What to Pack for the Via Francigena: My Real 36L Gear Setup + Checklist
How to fit a tent, sleeping bag, insulated pad, alpine layers, and camera gear inside a single 36-liter backpack to walk 98 days from England to Rome without wrecking your back.
When you set out to walk for over three months across four countries—from the windy cliffs of the English Channel in Dover and Calais, over the 2,473-meter Great St. Bernard Pass in the Swiss Alps, and through 35 °C+ (95 °F+) heat across the Po Valley and Tuscany toward Rome—the biggest mistake you can make is stuffing a 60 or 70-liter backpack “just in case.”
On the Via Francigena, you face 35+ km stages across northern France and steep alpine climbs. My golden rule was limiting my total volume to a 36-liter backpack, leaving behind anything non-essential (I carried neither a camping stove nor commercial trekking poles), and choosing a compact, reliable camping setup.
1. My Real Gear Setup for the 2,200 km (The 4 Pillars)
Before the general interactive checklist below to help you pack your own bag, here are the key gear decisions that carried me through 98 days on the trail:
🎒 1. Backpack & Footwear
- 36-Liter Backpack (Ferrino Hikemaster 36L): Featuring a suspended mesh back panel to keep sweat off my shirt during hot stages in France and Italy. Sticking to 36L forces discipline while balancing the tent and pad comfortably.
- Trail / Mid GTX Footwear (Altra Olympus 6 Hike Mid GTX): Built with a wide toe box so your toes can splay naturally after 30 km a day without blistering, max cushioning for paved stretches, and Gore-Tex waterproofing for English mud and alpine rain.
⛺ 2. Camping & Sleep System (40% of Nights)
- 2-Person Tent (Atunas): Even though I hiked solo, carrying a lightweight 2-person tent let me keep my backpack inside out of the rain and stretch out comfortably for over three months.
- Insulated Sleeping Pad (VAUDE Performance 7M): Essential not just for joint comfort after long days, but for thermal insulation against cold ground in the Jura and Switzerland.
- 6 °C / 43 °F Sleeping Bag (Wilsa): The sweet spot for a multi-season thru-hike. On warm Italian nights I unzipped it as a quilt or slept on top of it in ostelli, while on chilly mountain nights it kept me warm.
🥖 3. Stove & Cookware? Why I Went Stoveless
- Saving weight and space in 36L: On this trek I decided not to carry a stove, gas canisters, or pot. Across France, Switzerland, and Italy you pass bakeries and supermarkets where it’s easy to buy fresh bread, local cheese, and cured meat for one or two days.
- Shared cooking with trail family: On many days I walked alongside fellow pilgrims like Gioia and Johnny, who carried stoves and sometimes cooked shared dinners at camp, or we used the equipped kitchens inside Italian parish hostels.
🪵 4. Trekking Poles? Hands-Free or Natural Stick
- Leg conditioning and hands-free walking: I prefer hiking without aluminum or carbon poles to keep my hands free (especially useful when filming video on my phone or shooting documentary photos on the move) and to rely on natural leg and ankle stability.
- A classic wooden stick when needed: Whenever a muddy Apennine climb, the descent from the Great St. Bernard, or a loose farm dog called for extra support, a sturdy wooden branch picked up beside the trail worked wonders without checking extra gear on the plane.
2. Interactive Via Francigena Packing Checklist (Brand-Free)
Whether you plan to walk the full route with a tent or sleep exclusively in pilgrim hostels (ostelli), use this interactive checklist to pack your bag. Your checkmarks are saved automatically in your phone or computer browser so you can tick items off as you pack:
✅ Step-by-Step Packing Checklist
0 of 28 items packed (0%)🎒 Pack & Sleep System
👕 Clothing & Footwear (3-Layer System)
💧 Water, Food & Hygiene
🧭 Documents & Electronics
3. Two Details Many Hikers Overlook: Power Plugs & Mosquitoes
- Three different power sockets on the same hike: In England (Canterbury – Dover) you need a British 3-prong adapter (Type G). France and Italy use standard 2-pin European sockets. However, watch out in Switzerland: while a slim 2-pin Euro phone charger (Type C) fits into recessed Swiss hexagonal outlets, thick round Schuko plugs (like laptop cords) will not fit without a Swiss adapter.
- Po Valley Mosquitoes (Piedmont & Lombardy): Between Vercelli, Mortara, and Pavia, you walk for days through flooded rice fields. The mosquitoes there bite right through thin shirts: buy extra-strength repellent at an Italian pharmacy before entering the rice paddies and zip your tent mesh shut the second you pitch it.