Have any Americans walked the whole Francigena?

[Schmutdo]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a long pilgrimage and this one jumped off the page.

One of my major concerns is the fact that it will take longer than 90 days to complete the trail and I can only be in Europe for 90 days without getting a visa.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you all

 

[AZtor]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a long pilgrimage and this one jumped off the page.

One of my major concerns is the fact that it will take longer than 90 days to complete the trail and I can only be in Europe for 90 days without getting a visa.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you all

you could try applying for a visa extension (or at the very least send an email to inquire if this was a possibility).

 

[jungleboy]

The UK is not in the Schengen Zone so the 90 days would begin when you arrive in France, if that helps.

 

[Bradypus]

The UK is not in the Schengen Zone so the 90 days would begin when you arrive in France, if that helps.

I started walking from Canterbury at breakfast time and had dinner the same day in Calais. Not sure that knocking one day off the Schengen allowance is a huge help!

 

[Former member 92300]

It can be done, if you are motivated to do it. I am doing the VF this summer - I can't go all the way to Rome because of my work schedule - but I am going Canterbury to Aosta this year. I am taking 42 walking days to do that. I could do it in a few less - but I decided to take my time through Switzerland.

In the UK (which isn't Schengen anyway) and a lot of France - the terrain looks easy enough to do a lot of longer "stage" days. And there are places where you can detour to save some distance if you want to.

If you can get an extended visa and go at a more relaxed pace, you should try to do that. But - if you can't - get trail legs before you go and plan to do some longer days in France. The other option is to do what I am doing - half one year and the other half the next year (or whenever you can get there again).

 

[Bradypus]

I'm not American but as a Brit post-Brexit I am in the same situation. I walked from Canterbury to Rome in 2015 in 66 days while carrying camping gear. I might take a few days longer now but I would still expect to complete the route in well under the 90 day limit. It can be done.

 

[OZAJ]

I'm not American but as a Brit post-Brexit I am in the same situation. I walked from Canterbury to Rome in 2015 in 66 days while carrying camping gear. I might take a few days longer now but I would still expect to complete the route in well under the 90 day limit. It can be done.

I walked in 2011 in 67 days.

 

[Esperanza]

I know a couple of Americans who have done it, both solo walkers. I’m not sure how long it took, but somehow they did it.

 

[mr potatohead]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a long pilgrimage and this one jumped off the page.

One of my major concerns is the fact that it will take longer than 90 days to complete the trail and I can only be in Europe for 90 days without getting a visa.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you all

Efren Gonzalez has a whole series of videos on Youtube:

 

[Rex]

Last year I walked from Dover to Martigny in 43 days. Longest days were 26 (42km) and 24 (40km) miles, but average was 14+ miles/day (22km) per day. Took rest days in Arras, Rheims, Langres and Lausanne for sightseeing and cultural experiences. This worked out to be almost exactly 1/2 way to Rome.
This year or next, I plan to take another 40-45 days and finish the trek. 90 days is doable if one averages out the long days with rest days and shorter stages to average about 13 miles per day.
Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome has a lot of information that helps in planning stages that are walkable (assuming one is in decent physical condition).
NB: I followed much of the route that TimR described in a different thread on this forum and my route deviated from the “official route” on occasion when I did not detour five miles into the forest to avoid 1/4 mile of tarmac road. This can reduce the total mileage to Rome by over 100 miles vs the official route. Just use online maps and GPS.
Bon courage!

 

[Tandem Graham]

The Via Francigena is certainly doable by a reasonably fit walker in less than 90 days. I will walk starting in Canterbury in August this year with a rough plan of 75 days to Rome. I'm 60 and have completed long Caminos on bike and on foot, but this certainly will be the longest. I'm a Brit so no longer have Schengen rights, so 90 days is my limit too.

An extended Schengen visa is reputedly very difficult to obtain. It is usually limited to one country and requires a fixed address within the zone - not ideal for moving pilgrims! There may be ways to navigate the system - eg for academic research purposes? But still daunting.

