Why this ride
A 270 km round trip from Ercolano - roughly 5 h 02 in the saddle. On the way it passes Costiera Amalfitana, Torre Annunziata: Villa B, back through Torre Annunziata: Villa B and back through Costiera Amalfitana.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Herculaneum and Costiera Amalfitana
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 270 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 02
- 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
Amalfi Coast Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 53 km this is Amalfi Coast Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 53 km
- Named road
- Amalfi Coast Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Herculaneum
On the morning of 24 August in AD 79, as the story is usually told, Vesuvius blew its top, and Herculaneum, a small seaside town on the Bay of Naples, was buried under around twenty metres of volcanic material. Pompeii gets the headlines because it was buried in ash and pumice, but Herculaneum was overwhelmed by superheated surges of gas and ash, and that violence did something kinder to the evidence: it carbonised wood. Roof beams, doors, beds, shop shutters and even food were preserved in a way that Pompeii cannot match, and the town feels smaller, closer and more intact.
Read the complete Herculaneum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Herculaneum is where the day begins. Next is Costiera Amalfitana.
2. Costiera Amalfitana
The Amalfi coast road is the reason many riders first dreamed of Italy, and it lives up to the legend and then some, with a few catches. The SS163 Amalfitana, carved into the cliffs above the sea in the nineteenth century, winds along the southern side of the Sorrento peninsula from Positano to Vietri sul Mare, with hundreds of bends, sheer drops, tunnels, bridges and villages clinging to the rocks. Amalfi itself, a small town of about five thousand people at the mouth of a ravine, was once a powerful maritime republic that rivalled Venice and Genoa in the Middle Ages, and its cathedral, with its striped facade and Arab-Norman cloister, is a reminder of that glory.
Read the complete Costiera Amalfitana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Costiera Amalfitana comes up about 53 km into the recorded legs. Next is Torre Annunziata: Villa B.
3. Torre Annunziata: Villa B
Under the shadow of Vesuvius, in the middle of a modern working town, there is a Roman villa that was buried in the same eruption of AD 79 that destroyed Pompeii. Torre Annunziata stands on the ancient site of Oplontis, a seaside suburb of Pompeii, and its two excavated villas are part of the UNESCO listing of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata, inscribed in 1997. Villa A, the grander one, is famous for its frescoes and is linked with Poppaea Sabina, the wife of Nero. Villa B, the one on this ride, is different, a commercial building where wine and other goods were stored and traded, with a large courtyard and many amphorae found when it was dug up.
Read the complete Torre Annunziata: Villa B write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 94 km into the recorded legs you reach Torre Annunziata: Villa B.
4. Costiera Amalfitana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Costiera Amalfitana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Costiera Amalfitana, about halfway. Next is back through Torre Annunziata: Villa B.
5. back through Torre Annunziata: Villa B
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Torre Annunziata: Villa B write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Torre Annunziata: Villa B sits at 118 km, about halfway. Next is back through Costiera Amalfitana.
6. back through Costiera Amalfitana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Costiera Amalfitana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Costiera Amalfitana comes up about 215 km into the recorded legs. Next is Herculaneum.
7. Herculaneum
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Herculaneum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Herculaneum closes the day.
Leg by leg
Herculaneum to Costiera Amalfitana
Herculaneum → Costiera Amalfitana is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Costiera Amalfitana to Torre Annunziata: Villa B
Costiera Amalfitana → Torre Annunziata: Villa B is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Torre Annunziata: Villa B to Costiera Amalfitana
Torre Annunziata: Villa B → Costiera Amalfitana is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Costiera Amalfitana to back through Torre Annunziata: Villa B
Costiera Amalfitana → back through Torre Annunziata: Villa B is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Torre Annunziata: Villa B to back through Costiera Amalfitana
back through Torre Annunziata: Villa B → back through Costiera Amalfitana is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Costiera Amalfitana to Herculaneum
back through Costiera Amalfitana → Herculaneum is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.