Full Transparency · 2,200 km & 101 Logged Days

How Much Does It Cost to Walk the Via Francigena? Real Budget from Canterbury to Rome

A down-to-the-cent breakdown of my real expenses over 3+ months crossing England, France, Switzerland, and Italy on foot. How much you spend on supermarkets, cafés, hostels, and how to calculate your own trail budget.

One of the biggest questions before setting off to walk the 2,200 kilometers between Canterbury Cathedral and St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican is money: how much does it actually cost to live for over three months walking across Western Europe, including England and Switzerland?

On many forums, you’ll read that you need €4,500 to €6,000 to complete the Via Francigena. And that’s true if you sleep in commercial hotels or B&Bs every night and eat at restaurants every day. However, by combining wild camping (40% of nights), parish welcomes, municipal campsites, and buying bread, cheese, and cured meat at local supermarkets (I didn’t even carry a camping stove on this trip!), I completed all 101 logged days between June 13 and September 29 for a grand total of €2,692.96 (€26.66 per day on average).

1. Real Breakdown by Country: Where Do You Spend the Most and Why?

Crossing four countries with three different currencies (British Pound GBP, Euro EUR, and Swiss Franc CHF) means your daily spending shifts significantly at each border. Here is the exact summary exported from my daily expense tracker:

2. Category-by-Category Breakdown (All 101 Days in Detail)

Where exactly do those €26.66 per day go? Here is the master table showing every expense category across all four countries (converted to Euros):

3. Interactive Via Francigena Budget Calculator

Not everyone has 100 days off or wants to camp in the woods 40% of the time. Use this interactive calculator based on real on-trail prices to estimate how much your Via Francigena will cost depending on your chosen section and travel style:

4. How to Eat Well on €9 a Day (Without Carrying a Stove)

Many people assume that if you wild camp, you have to carry a stove, gas canisters, and pots to survive. In my case, I walked the entire Via Francigena stoveless with my 36L backpack and my average supermarket spending was just €9.02 per day (€364.23 across 37 days in France, €82.59 across 10 days in Switzerland, and €438.88 across 52 days in Italy). Here is how I managed it:

• 1. The unbeatable 1-to-2-day bakery and supermarket combo: In France, Switzerland, and Italy, the quality of fresh bread, local cheese, and cured meats is world-class. Whenever I passed through a town with a supermarket (especially in remote stretches of northern France where you can go two stages without seeing a shop), I bought a fresh loaf or baguette, cured meat or canned fish, aged cheese, and fruit to cover 1 or 2 days on the trail without needing a stove or restaurants.
• 2. The magic of trail family (Shared dinners with Gioia and Johnny): Although I started the hike solo, across many stretches of France, the Swiss Alps, and Italy I walked alongside great pilgrim friends like Gioia and Johnny. They carried a camping stove in their packs, so many evenings we pooled our supermarket groceries and they cooked hot meals at camp, or we used the equipped kitchens inside Italian parish hostels.
• 3. In Italy, the “al banco” (at the bar counter) Cappuccino rule: Since I didn’t carry a stove to brew morning coffee at my tent, my sacred ritual upon reaching the first village of the morning was stepping into a local café. In Italy I enjoyed dozens of cappuccinos and espressos in places like Lucca, San Miniato, Siena, and Viterbo spending only €44.80 across 52 days (€0.86 per day). Drinking it standing at the counter costs €1.20 to €1.50.
• 4. Coop and Migros supermarkets in Switzerland: Across my 10 days hiking through Switzerland from Sainte-Croix to the Great St. Bernard Pass, I spent just 77 CHF (€82.59) in supermarkets and 9.80 CHF in restaurants. Buying bread, cured meats, Swiss cheese, and grabbing orange-sticker discount items (50% off before closing) lets you eat well on a tiny budget.
• 5. Book the Dover – Calais ferry as a foot passenger & use a no-fee card: In Dover, only P&O Ferries accepts foot passengers on specific sailings (~£23). And to keep British Pound and Swiss Franc exchange rates from eating into your budget, always pay in local currency with a zero-fee travel card while keeping Euro cash on hand for parish donations.