CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 422 km round trip from Palazzolo Acreide - roughly 8 h 09 in the saddle. It goes by way of Militello Val di Catania, Caltagirone, Catania and Mount Etna. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 40 km this is Sicily Etna Scenic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Long before the Baroque churches, there were the Greeks. In the seventh century BC, settlers from Syracuse founded a hilltop outpost here called Akrai, controlling the routes into the interior of Sicily. The remains of their town lie on the hill above modern Palazzolo Acreide: a small, beautifully preserved Greek theatre with views over the hills, stone quarries turned into burial chambers, and the Santoni, a series of rock-cut figures of the goddess Cybele, carved into a cliff face, weathered but still powerful.
Read the complete Palazzolo Acreide write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Palazzolo Acreide is where the day begins. Next is Militello Val di Catania.
Militello in Val di Catania is a small town in the hills south-west of Catania, in eastern Sicily, surrounded by orange groves and olive trees, with Mount Etna visible on the horizon. Like many towns in this part of Sicily, it was devastated by the earthquake of 1693, which destroyed much of the south-east of the island, and was rebuilt in the Baroque style. Its churches and palaces are part of the UNESCO-listed Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, inscribed in 2002, together with Noto, Ragusa, Modica, Caltagirone and others.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Militello Val di Catania comes up 47 km in. Next is Caltagirone.
Caltagirone is a city built on ceramics. Perched on a ridge in the hills of south-east Sicily, it has been making pottery since ancient times, and the tradition is everywhere: majolica tiles on balconies, bridges and church domes, pottery shops lining the streets and a museum devoted to the craft. Its most famous sight is the Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte, a staircase of well over a hundred steps climbing from the lower town to a church at the top, each riser decorated with hand-painted tiles in different patterns and colours. In late July, for the feast of Saint James, the staircase is lit with thousands of oil lamps arranged in designs, a magical sight.
Read the complete Caltagirone write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
94 km in you reach Caltagirone. Next is Catania.
Catania has been knocked down and rebuilt so many times that it has made a style out of resilience. Lava from Etna overran parts of the city in 1669, and then in 1693 a devastating earthquake flattened it almost entirely. The rebuilding produced one of the most striking Baroque cities in Italy, built with dark grey lava stone set off against pale limestone, with wide straight streets designed to offer escape routes in future disasters. The centre is part of the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto World Heritage Site, and Etna looms over everything, often smoking at the end of the Via Etnea.
Read the complete Catania write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Catania, about halfway. Next is Mount Etna.
Etna is not so much a mountain as a living presence that dominates eastern Sicily. Europe's highest active volcano rises over 3,300 metres above Catania, its height changing as eruptions add and remove material, and it smokes, rumbles and occasionally spits fire with a regularity that the locals regard with a mix of reverence and resignation.
Read the complete Mount Etna write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mount Etna sits at 187 km, about halfway. Next is back through Catania.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Catania write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Catania comes up 234 km in. Next is back through Caltagirone.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caltagirone write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
281 km in you reach back through Caltagirone. Next is back through Militello Val di Catania.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Militello Val di Catania write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Militello Val di Catania, late in the day. Next is Palazzolo Acreide.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palazzolo Acreide write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 422 km.
Palazzolo Acreide → Militello Val di Catania is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Militello Val di Catania → Caltagirone is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Caltagirone → Catania is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Catania → Mount Etna is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mount Etna → back through Catania is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Catania → back through Caltagirone is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Caltagirone → back through Militello Val di Catania is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Militello Val di Catania → Palazzolo Acreide is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.