At dawn on the Via Francigena, the world feels stripped back to its essentials. The smell of damp earth, the sting of chilled morning air, a line of cypress trees pointing the way forward. For a growing number of women, this ancient pilgrimage route—stretching from Canterbury to Rome—has become more than a historic trail. It is emerging as one of the few spaces where they can walk alone and still feel profoundly safe.
A recent study, “Walking with Purpose – Eight Solo Women’s Pilgrimage Hiking and Wellbeing Experiences on the Via Francigena,” published in the Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism (November 2025), offers one of the clearest windows yet into this shift. Conducted by Sarah Grocutt and Colin Wood, the research follows the journeys of eight women who walked between 200 and 1,662 kilometres of the trail by themselves—women who carried not only backpacks but also emotional burdens, questions, and hopes.
Their findings capture a quiet but powerful transformation. The Via Francigena is becoming a destination where women can claim adventure on their own terms.
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What They’re Seeking?
The women in the study describe seeking four things at once—solitude, adventure, connection with others, and connection with themselves. It’s a tension familiar to many modern travellers, yet on this trail, the balance seems unusually achievable. The route offers long stretches of peaceful isolation, broken by small villages where pilgrims gather over simple meals, swap stories, and share the fatigue of long days on foot.
For these walkers, solitude wasn’t loneliness—it was space. Some came to process grief, others to shed the noise of their working lives, still others to rediscover confidence after years spent putting themselves second. “The rhythm of walking became a kind of therapy,” Sarah Grocutt, write it on the journal, reflecting on how each step softened the weight she carried.
Grocutt and Wood found that the physical act of walking—hour after hour, under sun or drizzle—had a cleansing effect. Nature, too, played its part: fields that rolled endlessly into the distance, medieval towns offering glimpses of centuries-old routines, and the reassuring presence of fellow pilgrims who appeared just often enough to make the journey feel communal.
Safest Trek for Women
Safety, a barrier that often stops women from travelling alone, proved surprisingly strong along the Via Francigena. Unlike remote trekking routes, the trail has a lived-in feel. Waymarks are clear, hostels are used to lone walkers, and locals recognized the flow of pilgrims passing through. That familiarity builds trust. Women reported feeling seen but not scrutinised—visible without being vulnerable.
The trail’s infrastructure, the study notes, acts almost like a safety net. Knowing that the next village is rarely too far away, that another walker usually appears around the bend, and that host communities are accustomed to helping pilgrims, created a mental buffer that allowed women to walk with confidence rather than fear.
And the cultural dimension adds another layer. Moving on foot through Italian towns—some bustling, some barely inhabited—offers a kind of immersive slowness that modern travel rarely provides. The journey becomes intimate: a conversation with landscape, history, and the self. Many participants said the emotional impact was greater because the environment was so deeply tied to what they were feeling.
In an era when adventure tourism markets itself through daring, peak-bagging and adrenaline, the Via Francigena represents something quieter but no less compelling, a path where challenge meets gentleness. The study suggests that this combination may explain why more women are choosing pilgrimage routes over traditional adventure trips. It offers agency without danger, independence without isolation, and reflection without retreat.
Empowerment
The broader implications are difficult to ignore. Outdoor recreation still struggles to make adventure accessible and safe for women. Grocutt and Wood’s work underscores that with thoughtful infrastructure and a supportive culture, trails can become places of empowerment rather than risk.
For now, as the sun sets over the Tuscan hills and pilgrims settle into the soft murmur of hostel life, the Via Francigena remains a long corridor of possibility. It is a place where women can walk toward something—a clearer mind, a lighter heart, a stronger sense of self. And perhaps that is why this centuries-old route is quietly becoming one of the world’s most meaningful destinations for women who seek adventure not just across landscapes, but within themselves. (Wage Erlangga)
