Where We're Headed

Our itinerary has been shaped by the availability of appropriate lodging, the cost of lodging, and the desire to stay away from most urban areas. The timing of the trip (June) was shaped by weather (the road across the Grand Saint-Bernard Pass doesn't open until sometime around early June so we couldn't go earlier, and July and August tend to be hotter months, which would make long-distance walking unbearable for me), as well as work and personal demands (fall is too busy). The trek across Switzerland on the Via Francigena (VF) is divided into 8 stages:

Stage 41: Jougne (France) to Orbe

Stage 42: Orbe to Cossonay

Stage 43: Cossonay to Lausanne

Stage 44: Lausanne to Villeneuve

Stage 45: Villeneuve to Saint-Maurice

Stage 46: Saint-Maurice to Martigny

Stage 47: Martigny to Orsières

Stage 48: Orsières to Col-Grand-Saint-Bernard

The walk across Switzerland can be done in as little as 9 to 11 days, but we didn't really want to walk more than 12 miles or so in a single day, plus we wanted a couple rest days, so we knew we needed at least two weeks. Also, I wanted to spend a couple days walking in northern Italy and Kat wanted to visit Milan, plus travel days, so that expanded the duration of the trip to three weeks. We weren't interested in seeing Lausanne or walking through nearby industrial and urban areas, so we replaced a segment of the VF with the use of public transportation, giving us some extra time in other places.

Our lodgings are a combination of AirBnBs, a hostel, accommodations for pilgrims, a religious retreat center, and an agriturismo (a farm with bed-and-breakfast accommodations) in Italy. There were very limited options for accommodations in the area around Orbe and Cossonay, which further affected the itinerary. After numerous adjustments, here is our current walking itinerary:

• Les Hôpitaux-Neufs, France
• Romainmôtier-Envy, Switzerland
  
• Puidoux
• Montreux
• Ollon
• Saint Maurice
• Martigny
• Orsières
• Bourg Saint Pierre
• Col Grand Saint Bernard
• Etroubles, Italy
• Aoste
  

Stay posted to see if this changes!