Via Francigena Camino Switzerland – Gran San Bernardo Pass to Aosta – 4 days

DISTANCE - BELOW AVERAGE

Distance training is undoubtedly a consideration in your overall training program, so take every opportunity you can to walk. As you progress, incorporate longer walks into your training plan. Schedule one or two long walks each week, gradually increasing the distance until you can comfortably cover 16km in a single day. Additionally, also include back-to-back walks to simulate walking on consecutive days. This helps your body adapt to the demands of walking for multiple days in a row. Ensure you can comfortably walk the average distance per day displayed in the graph, at least one month before you undertake your hike.

ELEVATION - BELOW AVERAGE

Elevation is not a major consideration regarding how you train. However, you should still incorporate some form of resistance training as it will increase your endurance.

TERRAIN - MOUNTAINOUS

As terrain associated with mountain climbs is often somewhat uneven and/or rocky, balancing and core exercises are vital. Try to also include some form of elevation in more than 50% of your walking and prioritise resistance training, whilst incorporating stairs anytime you can. Walking up mountains or hills, up and down stairs at work, at a local oval with a grandstand, up and down small hills; boring as that sounds, is incredibly useful. Elevation is often the chief walk killer, not distance, as it uses an entirely different set of muscles. So concentrate on doing lots of squats and lunges to build your glute muscles.

HOW TO GET THERE AND AWAY

Arriving at Gran San Bernardo Pass

The closest main international airport is Geneva Airport that is served by most of national and low-cost airlines. From Geneva you can take the train and bus directly to Gran San Bernardo Pass (from other airports you should take a bus or a taxi to get to the city centre train station and then the bus to Gran San Bernardo Pass).

There are two services to get the connection from Geneva to Gran San Bernardo Pass Pass:
The first one is operated by TPG (Transport Publics Genevois). The timetable can be found on this website tpg.hafas.de/hafas/tp/query.exe/en?.
The other service works from more cities, for detailed information you could check the Swiss train company “SBB CFF FFS” at this website fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en or call the 24h assistance at (0041).090.030.03.00 .
In any case, if you travel from Geneva airport or Milano Centrale train station you will change at Martigny. If you travel from Torino Porta Nuova train station you will change at Aosta.

Getting Away from Aosta

You can take a 1-2 hours train journey from Aosta to Turin or Milan airport.

LUGGAGE TRANSFERS

Luggage transfer is included in your package and is normally provided by the accommodation itself.
Please clearly mark all your belongings with your name and put a small note with the name of the next accommodation in order to indicate where the bags should go next (check your accommodation list). Also ask the accommodation owner where the bags should be left in the morning. Labelling your belongings prevents mix ups, delays and loss.
Bags should be ready and at the reception or store room by 9:00 hrs.
If you are unable to walk, you can always ask, if the luggage transporter can take you with him when transporting your baggage, but this is not always possible and sometimes you have to pay a small fee locally. In some countries there are special insurances for transporting peoples and sometimes the car is not suited for transporting persons.
When you travel with public transport you always take your luggage with you unless specified differently.

AVAILABILITY

We offer this walk from April to October, as it can get quite cold in the depths of winter, and many accommodations close their doors as well at this time.

INSURANCE

We require that you have adequate travel insurance against potential losses, damage or injury, including cancellation costs and loss of luggage.

You must have purchased travel insurance for all trips requiring international travel, including medical evacuation coverage.

We also charge a cancellation fee if you cancel your walking holiday after we have confirmed it to cover costs incurred by our suppliers and in the office.  See the FAQ section for more information.

INFORMATION PACK

For over 30 years, we have taken pride in providing seamlessly organised walking holidays, but we know you’ll have many more questions even with that in mind. You will receive a detailed information pack and itinerary approximately six weeks before departure outlining all the fine details and much more.

CONTACT

If you have any questions, feel free to ask one of our destination consultants, or if you have specific track-related questions if we can’t answer them, we can also ask our staff who have walked the track. You can contact us via our contact form, email us at info@auswalk.com.au, or call us on +61 3 9597 9767.

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