Why this ride
From Alberobello it runs 173 km to Alberobello; allow about 3 h 11 of riding. It goes by way of Tarentum, The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum and back through Tarentum.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Piazza del Mercato and The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 173 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 11
- 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. Piazza del Mercato
Every Puglian town has its square where the day's business happens, and in Alberobello the market has long been part of the modern town, the one that grew up on the flat ground below the trulli hillside. Travellers tend to rush straight to the Rione Monti and its sea of grey cones, then rush back out again, which is a pity, because the lower town gives the clearest sense of how people really live here. Old men sit on benches, women carry shopping bags from the stalls, and the bakeries open early for the focaccia and the taralli, the ring-shaped crackers that are a Pugliese staple.
Read the complete Piazza del Mercato write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Piazza del Mercato is where the day begins. Next is Tarentum.
2. Tarentum
Taranto is a city between two seas. The old town sits on a small island between the Mar Grande, an open bay of the Gulf of Taranto, and the Mar Piccolo, an inner lagoon, connected to the mainland by bridges, including a swing bridge that opens to let warships pass into the naval base. Founded by Spartan colonists in the eighth century BC as Taras, it became one of the richest and most powerful cities of Magna Graecia, the Greek world in southern Italy, before falling to Rome.
Read the complete Tarentum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tarentum comes up about 46 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum.
3. The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum
The last stretch of the Via Appia ran across this flat, sun-drenched part of Puglia toward Brundisium, the port from which Romans sailed to Greece and the East. The road, begun in 312 BC from Rome, was the queen of roads, and the whole route became a UNESCO site in 2024. The section between the stations the Romans called Mesochorum and Scamnum passes near Oria and Francavilla Fontana, and while little of the original paving survives here, the line of the road still shapes the landscape, with modern roads, field boundaries and farm tracks following its course.
Read the complete The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 86 km into the recorded legs you reach The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum. Next is back through Tarentum.
4. back through Tarentum
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tarentum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Tarentum, late in the day. Next is Piazza del Mercato.
5. Piazza del Mercato
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Piazza del Mercato write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Piazza del Mercato. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Piazza del Mercato to Tarentum
Piazza del Mercato → Tarentum is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tarentum to The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum
Tarentum → The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum to back through Tarentum
The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum → back through Tarentum is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tarentum to Piazza del Mercato
back through Tarentum → Piazza del Mercato is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.