Why this ride
A 331 km round trip from Portovenere - roughly 4 h 45 in the saddle. The stops in between: Piazza del Duomo, Villa La Magia and back through Piazza del Duomo. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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 331 km round trip from Portovenere - roughly 4 h 45 in the saddle. The stops in between: Piazza del Duomo, Villa La Magia and back through Piazza del Duomo. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Three islands trail off the tip of the Porto Venere peninsula like stepping stones: Palmaria, the largest, then Tino, and finally the Tinetto, a bare rock with the ruins of an early medieval monastic settlement and a small lighthouse beacon. Together with Porto Venere and the Cinque Terre, they form a World Heritage Site, listed for the way people shaped this rugged coast with terraces, villages and fortifications. The Tinetto is home to a rare lizard found only on these islands, and the waters around are rich in marine life.
Read the complete Isola del Tinetto write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Isola del Tinetto is where the day begins. Next is Piazza del Duomo.
Nothing prepares you for that first glimpse through the gateway. A wide green lawn, and set on it like ornaments on a cloth, the white marble cathedral, the round baptistery, the cemetery cloister of the Camposanto, and of course the bell tower, leaning at an angle that looks wrong no matter how many photographs you have seen. The Piazza del Duomo in Pisa, also called the Field of Miracles, was one of the first places in Italy to be listed by UNESCO, back in 1987.
Read the complete Piazza del Duomo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Piazza del Duomo comes up about 91 km into the recorded legs. Next is Villa La Magia.
The Medici loved the countryside, especially when it came with hunting grounds, and Villa La Magia at Quarrata was one of their country retreats at the foot of the Montalbano hills, a few kilometres south of Pistoia. Francesco I de' Medici bought it in the sixteenth century to use as a hunting lodge, and it belongs to the World Heritage inscription for the Medici villas and gardens of Tuscany. The villa is a solid rectangular building around a courtyard, more farmhouse than palace, with a park that has become home to contemporary art installations, a rather unexpected touch for a Renaissance hunting lodge.
Read the complete Villa La Magia write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 166 km into the recorded legs you reach Villa La Magia. Next is back through Piazza del Duomo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Piazza del Duomo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Piazza del Duomo, late in the day. Next is Isola del Tinetto.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Isola del Tinetto write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Isola del Tinetto. That is the ride.
Isola del Tinetto → Piazza del Duomo is 91 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Piazza del Duomo → Villa La Magia is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Villa La Magia → back through Piazza del Duomo is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Piazza del Duomo → Isola del Tinetto is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.