Why this ride
A 173 km round trip from Alberobello - roughly 3 h 11 in the saddle. It goes by way of Tarentum, The Via Appia from Mesochorum to Scamnum and back through Tarentum.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Quartiere Aja Piccola 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. Quartiere Aja Piccola
Alberobello is famous for its trulli, the little whitewashed stone houses with grey conical roofs that look as if they belong in a children's book. They stand in thousands across the Itria valley in Puglia, but in the town of Alberobello they come in two dense clusters on opposite hillsides, and the quarter called Aia Piccola is the quieter of the two. It holds around four hundred trulli, climbing a gentle slope, and unlike its showier neighbour across the valley, it is still mostly residential, with washing on lines, geraniums in pots and the occasional shop selling local cheese and wine. UNESCO listed the town in 1996.
Read the complete Quartiere Aja Piccola write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Quartiere Aja Piccola 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 Quartiere Aja Piccola.
5. Quartiere Aja Piccola
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Quartiere Aja Piccola write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Quartiere Aja Piccola. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Quartiere Aja Piccola to Tarentum
Quartiere Aja Piccola → 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 Quartiere Aja Piccola
back through Tarentum → Quartiere Aja Piccola is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.