The beauty of Val d'Elsa

When I had to leave Lucca I felt a bit saddened, as I really enjoyed spending time with the people I met there. But I knew it was time to continue along the Via Francigena again. Eventually I ended up at Val d'Elsa unexpectedly, and as you can see in the video, I was super positively surprised.

Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte

After visiting Lucca for a day, the day after I hiked and hitchhiked my way to San Miniato, from where I would start hiking along the Via Francigena again.

Santi Pietro e Paolo

After hiking along some asphalt that eventually changed into a beautiful trail with incredible views all around, I ended up nearly out of water. Near this church there is a place to refill your water and take a bit of a breather. I threw a bunch of water over myself, refilled my bottles and started out again.

Val d'Elsa

After about 5 hours of hiking, I decided it was time to thumb it again. I had the intention of getting to San Gimignano, but got picked up by a group of 20ish year old Italians who were going to go wildcamping next to the Elsa river. While this wasn't originally a place I was going to go to, the offer to join in was too good to pass up upon. We relaxed at the river, drunk a reasonable amount and relaxed next to the campfire until well into tue night with the sound of water next to us. Some mushrooms were being shared around and fireflies fluttered along. In the morning I woke relatively early, as you are not legally allowed to camp here. After saying my goodbyes I walked on the trail a bit before diving in the insanely blue water for a refreshing morning swim.

My rating: 9/10