Walkingman

I was up early enough to be the first person for breakfast. It was larid out in a buffet, with the materials typical of a French breakfast: fresh bread, croissants, juices, and delicious coffee. Once I had eaten and was suitably energised, I was on my way. The official route of the Via Francigena goes…

The next morning I was up early and ready to go. Unfortunately my lodgings for the night did not do early breakfasts, but I reckoned I would get something in the town. My route back into the town centre took me across some downs, where a light mist looked like it would soon burn off…

I arrived in Canterbury on 9th September in the middle of a warm sunny afternoon. Summer had not yet given way to autumn, and the town was busy. I went straight from the railway station into the town centre, passing through the Westgate. The gate was built in 1380. Even then, Canterbury was a city…

The Camino de Santiago de Campostella is well known across the world, and attracts hundreds of thousands of travellers every year. As well as the routes in Spain and Portugal, there are feeder trails from all over Europe, including countries as far away as Poland and Norway. For medieval pilgrims, Santiago was regarded as the…

The word Dodentocht means Death March. In 1970, sixty-seven walkers started out in the Belgian village of Bornem to walk the first Dodentocht. Of that number, just 47 finished the walk of 100km within 24 hours. And so the Dodentocht was born. The next year, there were 202 starters. The following year, there were 397…

According to the guidebook, the next stage of the Alpine Panorama Weg would take me from the Schwarzsee to the village of Jaun*. That is just 12km, which seemed far too short for the travel to get there and back. The next stage went through a succession of villages to reach the town of Gruyere,…

The night before I went back to Schwarzenburg, there was heavy rain all over Switzerland. But the forecast was good, and I was determined to get another stage of the Alpine Panorama Weg behind me. I made an early start and took the train. Schwarzenburg is the terminus of one of the commuter lines around…

I arrived back in Münsingen early on a bright sunny morning, quite different from my last previous day on the trail. Münsingen is listed as being at 525m above sea level, and the next town on the route, Toffen, is listed at 527m. That means that they are practically on the same level, but in…

I was back in Emmenmatt on a grey morning to make the next stage of the journey. The skies were cloudy, and any hope of the Alpine Panorama Weg living up to its name were quickly dispelled. There would be no views of the Alps today. Interestingly, I was the only passenger to alight from…

For the next stage of the trail, I would have to get back to Napf. I had known from the last stage that Napf has no public transport , and the nearest point of access was Mettlenalp, so that is where I would have to go. Mettlenalp has a bus service, but only at weekends,…