Via Francigena: Martigny - Orsières

This section terminates the relatively flat countryside. We start tackling the alps along the valley of the Dranse. A roman amphitheatre at the exit of Martigny (close before Le Bourg) demostrates, that the Romans already used this route to cross the alps.
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We follow the Dranse creek which initially leads us south, until the valley snaps off to east. On the sunny side of the valley, the trail gets steeper for a while, which will allow a rewarding view over the valley, before we return back to the Dranse in order to reach Bovernier on the other side of the creek. This will not finish the ascents of the day, but the steepest ones are behind us now.
Another hour of hiking along the Dranse, and we will reach Sembrancher, where our way turns south again, now along the Dranse d´Entremont into the valley d´Entremont. We now mount up continuously until we reach todays destination Orsières at 887 m.o.s.

Note(s)
The «Via Francigena» is one of the 3 main christian pilgrimage trails of the Middle Ages, the main axis leading from Canterbury to Rome. This documentation currently covers the stretch from Pontarlier close to the F/CH border across Lausanne to Rome.