The Ciclovia Francigena is one of the most fascinating cycling routes in Italy, and thanks to the e-bike it has become a journey suited even to urban cyclists wanting to experience the thrill of a long, stage-by-stage adventure for the first time.
The Via Francigena is a journey through time before it is a journey through space, where traces of the Roman era, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance overlap in an unbroken continuum. We encounter Rome in the very first kilometres, passing through the Porta Praetoria and skirting the Arch of Augustus in Aosta, and we will meet it again and again, pedalling along the cobblestones of the Via delle Gallie or the Via Cassia — ancient routes reused by medieval pilgrims. The most famous of them, Sigerico, Archbishop of Canterbury, recorded the stages of his journey from Rome to Canterbury in a celebrated manuscript, written in 990 when he returned to the English city after receiving his investiture from the Pope.
For centuries, armies, merchants and pilgrims travelled this road, and with them came money, craftsmen, and ways of building and praying. The beauty encountered along the way is not distributed by chance: it is found where travellers stopped to sleep, to trade, to seek protection. This is why walking or cycling the Via Francigena slowly gives back something that a car journey never allows you to grasp: continuity.
The Valle d'Aosta is left behind in a couple of days, with the castles that once controlled the road looking as though they are still on guard. At Ivrea the valley of the Dora Baltea opens out into the moraine amphitheatre, and the plain begins. In spring the rice paddies of the Vercellese are flooded and the countryside becomes a "chequered sea". You cycle along straight embankments with the sky reflected upside-down beneath your wheels, herons rising slowly, and the sound of the wind is the only thing to listen to for hours. In autumn those same fields turn yellow, the low light setting them ablaze towards evening.
In Vercelli, in the cathedral archive, a book is kept that has travelled a long way. The Vercelli Book is a tenth-century codex written in Old English, containing texts unique in the world. How it ended up in Piedmont no one knows for certain, and tradition attributes it to a northern traveller who came south along the Francigena. It is an example of what this road truly was: a corridor along which culture travelled. Vercelli and Pavia grew important in this way, as two crossroads between ancient routes. Those who passed through needed hospitality, money-changing, goods to buy and barter, and a place to pray. The churches, markets and bridges you cross today are the result of those needs.
The Po is crossed at Piacenza and the cycle route follows a maze of minor roads running parallel to the Via Emilia, through fields, canals and rows of poplars, in long days measured in hours rather than effort. At Fidenza it is worth taking time to visit the cathedral of San Donnino. Among the sculptures by Benedetto Antelami and his workshop, one statue holds a scroll pointing the way to Rome; on the right flank of the church, the procession of pilgrims that inspired the modern emblem of the Via Francigena is clearly recognisable.
Just beyond, the plain comes to an end. The Taro valley narrows and climbs towards the Passo della Cisa, which in the Middle Ages was called Monte Bardone and for centuries marked the border between two worlds. On the other side lies the Lunigiana, stone houses, villages clinging to the hillsides. In Pontremoli, in the church of San Pietro, a stone slab preserves a medieval labyrinth and three Latin words: sic currite ut comprehendatis — run in such a way that you may reach the goal. The labyrinth is the ancient symbol of pilgrimage, life turning back on itself, and just when you feel utterly lost, the way out is found nonetheless.
In Lucca we find a similar labyrinth, carved on a pillar of the portico of the cathedral of San Martino. Twice, along the same road, someone wanted to give the same message to those travelling the Via Francigena in search of God, or of themselves. In Lucca you can cycle along the top of the city walls, on a tree-lined loop of more than four kilometres suspended between the rooftops of the old town centre — one of the most beautiful in Italy. A little further on, at Altopascio, there is a tower that once held a bell known as la Smarrita — the Lost One. It rang in the evening for those still out in the marshes of the Cerbaie who had not yet found shelter: a sound in the darkness as the only form of welcome. It was rung by the Cavalieri del Tau, who maintained bridges and canals and accompanied travellers through the most dangerous stretches.