If you do decide to walk the VF, bear in mind that the infrastructure associated with the popular Caminos is not present for the VF (yet):
Few choices of accommodation and some of those can be quite expensive;
Some stages without shops, bars or restaurants; Patchy availability of baggage transfers;
Less consistent signage;and,
Particularly in France, very few fellow pilgrims.

Those challenges seem enticing to some and off-putting to others! If you Google "Together on Foot, Via Francigena blog" you will uncover the experiences (in words, pictures and videos) of Mark and Alison from NC, who walked in 2021.

Buen Camino!

 

[Blackcountry pilgrim]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a long pilgrimage and this one jumped off the page.

One of my major concerns is the fact that it will take longer than 90 days to complete the trail and I can only be in Europe for 90 days without getting a visa.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you all

 

[Blackcountry pilgrim]

Not sure regarding visas but Efren Gonzalez walked the route a few years back
He videoed his journey from Canturbury to Rome daily on YouTube and is pretty comprehensive regarding the terrain,pilgrim facilities and the kms he walked each day
Might help good luck

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

It can be done in 90 or less. But your stages would not be following the VF app exact route and your stages would be longer in mileage/KM's each day.

 

[Vince Rollason]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a long pilgrimage and this one jumped off the page.

One of my major concerns is the fact that it will take longer than 90 days to complete the trail and I can only be in Europe for 90 days without getting a visa.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you all

Hello
I am English and am planning to walk the VF later this year. Since the UK left the EU the 90 day also applies to us Brits. Fortunately for me my late mother was born in the Republic of Ireland so I qualified for an Irish passport because of this. Ireland is till a member of the EU so free movement applies to Irish passport holders and the 90 day rule does not apply. It was a simple process to obtain the passport and it seems that my children can also apply for dual citizenship. This concession ends with her grandchildren. However I know of a number of people with family connections to European countries who have used this to their advantage. It may be something of a long shot for you but possibly worth exploring.
Buen Camino
Vince

 

[Anna&Michael]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a long pilgrimage and this one jumped off the page.

One of my major concerns is the fact that it will take longer than 90 days to complete the trail and I can only be in Europe for 90 days without getting a visa.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you all

1. It can be done in less, at an average of 23 km (14 miles) a day (approximately). Although don't under estimate the cumulative effect of walking for close to 90 days). The Lightfoot guide through France has useful alternative routes for shortening sections or to find a more interesting route. We're in our mid-60's and walked it last year in 83 days including a few rest days.

2. We were told that the U.S. (and Australia) has a pre-Shengen agreement with Italy that was never cancelled and entitles citizens to spend 30 days there in addition to the 90 Schengen limit. However the difficulty with this is that the airport officials probably won't know about it if they check on you. We met Americans who were relying on this and who got out of the country without any problems (not sure if anyone checked or not). It could be worth you looking into it. Also, this situation may become clearer when Europe introduces pre-arrival checks (but that keeps getting delayed).

Buon Cammino

 

[Corned Beef]

This concession ends with her grandchildren

Side issue and not part of this thread unless you happen to have Irish ancestry which a number of Americans have.

It can go to great grandchildren as long as the parent's birth was registered on the Irish Foreign Births Register. Check to Register to see if the birth was registered and apply as "E" in the explanation in the link

Irish citizenship through birth or descent

You are not automatically an Irish citizen if you were born on the island of Ireland. You may be entitled to Irish citizenship if your parent(s) or grandparents were Irish. You may be entitled to Irish citizenship if you were born outside of Ireland, but you may need to register your birth.

www.citizensinformation.ie

 

[Vince Rollason]

Side issue and not part of this thread unless you happen to have Irish ancestry which a number of Americans have.

