn’t hear most of the thunder claps during the night. But one of them was so loud that the hotel shook. And it wasn’t only me that felt it, the Australian couple I spoke with at breakfast had also felt it. They had planned to walk up to…

Day 187: Bourg de Saint-Rhémy to Bourg-Saint-Pierre

I started the day at ca. 1600m and ended the day at ca. 1600, but in between I climbed to the Grand Saint Bernard Pass at 2470m above sea level, before descending again to Bourg-Saint-Pierre where I spent the night. I was eating breakfast at 7.30 and on my way by 8.15. It was a…

Day 186: Aosta to Bourg de Saint-Rhémy

A short day in terms of kilometers, only 24kms, but a big day in terms of elevation gain. The difference between Aosta and Bourg de Saint-Rhemy, 7kms before the Grand Saint-Bernard Pass, is 1085m, reaching over 1600m, and the total elevation gain of ca. 1500m. In many respects it is an odd walk. The vast…

Day 185: Chatillon to Aosta

Another beautiful day. A day along the Aosta valley, just short of 30km, 1000m elevation and 30+ degrees. Although I finished walking more than a couple of hours ago and it is after 6pm, it is still over 30 degrees. Thankfully there is a slight wind. I wrote most of this post sitting in a…

Day 184: Forte di Bard to Chatillon

As I left Forte di Bard, it almost felt cold – it was “only” 25c and as I walked over to have an excellent breakfast it felt as though I might need my fleece. I soon agreed with myself that a fleece was overkill – it was after all 25c! After descending upon the five…

Day 183: Ivrea to Forte di Bard

I met the owners of the B&B this morning. It is the family home, and has been a B&B since his father died. It is beautifully renovated and a pleasant stay. Breakfast was also excellent. Living in Scandinavia the overwhelming position on the Russian-Ukraine war is that the Russians are the aggressors. The owners have…

Day 182: Santhià to Ivrea

Gone are the rice paddies. Not a single one after leaving Santhià. Officially today is the longest day at 38km. Many walkers split it into two stages of 24 and 14 kilometers. 14kms is short, so others do Ivrea to Vercelli in three ca. 20km stages. I took a different approach. I’d read that the…

Day 181: Vercelli to Santhià

After a total of 42km yesterday, today was a “mere” 26km. Whilst there was a light partial cloud cover, it was still super hot. I slept until 7am, had a leisurely breakfast and was on my way by 9am, walking along a ring road at the edge of town. I stopped at the supermarket next…

Day 180: Mortara to Vercelli

Not a particularly memorable walking day, but a day I’ll remember for my non-walking activities. I ended up walking 43km and was shattered upon arriving at the hotel I was staying. I was up at 5.30am, showered and walked the 2,5km to the station. I have left my toilet bag and medicine at the motel…

Day 179: Gropello Cairoli to Mortara

It was going to be a hot day. The thermometer had already passed 25C when I rose at 6.30. After an Italian breakfast with lots of cake, I was packed and on my way by 7.45. Well, I thought I’d packed, but I’ll come back to that. Today was going to be a 31km day,…