I’d left Copenhagen on Sunday morning, flying into Milan, busing to the central station and taking a train to La Spezia, on the edge of Cinque Terre. This was my third time in La Spezia. First time was in March 2024, after walking the fabulous Via della Costa. I returned last September (2025) to continue from La Spezia and walk the Via Francigena to Rome. This time I’d overnight, take the short train ride to Sarzana, which I passed through last year, and then continue north along the Via Francigena to Pavia, and then on to Chur in Switzerland. I checked in and took a stroll around town. It was a pleasant evening and many people were out and about.
I woke at 6am, after a good nights sleep at a hotel just across from the railway station in La Spezia. The hotel has certainly seen better days, but was clean. Breakfast was sweet not salty, dry bread, razor thin slices of cheese, yoghurt, lukewarm coffee and at least 8 different cakes. After a quick breakfast, I walked over to the station, in plenty of time for the 8.17 train to Pisa, which left on time. It was drizzling and cold. Long trouser, not shorts weather. I don’t recall the last time I walked a stage in long trousers.
The drizzle continued as I arrived in Sarzana and set off on what would be a hard start. First days are always tough, but clocking 27km and 941m elevation with a wet start to the day, made it a tougher than normal stage.
Leaving Sarzana proved to be a challenge. The two bridges that crossed the dried out river were closed for reparation, so I had to climb down the bank next to one of the bridges to get cross the river bed. It was wide, so I assume that there is water sometimes – luckily not today.
After a pleasant walk along the canal Lunense, I started climbing. It started slowly, first along a road, then a dirt path. Today’s climb was up to 550m, mainly on a wide dirt track through forest. Sarzana is pretty much at sea level, so it was a hard climb on my first day. The forecasted heavy rain hadn’t started, and an umbrella was enough to keep me more or less dry.
I could see the picturesque village of Ponzano Superiore, with its dominating church above me as I climbed, finally reaching it, still in the rain. I was tempted to go into the village to see if I could find a a cafe, but decided to carry on.
I reached todays highest point after 10km, an intersection with three other paths at the aptly named Quatro Strade. I managed to take the two wrong paths, before finding the correct and somewhat smaller path downhill towards the villages of Vecchietto and Bibola.
The rain was now heavier, and the path was very narrow, with long grass and bushes, weighed down by the rain, rubbing against me as I walked past. I was soaked. At Bibola I stopped at a bus shelter and changed my socks and shoes, exchanging my trail shoes, now soaked, for a pair of more robust gore-tex shoes, as well as all my rain gear.
I started the descent towards Aulla, a mixture of fine dirt tracks and tracks where water had cut away most of the path. The rain had stopped so the umbrella and rain cape were packed away and I could use both hands to support the at times slippery path downwards.
I reached Aulla at 14.30 and had planned to eat lunch at a restaurant, as the place I am staying tonight is in the middle of nowhere and doesn’t offer dinner. However, I couldn’t find anywhere to eat and ended up in a cafe and a slice of potato tart, a berry tartlet and a coffee.
I walked through town and stopped at a supermarket at the edge of town and bought some bread, ham and cheese for dinner tonight.
I still had 7kms to go and left Aulla on a walking/cykling path following the Magra river. I missed the start of the path and ended up walking along the busy SS62 before finding a way to get onto the path. In Terrarossa I was back on dirt tracks towards Fornoli and the Agritourismo where I am staying, a couple of kilometers short of the village. The sun was shining.
It was 5pm before I reached the agriturismo, and to my dismay it was closed – and there was even a sign stating it was closed on Monday’s. I called the owner, just as a car pulled up and the owners got out. I was the only person staying there tonight.
I was staying in a small bungalow, so I was able to dry my shoes and enjoy my sandwich for dinner, in the middle of the countryside, only disturbed by the very loud hee-haws of a donkey in a field close by.
I met 5 walkers today, all on their way to Rome. That’s the nice thing about walking in the opposite directions to the pilgrim’s walking to Rome – I actually meet people.
Checking tomorrow’s weather there is a thunderstorm warning – looks like it could be another challenging day.