It can go to great grandchildren as long as the parent's birth was registered on the Irish Foreign Births Register. Check to Register to see if the birth was registered and apply as "E" in the explanation in the link

Irish citizenship through birth or descent

You are not automatically an Irish citizen if you were born on the island of Ireland. You may be entitled to Irish citizenship if your parent(s) or grandparents were Irish. You may be entitled to Irish citizenship if you were born outside of Ireland, but you may need to register your birth.

www.citizensinformation.ie

Yes, I did say it was a long shot, but many Americans have some form of ancestry from many European nations so I felt it was worth mentioning. To qualify under E would be a very, very long shot as certainly my mother nor myself would have never considered registering my birth in Ireland so that her great grandchildren could apply for passport. In fact from my discussions with the Irish Passport Office it is almost non-existent but as you rightly point out it is an option for anyone who has thought that far ahead,

 

[Stephan the Painter]

Here’s a link to a series from perennial Vlogger Efrem about his 86 day walk along the Via francigena. Digital proof that it can be done.

I think if I was going to do this, I would plan about 75 days of walking, in case something went wrong. Or failing that, You could leave yourself open to the possibility that you could do some of the route by public transportation.

You actually have 180 days a year in Europe available, so you could break it up with a three month exit.

Or just try your best, knowing that you might have to come back another time to finish. I hope you do it and let us here know how it goes!

(I think the 30 day Italian extension for Americans or Australians is a myth. And I think if you happen to be eligible for one of these EU country citizenships, the process would take years anyway).

 

[Schmutdo]

Yes, I did say it was a long shot, but many Americans have some form of ancestry from many European nations so I felt it was worth mentioning. To qualify under E would be a very, very long shot as certainly my mother nor myself would have never considered registering my birth in Ireland so that her great grandchildren could apply for passport. In fact from my discussions with the Irish Passport Office it is almost non-existent but as you rightly point out it is an option for anyone who has thought that far ahead,

Yeah, I have family in Italy so I'm Italian American. I always wanted to get dual citizenship, but that's a whole other thing and definitely won't happen in time lol

 

[Stephan the Painter]

Yeah, I have family in Italy so I'm Italian American. I always wanted to get dual citizenship, but that's a whole other thing and definitely won't happen in time lol

I have dual Italian citizenship which I applied for and got through the jure sanguis process. It took five years of paperwork. But you can do it faster ( maybe less then a year) by hiring lawyers, and throwing money at it.

If you’re ever interested, p.m. me and I’ll send you the name of a lawyer in Milan, which one of my cousins used. But she found all of her information by asking questions on Facebook groups devoted to this topic.

 

[Vince Rollason]

Yeah, I have family in Italy so I'm Italian American. I always wanted to get dual citizenship, but that's a whole other thing and definitely won't happen in time lol

I understand now as I have just spoken with a friend who has an Italian American partner and he confirms that her attempts to obtain dual citizenship are really long winded. From my point of view getting Irish citizenship took a matter of weeks and that included obtaining a copy of my mother's Birth Certificate as I had lost the original.

Are you aware of Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome based here in the UK? I attach a link to the website in case you may find it useful

Best wishes

Vince

Pilgrims to Rome | The Via Francigena

Pilgrims to Rome is a registered charity that aims to encourage and inform those making a pilgrimage to Rome along the Via Francigena.

pilgrimstorome.org.uk

 

[Elainesnider]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a long pilgrimage and this one jumped off the page.

One of my major concerns is the fact that it will take longer than 90 days to complete the trail and I can only be in Europe for 90 days without getting a visa.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you all

I understand that time in England and Switzerland does not count

 

[Bradypus]

I understand that time in England and Switzerland does not count

England doesn't. But Switzerland is part of the Schengen zone so it does.

 

[timr]

I understand that time in England and Switzerland does not count

Sorry no that is not true. Switzerland is in the Schengen area, even though it is not in the EU. They are not the same. It is quite confusing!!

 

[Former member 92300]

I understand that time in England and Switzerland does not count

UK doesn't count. Switzerland does. Also - unless you are getting your passport stamped as you enter and depart Switzerland - they wouldn't even know you left the EU zone. They didn't check my passport when I entered or left Switzerland last time... just a couple years ago.

 

[Manky]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a long pilgrimage and this one jumped off the page.

