Italy Coast to Coast Walk 2026

  It was straight uphill this morning, the fog making for some atmospheric photos. The Cammino di San Francesco was well marked and took us through wood and open paddocks. When we came to the only little town enroute, we restocked in the local bar. After a minor diversion with very scenic views, we continued on the Cammino which followed the road. Soon it left the road to take us straight uphill again. We mainly followed ridges, mostly through forest. We stopped briefly for a prosciutto and cheese piadina but it was too cold to sit for long. It was here that the E1, the European long distance walking path, joined our route.  Luckily we came down off the top rapidly and warmed up, even finding a picnic table to eat our apples. We went up and down a few more times, especially enjoying a patch of open grass with great views, before reaching the sanctuary of La Verna. As well as admiring the view, we visited the church with beautiful ceramics, the corridor with murals depict...

  To avoid some nasty farm dogs, we rejoined the Cammino di San Francesco after making a minor detour. There was a lot of uphill today,  resulting in more wonderful views over the surrounding countryside.  We were on tracks and minor roads and hardly saw anyone.  The one cyclist stopped for a chat, even though he was going downhill, and asked if we were following a particular trail -  the Cammino di San Francesco of course! We had our healthy fruit after about 10 km, sitting down in a drain in the absence of a picnic table - we found that after another few kilometres! Lunch was bread and ham in the alcove of a little church. We saw signs for mushroom harvesting and wondered about the absence of cows,  even though we saw signage for them.  We had a mandarin break just before our last climb of the day, past the Hermitage of San Alberico. This was a steady climb then slow descent through shady forests.  Part of the way was beside a small stream, and ...