Why this ride
A 286 km round trip from Cerveteri - roughly 5 h 55 in the saddle. The stops in between: Vatican City, The Via Appia across Alban Hills, Properties of the Holy See in that City En and Villa Adriana. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cerveteri and Villa Adriana
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 286 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 55
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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
For 36 km this is Mille Miglia Historic Route Core, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 36 km
- Named road
- Mille Miglia Historic Route Core
Mille Miglia Historic Route Core
Water arrives beside the road and stays for 35 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go. Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 35 km
- Named road
- Mille Miglia Historic Route Core
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Vatican City.
2. Vatican City
The smallest state in the world is about forty-four hectares of walled hill on the right bank of the Tiber, and somehow it contains the largest church in Christendom, one of the greatest art collections ever assembled and a population that would barely fill a village. The Vatican exists as an independent country since the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between the Holy See and Mussolini's Italy, but the popes have been building here for far longer. St Peter's Basilica stands over the traditional site of the apostle's grave, and its dome, designed by Michelangelo, dominates the skyline of western Rome. Bernini's colonnade, sweeping round the square like two great arms, was meant to embrace every visitor who arrived.
Read the complete Vatican City write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vatican City comes up 37 km in. Next is The Via Appia across Alban Hills.
3. The Via Appia across Alban Hills
The Romans built the Appian Way straight as a ruler across the Campagna, but when it reached the Alban Hills, the old volcanic massif south-east of Rome, even they had to bend a little. At Ariccia, the road crossed a deep valley on a huge viaduct of stone blocks, parts of which still survive, and climbed past Albano and Genzano toward Velletri and the south.
Read the complete The Via Appia across Alban Hills write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
75 km in you reach The Via Appia across Alban Hills. Next is Properties of the Holy See in that City En.
4. Properties of the Holy See in that City En
The Vatican is the world's smallest state, and you ride in and out of it without noticing. The line between Italy and the Holy See is marked on the pavement of St Peter's Square, and the entire country covers less than half a square kilometre, with fewer than a thousand residents. What UNESCO listed, together with the properties of the Holy See in Rome beyond the walls, is a great collection of art and architecture: the basilica built over the supposed tomb of the apostle Peter, the dome that Michelangelo designed, Bernini's colonnade, and the Sistine Chapel and its ceiling, painted in the early sixteenth century.
Read the complete Properties of the Holy See in that City En write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Properties of the Holy See in that City En, about halfway. Next is Villa Adriana.
5. Villa Adriana
Hadrian never did anything by halves. Below the hill town of Tivoli, on the plain east of Rome, the emperor built himself a retreat that was less a villa than a private city: palaces, baths, libraries, theatres, gardens and long reflecting pools spread over more than a hundred hectares. Villa Adriana was constructed in the early second century AD, and Hadrian, a restless traveller and amateur architect, filled it with references to places he had seen, most famously the Canopus, a long pool lined with columns and statues meant to evoke the Egyptian canal of that name. Walking through the ruins today, among cypresses and olive trees, you get a sense of a man trying to bring the whole empire home.
Read the complete Villa Adriana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Villa Adriana sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Properties of the Holy See in that City En.
6. back through Properties of the Holy See in that City En
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Properties of the Holy See in that City En write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Properties of the Holy See in that City En comes up 186 km in. Next is back through The Via Appia across Alban Hills.
7. back through The Via Appia across Alban Hills
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Via Appia across Alban Hills write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
224 km in you reach back through The Via Appia across Alban Hills. Next is back through Vatican City.
8. back through Vatican City
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vatican City write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Vatican City, late in the day. Next is Cerveteri.
9. 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
The route ends here after 286 km.
Leg by leg
Cerveteri to Vatican City
Cerveteri → Vatican City is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vatican City to The Via Appia across Alban Hills
Vatican City → The Via Appia across Alban Hills is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Via Appia across Alban Hills to Properties of the Holy See in that City En
The Via Appia across Alban Hills → Properties of the Holy See in that City En is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Properties of the Holy See in that City En to Villa Adriana
Properties of the Holy See in that City En → Villa Adriana is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Villa Adriana to back through Properties of the Holy See in that City En
Villa Adriana → back through Properties of the Holy See in that City En is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Properties of the Holy See in that City En to back through The Via Appia across Alban Hills
back through Properties of the Holy See in that City En → back through The Via Appia across Alban Hills is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Via Appia across Alban Hills to back through Vatican City
back through The Via Appia across Alban Hills → back through Vatican City is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vatican City to Cerveteri
back through Vatican City → Cerveteri is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
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