After completing my walk to Rome in September 2025, I returned to Sarazana in April 2026 to walk to Pavia along the Via Francigena, and on to Chur is Switzerland, along the Via Francisca del Lucomagno.

Most walkers follow the Via Francigena over the St. Bernard Pass, but at this time of year the pass is closed, so I instead choose to walk over the Lucomagno Pass.   

The Via Francisca del Lucomagno is an ancient route – historically documented – which leads from Constance on the Swiss-German border in to Pavia in Italy. I walked from Pavia to Chur in Switzerland.

When the journeys were made on foot or on horseback, this route represented a fundamental link with the Po Valley, because it was shorter than other routes.

Among the historical figures who travelled this route is remembered St. Columbanus, who died in Bobbio in 615, and the emperors Henry II and Frederick Barbarossa. The Via del Lucomagno was fundamental for the history of the Church and Europe, as it recalls all the Councils of Constance where pontiffs and bishops from all over Europe went.

The Via Francisca del Lucomagno is a walk in two parts, through the extremely flat Po Valley in Italy and over hills and mountains in Switzerland.

This is an extremely beautiful walk, with fabulous scenery through northern Italy and southern Switzerland. Pavia, Varese’s Sacra Monte, the Lucomagno climb, Chur are highlights, but the scenery is beyond doubt what stands out.