Luggage transfer on the Via Francigena

The corridor makes it possible. From Lucca the route crosses the Arno plain, climbs into the Tuscan hills and then follows the line of the old Via Cassia south through Siena, the Val d’Orcia, Radicofani, Bolsena and Viterbo before dropping into the Roman campagna. Stage ends sit on hilltops with roads to them — San Miniato, Gambassi Terme, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Montefiascone, Sutri, Campagnano di Roma. The complication is not the towns but the beds: a great deal of accommodation is an agriturismo two or three kilometres down an unsurfaced white road with no house number.

Walking with a day pack matters most in the second half. Between Ponte d’Arbia and Radicofani, and again across Lazio, stages run long and open with little shade, and April to October regularly delivers temperatures that make a full rucksack the difference between finishing at noon and finishing at four. Even unladen you will carry two to three litres of water, a hat and food, because village bars close in the afternoon and some hamlets have nothing at all. Shedding the main bag buys you an earlier start and a slower pace in the heat.

Because there are fewer beds per stage than in Spain, most walkers book the whole route before leaving, and the transfer plan simply mirrors that list. Confirm each address with a phone number, and expect some hosts to be out during the day, so bags are left in a porch or with a neighbour. Changing plan mid-route is harder here than on the Camino: fewer drivers, fewer alternatives within walking distance. If you need to shorten a day, the regional bus and train network in Tuscany is good, and the bag can be redirected to the same night’s address.