Magna Via Francigena - Sutera to Campofranco to Agrigento to Birgi Vecchi

I walk down from Sutera. A pleasant morning turns into a hot day.

Nice espresso and ice cream at Campofranco town, but the train station is five more kilometers away.

On the way from Campofranco to Campofranco station I finally leave Magna Via Francigena and run into a muddy stream that I have to ford.

I try a misguided, unsuccessful detour to look for another crossing, but it is through a rough, uncut field and I don't make much progress. If I wasn't in a rush, I could find a better detour.

I even sprain my ankle a slight bit, but it seems fine later.

I don't have time, the train is leaving at 10:16 and I have to make it, as the next one is only in the late afternoon!

So I change into water socks and ford the stream. The water socks are too short, so I end up having water in both the water socks and shoes afterwards. It is hot though, so it's only a minor annoyance.

I walk through a dirty industrial area and reach Campofranco station which is completely lifeless.

I solve the puzzle about which platform to take (the one with the shiniest rails!).

The train comes and takes me to Agrigento.

9 km walked so far to get from Sutera to the station.

Campofranco station

I arrive at Agrigento and it is now hot, 27C.

It seems the buses to the temples won't come any time soon, so I walk there, downhill.

The temple area is large, and it seems nearly everyone arrives by car.

I walk and walk looking for the right entrance. Finally I find it.

It is so hot and there are lots of people and I have walked so much that the temples don't seem that interesting to me any more.

In retrospect, I should have visited the archeological museum instead. Another time.

I buy a traditional graniti (frozen lemon juice slushy) and it is really nice.

Temple of Concordia

I leave the temple are at an entrance that had a bus stop and find that the next one just goes to another - main - entrance and will arrive in 50 mins...

OK, well, I walked down there, may as well walk back up.

I have to get back to the bus stop by 15:00... The taxi driver at Agrigento station quoted me 200 EUR for a ride to Trapani-Birgi and the 12 EUR for the bus seems a much better deal.

Walking uphill takes time and by the time I am in town, I don't have time for a proper meal. I have an espresso in the station bar instead.

11 km walked in Agrigento. I did not enjoy it much, even though the temples are objectively impressive. Too many cars and people, too hot, too crowded, too dirty.

Valley of the Temples, Agrigento

The bus takes me to Trapani-Birgi airport. My plan to ask to stop closer to my hotel fails, he approached from the East and Trapani-Birgi is the closest point. He would not have stopped anyway at a non-designated stop.

There are no taxis at the bus stop, they are instead at arrivals, and I don't feel like dealing with them, I have often had bad experiences with taxi drivers who try to overcharge me.

I have time, I have legs and I feel like walking to the hotel.

It turns out to be less fun than I had hoped, as there are more cars than I expected and it is annoying.

I reach the seaside and there is no nice seaside path, just a narrow road with way too many cars.

I am not quite sure why there are so many. It is Sunday evening though... Have they all been kiting and are returning to the larger towns?

Also, I am not sure why I thought it will be 3 km, it turns out to be 6 km.

Birgi Vecchi beach

But I check in, arrange a transfer for tomorrow morning for 20 EUR (I don't want to walk back to the airport), and have an amazing "pasta con pesto alla trapanese" at the hotel restaurant "Santa Maria".

Strangely, despite 26 km, my feet feel reasonably OK, and I don't even feel that tired.