For a year now, I have been planning on walking the via egnatia from the city of Durres in Albania, to Thessalonika in Greece. a distance of over 450 kms.
the via egnatia was built by the ancient Romans as the main artery of communication between Italy and the Eastern provinces of Greece and the middle east, and later, the main land link between Rome and the new capital of Constantinople.
It was interest in ancient history that got me interested in the walk. I liked the idea of walking much of the journey along the remains of the original Roman road. I also thought that walking across two little visited countries, Albania and Northern Macedonia would offer some interesting opportunities for exploration.
When I first decided on walking this route, the longest walk by along way, that I have ever attempted, I thought I would have some walking companions. unfortunately, despite a lot of interest by a lot of different people, they all fell by the wayside until there was just me. Hopefully I won't get sick of my own company.
My initial interest was developed further by the existence of a foundation, based in the Netherlands, devoted to opening up the via egnatia as a walking route. it is thanks to them, that I have gps tracks of the route to follow. There are no physical way markings as I am used to in France. Many months of following the route on various hiking apps on my phone have me pretty familiar with where I am going now. I might even try doing a few variations on the original route.
the route can be viewed here:route map for via egnatia walk
Over the months since last May I have also been reading other people's accounts of the walk. Surprisingly to me, the most detailed was by a couple from the gold Coast, not far away from me in Australia. After reading lots of accounts, I decided that I would only walk to the Greek border, since the consensus seemed to be that this last leg of the walk was across fairly boring, flat farmland. Besides, the extra time will give me the chance to walk up Mt Olypos and walk around the monasteries of Meteora and hopefully get in my first look at the Parthenon since 1987!
A big part of my preparations has been getting my pack weight down. Initially I was at 13 kgs, but thanks to a bit of advice from my son, and ultra-light weight hiking websites, as well as spending a few dollars on new equipment, I am down to 10 kgs. Most nights I am planning on staying in hotels or bnbs, but there are three nights that might require sleeping out and for this I have my hiking hammock and sleeping bag etc.
after a last minute fright to do with my flight, I am all packed and ready to go. Feel free to follow my journey along the via egnatia, or not. I hope to put up a post every night, unless I am without internet. Here is my itinerary for those wanting to know where I am going, when...
itinerary
the via egnatia was built by the ancient Romans as the main artery of communication between Italy and the Eastern provinces of Greece and the middle east, and later, the main land link between Rome and the new capital of Constantinople.
It was interest in ancient history that got me interested in the walk. I liked the idea of walking much of the journey along the remains of the original Roman road. I also thought that walking across two little visited countries, Albania and Northern Macedonia would offer some interesting opportunities for exploration.
When I first decided on walking this route, the longest walk by along way, that I have ever attempted, I thought I would have some walking companions. unfortunately, despite a lot of interest by a lot of different people, they all fell by the wayside until there was just me. Hopefully I won't get sick of my own company.
My initial interest was developed further by the existence of a foundation, based in the Netherlands, devoted to opening up the via egnatia as a walking route. it is thanks to them, that I have gps tracks of the route to follow. There are no physical way markings as I am used to in France. Many months of following the route on various hiking apps on my phone have me pretty familiar with where I am going now. I might even try doing a few variations on the original route.
the route can be viewed here:route map for via egnatia walk
Over the months since last May I have also been reading other people's accounts of the walk. Surprisingly to me, the most detailed was by a couple from the gold Coast, not far away from me in Australia. After reading lots of accounts, I decided that I would only walk to the Greek border, since the consensus seemed to be that this last leg of the walk was across fairly boring, flat farmland. Besides, the extra time will give me the chance to walk up Mt Olypos and walk around the monasteries of Meteora and hopefully get in my first look at the Parthenon since 1987!
A big part of my preparations has been getting my pack weight down. Initially I was at 13 kgs, but thanks to a bit of advice from my son, and ultra-light weight hiking websites, as well as spending a few dollars on new equipment, I am down to 10 kgs. Most nights I am planning on staying in hotels or bnbs, but there are three nights that might require sleeping out and for this I have my hiking hammock and sleeping bag etc.
after a last minute fright to do with my flight, I am all packed and ready to go. Feel free to follow my journey along the via egnatia, or not. I hope to put up a post every night, unless I am without internet. Here is my itinerary for those wanting to know where I am going, when...
itinerary
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