From San Miniato onwards, for several days you cycle immersed in a landscape you feel you already know, having seen it hundreds of times on Tuscan postcards. This is how you arrive at Siena, perhaps the most illustrious daughter of this road: its merchants and bankers worked along the Francigena, lending money to travellers bound for Rome and following their trade all the way to France. The Piazza del Campo and the cathedral were paid for, in large part, by those who passed through here. Then we enter the Val d'Orcia, dominated by Radicofani, its fortress visible from dozens of kilometres away. Up there lived Ghino di Tacco, the Sienese nobleman turned bandit who preyed on travellers along the Francigena and whom Dante placed in Purgatory and Boccaccio in the Decameron — proof that this road was rich enough to be worth an ambush.
It's best to arrive at Lake Bolsena in the late afternoon and spend the night there. The sunset seen from its shores, with the water changing colour, puts a day of climbs back in order better than any planned rest stop. The following day you ascend to Montefiascone, and just outside the village you can ride along a long stretch of Roman paving stones. The wheels roll over the stones of the Via Cassia, worn smooth by two thousand years of passage. Rome returns beneath your wheels before it even appears on the horizon. In Viterbo, the San Pellegrino quarter is well worth visiting as the light fades.
Arches span the alleyways, external staircases climb towards doorways, and the stone still radiates the warmth of the day. Right in the centre stands the Palazzo dei Papi, where between 1268 and 1271 the cardinals were locked in until they elected a pope — it was from that confinement that the word conclave has its origins. The end is near. Sutri is one of the most beautiful surprises of the entire route: the Roman amphitheatre is carved entirely out of tufa rock — you enter through a corridor in the stone and find yourself in a hollow, silent basin where seven thousand people once gathered. Then the route reaches the Tiber and follows it along the cycle path into the heart of the city, away from traffic, until you leave the river to reach Piazza San Pietro — the grand finale of a magnificent journey.
The Ciclovia Francigena links the Gran San Bernardo pass to Rome: 1,050 kilometres, 7 regions, 21 "official" stages that can be shortened or combined. For those travelling by bike, the most practical starting point is Aosta, since the pass sits at 2,473 metres and remains closed due to snow from October until the end of May. The cycle route differs from the walkers' path for more than half its length: where pilgrims on foot follow rough tracks or narrow passages, the cycle route keeps to minor roads with low traffic, unpaved roads, dedicated cycle paths and river embankments. It shares the logistics with the walking route: the credenziale to be stamped, affiliated rest stops at subsidised prices, restaurants offering the pilgrim's menu, and the Testimonium collected in Rome at the end of the journey.
The route is fairly straightforward as far as Fidenza. From Aosta it is just over 340 kilometres, predominantly flat, with the ups and downs of the Aosta Valley only in the first few days. After Fidenza a different journey begins, where each stage involves significant elevation gain and at times very steep climbs. The ideal bicycle is a gravel or trekking bike with smooth-rolling tyres, though a mountain bike with lightly treaded tyres works well too; an e-bike makes the route accessible even to those who have never tackled a multi-day journey. From Pavia onwards the cycle route coincides with EuroVelo 5, the Via Romea Francigena. Over the past two years, the Associazione europea delle Vie Francigene, Fiab and Movimento Lento have worked alongside Italian regional authorities to update and improve the route. The signage dates back about ten years and is no longer complete: GPS tracks or the official app are essential for navigation.
The best months are April and May, September and October. September is by far the favourite month among travellers. Summer is not recommended on the plains section, even though on a bicycle the heat is more bearable than on foot, since the movement creates a breath of air that walkers lack. The train is an important resource, as there are many stations along the route with a bike-on-train service: you can choose where to start and tackle short stretches over different periods, depending on the time available. The Ivrea–Aosta line is closed for electrification works until the reopening announced for 2027, and in the meantime Ivrea, Santhià, Vercelli, Pavia, Piacenza and Fidenza can all serve as excellent starting points. The return journey needs to be planned: the bike-on-train service in Italy is guaranteed almost exclusively by regional trains, so getting back from Rome with your bicycle means factoring in several changes, or arranging to have it shipped home.
Everything else is gathered in the itinerary page on SlowMap: GPS tracks to download, links to the app and the official Via Francigena website for navigation along the route, for finding accommodation and rest stops, and the travel planner that lets you decide how many days you have and how far you want to ride each day, and plans the trip — complete with places to sleep — in a free guide you can download to your phone. The SlowCard entitles holders to a discount on accommodation, restaurants and bike hire.