One of my major concerns is the fact that it will take longer than 90 days to complete the trail and I can only be in Europe for 90 days without getting a visa.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you all

Met a couple of Americans yesterday but they're only doing a month on the VF. I am going to make an attempt to get to Rome having started in Canterbury. You need to do 40km in day whenever you can. I ain't got those kind of legs yet but you never know. I'm only 20 days in and managing 30km. A day off is 20km. You're going to need a serious budget for the French and Swiss legs. Expect to walk alone for most of the latter. Things get good Camino wise in Italy and there is plentiful cheap pilgrim accommodation.
If I get to the Grand St Bernard Pass then I will be quite happy. Can always do Italy on the cheap next year. Research all you can.

 

[Manky]

Met a couple of Americans yesterday but they're only doing a month on the VF. I am going to make an attempt to get to Rome having started in Canterbury. You need to do 40km in day whenever you can. I ain't got those kind of legs yet but you never know. I'm only 20 days in and managing 30km. A day off is 20km. You're going to need a serious budget for the French and Swiss legs. Expect to walk alone for most of the latter. Things get good Camino wise in Italy and there is plentiful cheap pilgrim accommodation.
If I get to the Grand St Bernard Pass then I will be quite happy. Can always do Italy on the cheap next year. Research all you can.

I'm non EU too. They say it takes 83 days???

 

[Bradypus]

I'm non EU too. They say it takes 83 days???

Which "they"? Some people take longer. Some people take less time. No one single number of days. I took 66 days.

 

[Anna&Michael]

Here’s a link to a series from perennial Vlogger Efrem about his 86 day walk along the Via francigena. Digital proof that it can be done.

I think if I was going to do this, I would plan about 75 days of walking, in case something went wrong. Or failing that, You could leave yourself open to the possibility that you could do some of the route by public transportation.

You actually have 180 days a year in Europe available, so you could break it up with a three month exit.

Or just try your best, knowing that you might have to come back another time to finish. I hope you do it and let us here know how it goes!

(I think the 30 day Italian extension for Americans or Australians is a myth. And I think if you happen to be eligible for one of these EU country citizenships, the process would take years anyway).

The pre-Schengen agreement are definitely not a myth. I've looked into the Aust situation and it is real and valid, the issue could be explaining it to the border officials. The same situation applies with quite a few EU countries, the German Govt actually acknowledges a the agreements on thier visa site. So while the VF doesn't go though Germany, they make it clear that you cnn stay 90 days I. The Shengan area plus 30 days (I think it's 30) in Germany.

The Irish are still fairly generous with the citizenship and any anyone with Irish ancestors in the last generation or two would be well advised to look into it.

 

[Anna&Michael]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a long pilgrimage and this one jumped off the page.

One of my major concerns is the fact that it will take longer than 90 days to complete the trail and I can only be in Europe for 90 days without getting a visa.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you all

Just remembered that Paul Chinn of Lightfoot guides posted on one of the VF Facebook groups a little while back that he was working on a Shengan Visa special sub-90 day route.

You could search on the groups or write to him via Pilgrimage Publications and ask where it's up to.

One of the things that we loved about the VF is that although there's an official route, there isn't one true way and one of the pleasures of the route is finding your own way to save some kilometres, explore something interesting, or get a roof over your head for the night.

It is definitely possible to shave many days off the official route and not feel like you're rushing or missing out on things.

Buon Cammino

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

@Anna&Michael- During my planning I found much of what you stated in regards to "roof over your head" to be true especially here in France.
Speaking to gite owners I have learned many accommodations permanently closed during Covid and their owners moved away, leaving fewer choices for anyone walking the VF.

 

[Bradypus]

It is definitely possible to shave many days off the official route and not feel like you're rushing or missing out on things.

Walking in 2015 I thought the official route through northern France was far too complicated and indirect. So I used a combination of canal towpaths and minor roads as far as Besançon and joined the signposted route there. I did cross the official path a few times on the way. Some people like the completeness of following a defined path from start to finish. Others are more focussed on the final destination. Room out there for both approaches.

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

#Bradypus - You are "Spot on" with your route assessment. Some of the official route adds numerous miles for no comprehendable reason or logic.

 

[Rex]

#Bradypus - You are "Spot on" with your route assessment. Some of the official route adds numerous miles for no comprehendable reason or logic.

