Rome's regina viarum, the queen of roads, leaves the city through the Porta San Sebastiano and heads south-east toward Capua and eventually Brindisi. It was begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, and the first miles out of Rome are now protected within the Parco Regionale dell'Appia Antica. The stretch of the old road is lined with tombs, ruins of villas, catacombs and umbrella pines, and the original paving stones, huge polygonal basalt blocks, still surface parts of it.
Those stones are the first thing a rider needs to know about. They are uneven, slippery when wet and brutal on suspension, and on Sundays and holidays parts of the road are closed to motor traffic anyway. The best way to experience the old road is on foot or by bicycle, which you can hire near the park's visitor centre. Leave the bike parked and walk among the ruins.
The highlights are many. The tomb of Caecilia Metella, a huge drum-shaped mausoleum of the first century BC, was turned into a fortress in the Middle Ages. The catacombs of San Callisto and San Sebastiano are among the largest underground cemeteries of early Christian Rome. The Circus of Maxentius and the Villa dei Quintili are impressive ruins, and the aqueducts in the nearby Parco degli Acquedotti make dramatic silhouettes at sunset.
Riding in Rome is an experience. Traffic is chaotic, scooters weave everywhere, and the historic centre is a limited traffic zone, the ZTL, with cameras that will fine you if you enter without permission. Fuel is easy to find, and so is food: carbonara, cacio e pepe, supplì and artichokes alla giudia in season. South of the city, the Appia continues toward the Alban Hills, where the riding improves with winding roads around the volcanic lakes of Albano and Nemi and the towns of the Castelli Romani, famous for their white wine and porchetta.