Why this ride
From Rome it runs 296 km to Rome; allow about 5 h 50 of riding. The stops in between: Appia. Regina Viarum, Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar, Cerveteri and Monte Raschio. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Rome day out · Monte Raschio
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 296 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 50
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Mille Miglia Historic Route Core
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 81 km this is Mille Miglia Historic Route Core, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 81 km
- Named road
- Mille Miglia Historic Route Core
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Rome
Rome is the end of the line for the Mille Miglia, or at least the halfway mark, because the old race ran out from Brescia to Rome and back again, a thousand Italian miles in all, which is where the name comes from. It ran from 1927 until 1957, mostly through towns and villages with the roads left open and crowds standing at the kerb, and the drivers flew down the Via Cassia and through the Apennine passes at speeds that make the whole thing seem barely believable now. It ended after a crash in 1957 that killed spectators, and was later revived as a rolling classic-car parade, which still comes through Rome every spring.
Read the complete Rome write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rome is where the day begins. Next is Via Appia. Regina Viarum, 39 km on.
2. Via Appia. Regina Viarum
The Romans called it the queen of roads, and in 2024 UNESCO agreed, listing the Via Appia from Rome to Brindisi as a World Heritage site. Begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, it was the first great Roman road, built to move armies south toward Campania and later extended to the port of Brindisi, the gateway to Greece and the East.
Read the complete Via Appia. Regina Viarum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Via Appia. Regina Viarum comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar.
3. Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar
The Etruscans built their houses of wood and mud brick, which is why so few survive, and they built their tombs of rock, which is why we know them best through their dead. The Banditaccia necropolis at Cerveteri, north-west of Rome, is a city of tombs: great round tumuli covered in grass, cut into the volcanic tufa and laid out along streets, with chambers inside carved to look like houses, with beds, chairs, columns and beams. The necropolis, together with the painted tombs of Tarquinia further north, was listed by UNESCO in 2004, and walking its lanes is one of the most atmospheric experiences in central Italy.
Read the complete Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 117 km into the recorded legs you reach Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar. Next is Cerveteri.
4. Cerveteri
Cerveteri was the Etruscan city of Caere, one of the richest and most powerful in Italy in the seventh and sixth centuries before Christ, and its dead lie in houses. The Banditaccia necropolis, on a ridge outside the modern town, is a city of tombs: round mounds of earth on stone drums, laid out along streets and squares, each containing rooms cut in the soft volcanic rock to look like homes, with beds, benches, columns and carved ceilings. The Tomb of the Reliefs, with stucco images of household objects, shows how the Etruscans pictured the afterlife. UNESCO listed the necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia together in 2004.
Read the complete Cerveteri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cerveteri, about halfway. Next is Monte Raschio.
5. Monte Raschio
Beech trees usually need altitude and cool weather in central Italy, so it is a surprise to find a beech forest at only about five hundred metres on Monte Raschio, a low volcanic hill near Oriolo Romano, north-west of Rome. The forest survives here thanks to a local microclimate, with humidity from Lake Bracciano and the volcanic soils, and it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, a site that spans many countries.
Read the complete Monte Raschio write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monte Raschio sits at 155 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cerveteri.
6. back through Cerveteri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cerveteri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cerveteri comes up about 180 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar.
7. back through Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 181 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar. Next is back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum, 38 km on.
8. back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Via Appia. Regina Viarum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum, late in the day. Next is Rome.
9. Rome
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rome write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 296 km.
Leg by leg
Rome to Via Appia. Regina Viarum
Rome → Via Appia. Regina Viarum is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Via Appia. Regina Viarum to Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar
Via Appia. Regina Viarum → Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Cerveteri to Monte Raschio
Cerveteri → Monte Raschio is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monte Raschio to back through Cerveteri
Monte Raschio → back through Cerveteri is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar to back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum
back through Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar → back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum to Rome
back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum → Rome is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.