There is a reason, as explained to me by a French gite owner last summer...
Once the French decided the GR145 would be the official VF route, they began to make changes that suit weekend hikers using these same trails as a weekend escape from the city. Walking on tarmac is apparently anathema to weekend hikers looking to get out in the countryside, so the route wanders around searching for woodland trails and avoiding routes on roads. These extra miles may or may not be in the best interest of VF through-hikers or those who seek to follow the route of Sigeric the Serious more closely than the GR route does. I chose a compass and maps.me, following canal paths, farm roads, the via Romaine, etc... My result was a VF from Canterbury to Martigny that was almost exactly 100 miles shorter than the official VF route. To me, this is not an immaterial difference. No judgement of the French "officialdom", for their actions are congruent with making French citizens happier vs "relatively few" pilgrims/tourists.
C'est la vie.

Bon Chemin.

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

Thanks Rex...

 

[Former member 92300]

Walking in 2015 I thought the official route through northern France was far too complicated and indirect. So I used a combination of canal towpaths and minor roads as far as Besançon and joined the signposted route there. I did cross the official path a few times on the way. Some people like the completeness of following a defined path from start to finish. Others are more focussed on the final destination. Room out there for both approaches.

Yes - looking at the trail maps - this is VERY obvious that the most direct route is often not taken in Northern France. I am struggling right now to decide which more direct routes are worth taking and which longer routes have something that I "don't want to miss". Leaving Wisques for example - the longer route takes you past Chapelle Catholique Reliquue Saint-Louis de Guemy - is it worth the extra km just to walk past it when there is a direct route to Tournehem-sur-la-Hem? Just one example I can think of, but there are numerous places that the route does not take the more logical direct paths.

 

[Rex]

Yes - looking at the trail maps - this is VERY obvious that the most direct route is often not taken in Northern France. I am struggling right now to decide which more direct routes are worth taking and which longer routes have something that I "don't want to miss". Leaving Wisques for example - the longer route takes you past Chapelle Catholique Reliquue Saint-Louis de Guemy - is it worth the extra km just to walk past it when there is a direct route to Tournehem-sur-la-Hem? Just one example I can think of, but there are numerous places that the route does not take the more logical direct paths.

I walked directly from Calais to Tournehem-sur-la-hem in one day (no interest in the Wissant bluff south of Calais or the swamplands around Guines or Liques) and then carried on toward Wisques (L'abbaye Notre Dame was wonderful, with Souer Lucie as our hostess) and thence toward Arras as directly as I could.
I made the "mistake" of walking a bit north of the Chaussee Brunehaut as I approached the coal region (Bruay and Bully-les-Mines). My "wayfaring" eventually led me on a couple of minor roads outside of Bruay-la-Buissiere that were rather more heavily traveled than I was expecting, particularly as I headed towards Ablain-Saint Nazaire and the enormous WW I cemetery of St. Lorette. All I can say is staying south of the Chaussee is probably a wiser option than what I chose.
Bon Chemin.

 

[alipilgrim]

I recently watched an online seminar put on by the Confraternity of the VF (?) featuring Sandy Brown whose new guidebooks to the VF are being published now. 3 in a series, at least 2 are out if not all 3. Anyway, in the podcast he acknowledged how circuitous the marked path can be and he made a point in his books of highlighting shortcuts as well as not-to-be-missed paths. It might be an idea to check out his Cicerone books for information on shortening your way….

 

[Former member 92300]

I walked directly from Calais to Tournehem-sur-la-hem in one day (no interest in the Wissant bluff south of Calais or the swamplands around Guines or Liques) and then carried on toward Wisques (L'abbaye Notre Dame was wonderful, with Souer Lucie as our hostess) and thence toward Arras as directly as I could.
I made the "mistake" of walking a bit north of the Chaussee Brunehaut as I approached the coal region (Bruay and Bully-les-Mines). My "wayfaring" eventually led me on a couple of minor roads outside of Bruay-la-Buissiere that were rather more heavily traveled than I was expecting, particularly as I headed towards Ablain-Saint Nazaire and the enormous WW I cemetery of St. Lorette. All I can say is staying south of the Chaussee is probably a wiser option than what I chose.
Bon Chemin.

