Why this ride
From Bologna it runs 238 km to Bologna; allow about 3 h 37 of riding. It goes by way of Diamantina, Laghetto della Costa and back through Diamantina. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Santo Stefano e Mercanzia and Laghetto della Costa
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 238 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 37
- 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. Santo Stefano e Mercanzia
Where Strada Maggiore begins, in the shadow of the Two Towers, a very particular little cluster of buildings stands: the Palazzo della Mercanzia, a Gothic building of the late fourteenth century that housed the merchants' guild and its court, a body that settled commercial disputes and regulated trade. Its façade is decorated with the coats of arms of the guilds, and it forms part of the dense core of medieval Bologna, an area of narrow lanes and tall brick houses. Nearby stand the two leaning towers, Asinelli and Garisenda, the former rising nearly a hundred metres and the latter famously tilted, a symbol of the city.
Read the complete Santo Stefano e Mercanzia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Santo Stefano e Mercanzia is where the day begins. Next is Diamantina.
2. Diamantina
The Este dukes of Ferrara loved their countryside retreats, the delizie, and they scattered them across the flat land around the city like jewels on a cloth. The Diamantina, near Vigarano Pieve west of Ferrara, was one of them, an estate of farmland, woods and buildings named after the diamond, a symbol of the Este family. The delizie are part of the UNESCO listing of Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta, which recognises the city's planned urban layout and the way the Este shaped the surrounding landscape, draining marshes and creating farms and hunting grounds.
Read the complete Diamantina write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Diamantina comes up about 55 km into the recorded legs. Next is Laghetto della Costa.
3. Laghetto della Costa
The Euganean Hills rise abruptly from the flat plain south-west of Padua, a cluster of volcanic cones covered in vineyards, chestnut woods and olive groves. Arquà Petrarca, a medieval village on the southern slopes, is where the poet Petrarch spent his last years and died in 1374; his house can still be visited. Close by, in a small hollow between the hills, lies the Laghetto della Costa, a tiny lake that hides a big secret.
Read the complete Laghetto della Costa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 119 km into the recorded legs you reach Laghetto della Costa. Next is back through Diamantina.
4. back through Diamantina
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Diamantina write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Diamantina, late in the day. Next is Santo Stefano e Mercanzia.
5. Santo Stefano e Mercanzia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Santo Stefano e Mercanzia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Santo Stefano e Mercanzia. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Santo Stefano e Mercanzia to Diamantina
Santo Stefano e Mercanzia → Diamantina is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Diamantina to Laghetto della Costa
Diamantina → Laghetto della Costa is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Laghetto della Costa to back through Diamantina
Laghetto della Costa → back through Diamantina is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Diamantina to Santo Stefano e Mercanzia
back through Diamantina → Santo Stefano e Mercanzia is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Pavaglione and Laghetto della Costa · 241 km
- Cavour and Laghetto della Costa · 241 km
- Strada Maggiore and Laghetto della Costa · 238 km
- Galliera and Laghetto della Costa · 238 km