When I walked the Camino de Santiago for the second time, several years ago, the last part seemed more like a parade than a nice quiet hike. I decided to look for other long distance trails to walk for a few days or weeks. Italy offered that opportunity with a 400k section of the Via Francigena through Tuscany. Then I learned about the Rota Vicentina, a trail network in south western Portugal that was fairly new (2012) and not so crowded yet.