Thanks! I am walking from Calais to Licques in one day. I have a cabin reserved at the campground. I will not walk to Wissant, but haven't decided 100% whether we will follow the canals to Guines or walk to Sangette then turn towards Guines/Licques. I think that adds 10km, so don't love that idea - but I walk enough that it should be fine if we do.

 

[Stephan the Painter]

The pre-Schengen agreement are definitely not a myth. I've looked into the Aust situation and it is real and valid, the issue could be explaining it to the border officials. The same situation applies with quite a few EU countries, the German Govt actually acknowledges a the agreements on thier visa site. So while the VF doesn't go though Germany, they make it clear that you cnn stay 90 days I. The Shengan area plus 30 days (I think it's 30) in Germany.

The Irish are still fairly generous with the citizenship and any anyone with Irish ancestors in the last generation or two would be well advised to look into it.

Respectfully, I've never heard of this extra 30-day rule being available to the citizens of some countries. You can apply for a Schengen visa extension in most Schengen countries in an emergency, or if you have a great need, like an educational program. But not for tourism.

I've spent a lot of time in Italy with a lot of people who are having visa problems. And before I had an Italian passport, I lived in the Netherlands for several years, and I never heard of anything like this.

I'd be happy to be proved wrong, though. Then I could help friends if they ever have this problem. Do you have any links to anywhere OFFICIAL where it says it?

Just because people think it's so, and even present it as truth, doesn't make it so.

It probably has to come from a consulate or the government visa office, as opposed to the border gaurds. And were such a thing to exist, it's not easy to find because they don't want you to use it. So they're probably not going to give it to you anyway.

And even if you can find something on a German website, it doesn't mean it has anything to do with the rules in a different country. That's how different countries work.

I apologize if I'm being a little rude about this, but I think you're spreading false information that someone may use to make plans. That no doubt you believe in good faith.

I think jungleboy knows even more about visas and citizenship than I do. Have you ever heard of this?

 

[Kathor1]

I think @jungleboy knows even more about visas and citizenship than I do. Have you ever heard of this?

I am not @jungleboy but I have heard of this. In fact it has been mentioned and even discussed repeatedly on this forum. The keyword is "bilateral agreements". You find a short summary in Wikipedia under Visa Policy of the Schengen Area - scroll down to Bilateral Visa Waivers.

These are old "legacy" agreements that are still in force. Each of these agreements concerns only one non-EU nationality and only one EU country, for example Australian nationals may be allowed to stay longer than 90 days in Germany (and only there) but this does not apply to US nationals who may want to stay longer than 90 days in Germany.

These bilateral agreements are not widely known and it is not always clear on the websites that tout them whether one or the other is still in force or has been suspended in recent years. Depending on your general view of the world you may regard compliance with the associated requirements as a pain in the neck or a blessing.

If I were in such a situation I would probably try to get a longer stay visa that is valid for the whole EU instead of invoking visa waiver rights under a specific bilateral agreement. A longer (more than 90 days) visa costs something and you have to submit a number of documents and justifications but people on the forum have reported that they did so successfully for long-term long-distance leisure walking. If you are a national of a country where the statistics are in your favour (such as United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand), i.e. where the percentage of those who abuse the system in order to overstay/stay illegally for even longer/find illegal work/etc., is significantly lower than for other nationals from other countries, then your chances of obtaining such a longer term visa are probably pretty good.

 

[Stephan the Painter]

If I were in such a situation I would probably try to get a longer stay visa that is valid for the whole EU instead of invoking visa waiver rights under a specific bilateral agreement. A longer (more than 90 days) visa costs something and you have to submit a number of documents and justifications but people on the forum have reported that they did so successfully for long-term long-distance leisure walking.

