Pavari-Sfilzi and The Appia Traiana from Aecae to Herdonia
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
371 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 03
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.
From Vico del Gargano it runs 371 km to Vico del Gargano; allow about 7 h 03 of riding. It goes by way of The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan, The Appia Traiana from Aecae to Herdonia and back through The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pavari-Sfilzi
The Gargano is the spur of the Italian boot, a limestone mass pushing out into the Adriatic, and if you ask a rider to name Italy's best coast road, someone will name the one here. Vico, with seven thousand people, is a white town of narrow lanes on a ridge, surrounded by orange and lemon groves, with an old quarter that has a famous narrow alley, the Strada del Bacio. Peschici, three and a half thousand strong, clings to a cliff above the sea, with white houses and a castle.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pavari-Sfilzi is where the day begins. Next is The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan.
2. The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan
In AD 109, the emperor Trajan opened a new road from Benevento to Brindisi, shorter and easier than the old Via Appia, and it crossed the plain of northern Puglia, past the ancient city of Canusium, today's Canosa di Puglia. Near Canosa, the road crossed the Ofanto river on a bridge whose Roman foundations still support a later structure. The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofanto crossing are part of the UNESCO listing of Via Appia, Regina Viarum, inscribed in 2024, and the plain around them is open, flat and fertile, a landscape of olive groves, vineyards and fields of wheat and artichokes.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan comes up about 112 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Appia Traiana from Aecae to Herdonia.
3. The Appia Traiana from Aecae to Herdonia
There is nothing here that announces itself. What you have is a long, almost featureless landscape of grain, stubble and the odd masseria, and under it the line of a Roman road. The Via Traiana was commissioned by the emperor Trajan around 109 AD as a faster, drier alternative to the old Appia between Benevento and Brindisi, and the stretch from Aecae to Herdonia is one of the places where you can follow its logic: flat, direct, and aimed at the next town.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 180 km into the recorded legs you reach The Appia Traiana from Aecae to Herdonia. Next is back through The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan.
4. back through The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Pavari-Sfilzi. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Pavari-Sfilzi to The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan
Pavari-Sfilzi → The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan is 112 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan to The Appia Traiana from Aecae to Herdonia
The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan → The Appia Traiana from Aecae to Herdonia is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
The Appia Traiana from Aecae to Herdonia to back through The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan
The Appia Traiana from Aecae to Herdonia → back through The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan to Pavari-Sfilzi
back through The Appia Traiana at Canusium and the Ofan → Pavari-Sfilzi is 114 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.