Why this ride
298 km from Manziana to Manziana, about 5 h 45 of riding. On the way it passes The Via Appia in Rome, Appia. Regina Viarum and back through The Via Appia in Rome. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Monte Raschio and Via Appia. Regina Viarum
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 298 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 45
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is The Via Appia in Rome.
2. The Via Appia in Rome
Rome's regina viarum, the queen of roads, leaves the city through the Porta San Sebastiano and heads south-east toward Capua and eventually Brindisi. It was begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, and the first miles out of Rome are now protected within the Parco Regionale dell'Appia Antica. The stretch of the old road is lined with tombs, ruins of villas, catacombs and umbrella pines, and the original paving stones, huge polygonal basalt blocks, still surface parts of it.
Read the complete The Via Appia in Rome write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Via Appia in Rome comes up about 82 km into the recorded legs. Next is Via Appia. Regina Viarum, 70 km on.
3. Via Appia. Regina Viarum
South of the Alban Hills, the Via Appia drops onto the Pontine plain and runs dead straight for mile after mile, as if the Roman engineers had laid it with a ruler, which in a sense they did. This was the Regina Viarum, the queen of roads, begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus to link Rome with Capua, and later extended to Brindisi. Here, near Sezze Scalo and Latina, the road crossed the Pontine Marshes, a malarial swamp that defeated would-be drainers from the Romans to the popes. Travellers sometimes took a canal boat alongside the road instead, and the poet Horace complained about the mosquitoes and the frogs keeping him awake on that very journey.
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
about 150 km into the recorded legs you reach Via Appia. Regina Viarum. Next is back through The Via Appia in Rome.
4. back through The Via Appia in Rome
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Via Appia in Rome write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Via Appia in Rome, late in the day. Next is Monte Raschio.
5. Monte Raschio
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
Back at Monte Raschio. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Monte Raschio to The Via Appia in Rome
Monte Raschio → The Via Appia in Rome is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Via Appia in Rome to Via Appia. Regina Viarum
The Via Appia in Rome → Via Appia. Regina Viarum is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Via Appia. Regina Viarum to back through The Via Appia in Rome
Via Appia. Regina Viarum → back through The Via Appia in Rome is 65 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through The Via Appia in Rome to Monte Raschio
back through The Via Appia in Rome → Monte Raschio is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.