Well then, I agree, I think the answer for the original poster @Schmutdo , is to contact the local French or Italian consulate and ask if a tourist visa extension can be arranged before the trip commences.

the US State department says "....if you plan to stay in the Schengen area longer than three months, contact the embassy of the country where you plan to spend the majority of your time to apply for a visa". From this website:

Traveling In Europe

Traveling In Europe

travel.state.gov

I did take a look at that Wikipedia page and did a little bit of searching on the web for these bilateral agreements. All I can say is no one seems to be able to tell anyone any specifics. Just vague allusions to old agreements. They don't sound very realistic or useful. But apologies to @Anna&Michael

Thanks for starting the research @Kathar1na . It's good to have the correct answer since people seem to ask me these kinds of things away from the forum.

 

[Kathor1]

just vague allusions to old agreements.

With all due respect to the advice from foreign governments , the competent authority is the Schengen administrative body and they published a list of the valid bilateral visa waiver agreements in their Official Journal in April 2019, drawn up on the basis of the information provided by the 27 EU governments. The publication can be found in the official online database of European Union law:

List of Member States' bilateral visa waiver agreements with third countries allowing for an extension of the period of stay in accordance with Article 20(2), point (b), of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement (2019/C 130/07), see​

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52019XC0408(02)&qid=1678710918625​

As already mentioned, they are real, the rights they grant are real, all of this is not very well known or widely known and, personally, I would not make use of it if I were a foreigner which I am not.

 

[Stephan the Painter]

With all due respect to the advice from foreign governments , the competent authority is the Schengen administrative body and they published a list of the valid bilateral visa waiver agreements in their Official Journal in April 2019, drawn up on the basis of the information provided by the 27 EU governments. The publication can be found in the official online database of European Union law:

List of Member States' bilateral visa waiver agreements with third countries allowing for an extension of the period of stay in accordance with Article 20(2), point (b), of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement (2019/C 130/07), see​

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52019XC0408(02)&qid=1678710918625​

As already mentioned, they are real, the rights they grant are real, all of this is not very well known or widely known and, personally, I would not make use of it if I were a foreigner which I am not.

Of course. But that was my point. Good link.

And the advice is the same from the US state department that you are giving. It assumes no expertise. It says you have to contact the authorities in the country you're interested in if you want a visa extension.

 

[Kathor1]

And the whole thing is explained fairly clearly, in English, on the website of the German embassy in Australia for Australian nationals wishing to stay in Germany - see The German-Australian Agreement on the Exemption of Visa Requirements, dated 22.12.1952, here:
https://australien.diplo.de/au-en/service/01-visa/short-term-visa/2073662#content_1

However, in the context of this thread, this specific case is of no interest as the via Francigena does not go through German national territory. Of interest are only legacy bilateral visa waiver agreements that France and Italy once concluded with relevant non-EU countries. Again however, they are not of much use for any non-EU national walking the via Francigena and wishing to stay longer in France because if you have a nationality that would allow you to do so you could then not cross into Italy and continue walking (for all practical purposes you could but it would be illegal). So basically, only legacy bvw agreements concluded by Italy with relevant non-EU countries are of potential interest. However, my knowledge of Italian isn't good enough to check out Italian government websites for confirmation and I don't remember that anyone ever did this on the forum. The examples mentioned on the forum usually refer to Poland or Denmark or the Netherlands - all of which are irrelevant for via Francigena walkers.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a long pilgrimage and this one jumped off the page.

One of my major concerns is the fact that it will take longer than 90 days to complete the trail and I can only be in Europe for 90 days without getting a visa.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you all

The "Francigena" is a network of routes from France leading into the main route through northern Italy into the South and towards Rome.

Its shortest variants are from Arles towards Torino ; and from Paris, Vézelay, and Le Puy toward that same direction.

The Arles route however has a combination of shorter distance with support infrastructure, and places to sleep along the way, that you might perhaps consider.

 

[ksam]

If you Google "Together on Foot, Via Francigena blog" you will uncover the experiences (in words, pictures and videos) of Mark and Alison from NC, who walked in 2021.

Buen Camino!

Terrific vlog/blog and very responsive to those of us following them 2 years past the travel date!1
Not sure if they are on here...But great people with a lot of great advice,