The Hardest Stages of the Via Francigena, Ranked by the Data

The stage pages grade each day easy, moderate or hard, and six of the 83 in the data are graded hard. But a grade is a judgement; the ascent figures are measurements. This guide ranks the stages two ways from the stage data — climbing per kilometre, which is what your legs feel, and total ascent, which is what the day costs — and then explains, from each stage's own description and warnings, why it is hard. At the end are the ten flattest stages, for anyone planning a first trip.

Every number is from the same data as the stage pages; nothing is estimated.

The steepest stages: ascent per kilometre

The route average is 16 m of ascent per kilometre. The top three are in a class of their own: the two Alpine approach days and the Apennine climb to Berceto. Notice how many "easy"-graded stages appear from fourth place down — Aulla–Sarzana, Châtillon–Verrès, Bolsena–Montefiascone, Aigle–Saint-Maurice are all short days that pack their climbing into a few kilometres, and the grade reflects the day's length rather than its gradient.

The biggest days: total ascent

Only five stages on the route climb more than 850 m, and they are the five at the top of this table. Four of the five are graded hard; Orsières–Bourg-Saint-Pierre is the exception, graded moderate presumably because it is only 14 km and four and a half hours.

Why each of the big five is hard

Fornovo di Taro to Berceto (stage 56). The biggest climb on the Via Francigena: 1,391 m of ascent and 751 m of descent in 30 km, nine hours, up the Taro valley through chestnut forest to the last town before the Cisa Pass. The stage page calls it "a demanding mountain stage" that "requires good fitness and preparation", and its warnings are sustained steep ascent, mountain weather that can change quickly, carry sufficient water and food, and start early to allow time for the climb. Water is marked moderate, shade full. It comes the day after a 32 km stage from Fidenza and the day before a 32 km stage over the pass, which is why the Apennines have the longest average day on the route.

Bourg-Saint-Pierre to the Great St Bernard Pass (stage 40). 1,023 m in 16 km, to the highest point of the route at 2,469 m. It is the only stage marked scarce water and no shade, and the only one with an open window in the data (approximately 20 June to 15 September). Warnings: snow and ice possible even in summer, extreme weather changes with little warning, no shelter between Bourg-Saint-Pierre and the hospice, carry warm clothing, rain gear and extra food and water. The pass guide covers the season and the alternative.

San Quirico d'Orcia to Radicofani (stage 72). 32 km and 991 m, nine hours, "the hardest stage in Tuscany and one of the most dramatic on the entire Via Francigena", climbing to the fortress at 814 m on an extinct volcano. Scarce water, minimal shade, and the warnings say carry at least two litres, very long and exposed, thunderstorms can develop quickly in summer. It is hard in a different way from the Alps: heat and distance rather than altitude.

Orsières to Bourg-Saint-Pierre (stage 39). The steepest stage on the route: 921 m in 14 km, 66 m per kilometre, through meadows and forest to the last village before the pass. Water moderate, shade partial; warnings are rapidly changing mountain weather and limited services between villages. Short enough to be graded moderate, steep enough to be rank one.

Ornans to Pontarlier (stage 29). 32 km and 895 m through the Jura, the longest estimated day on the route at nine and a half hours. Warnings: long and strenuous, significant elevation gain, weather can change quickly in the mountains. It is followed by Pontarlier–Jougne, also graded hard.

Hard for other reasons

The grade on a stage page is not only about ascent, and the data shows two other kinds of hard day.

Descents. Great St Bernard Pass to Etroubles (stage 41) climbs only 65 m but drops 1,271 m, and its page says "steep rocky descent hard on knees, trekking poles strongly recommended". Berceto to Pontremoli (stage 57) crosses the Cisa Pass at 1,041 m and then drops 1,267 m — graded hard, with warnings of a long day, a steep descent on the knees and fog at the pass. Jougne to Orbe (788 m down) and Etroubles to Aosta (842 m down) are the next two.

Conditions. Pontarlier to Jougne (stage 30) is graded hard with only 376 m of ascent — below the route average — because it is a mountain stage to 1,045 m with warnings of cold even in summer and snow outside June to September. The data does not support calling it a big climb, and we have not.

Distance and exposure. Twelve stages are 30 km or more. The ones that combine length with minimal shade — Trépail–Châlons (30 km), Ivrea–Santhià (30 km), Mortara–Pavia (32 km, "very long, consider splitting"), Siena–Ponte d'Arbia (28 km, "brutally hot in summer") — are hard in July in a way that no ascent figure captures. See best time to walk.

The ten flattest stages, for beginners

Ranked by ascent per kilometre. Water and shade are from the stage data.

Two cautions before you plan a beginner's week from this list. First, flat is not short: seven of the ten are 22 km or more and three are 28–32 km. Second, flat is not shaded — the Po Valley stages are all marked minimal shade, and their pages warn about sun, water and mosquitoes. The stage that fails on neither count is Calais–Guînes, 18 km with abundant water, and the one with the best combination in Italy is Lucca–Altopascio, 18 km, abundant water, partial shade, and Lucca at the start.

For a genuinely gentle first week, the shortest days are in Lazio rather than the plain: Bolsena–Montefiascone (17 km), Montefiascone–Viterbo (18), Viterbo–Vetralla (18), Vetralla–Capranica (15), Capranica–Sutri (12) — all graded easy, all with abundant water — and they end in Rome. The Siena to Rome guide lays them out.