Abruzzo and 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
351 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 16
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.
A 351 km round trip from Civitella Alfedena - roughly 6 h 16 in the saddle. It goes by way of Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing, 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with and back through Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Scenic road chapters
Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing → 18th-Century Royal Palace at C
This part of the ride is 55 km of Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing → 18th-Century Royal Palace at C.
Chapter facts
Length
55 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Abruzzo
Bears are the thing everyone asks about in Abruzzo, and the honest answer is that you probably will not see one. The Marsican brown bear, a small, isolated population, survives in the mountains of the Apennines, and the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, created in 1923, is its stronghold. The park also protects wolves, chamois and deer, and a lot of ancient beech forest, some of which is part of a group of European beech forests listed by UNESCO. Seeing a bear is rare, but a roadside sign and a bear-shaped warning tell you where you are.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abruzzo is where the day begins. Next is Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing.
2. Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing
Where the Via Appia crossed the River Garigliano, the Romans built a town, and armies have been fighting over the crossing ever since. Minturnae was founded as a Roman colony in the late fourth century BC on the border between Lazio and Campania, and its ruins lie beside the river near the modern town of Minturno: a theatre still used for summer performances, a forum, temples, baths, a stretch of the Via Appia's paving and the arches of an aqueduct striding across the fields. A small museum displays statues and finds from the site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing comes up about 121 km into the recorded legs. Next is 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with.
3. 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with
When Charles of Bourbon, king of Naples, decided to build a royal palace to rival Versailles, he did not do things by halves. The Reggia di Caserta, begun in 1752 to a design by Luigi Vanvitelli, is one of the largest royal palaces in the world, with some twelve hundred rooms, four inner courtyards, a theatre and a grand staircase that has appeared in films including Star Wars, where it stood in for the palace of Naboo. Behind it, a park stretches for three kilometres up the hillside, with fountains, statues and a long chain of pools and cascades fed by an aqueduct that Vanvitelli built specially, ending at a great waterfall at the top.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Abruzzo. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Abruzzo to Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing
Abruzzo → Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing is 121 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing to 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with
Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing → 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with is 55 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with to back through Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing
18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with → back through Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing is 56 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing to Abruzzo
back through Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing → Abruzzo is 119 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.