Why this ride
From Carovigno it runs 287 km to Carovigno; allow about 5 h 19 of riding. It goes by way of Tarentum, The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C and back through Tarentum. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast and The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 287 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 19
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast → Tarentum
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 65 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 60 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast
Between Ostuni and Brindisi, along the Adriatic coast of Puglia, ran the Via Appia Traiana, a road built by the emperor Trajan in the early second century as a faster alternative to the old Appian Way, carrying traffic to the port of Brundisium, the gateway to Greece and the East. In 2024, stretches of both roads were inscribed by UNESCO as Via Appia, Regina Viarum. Here the old route followed the coastal plain through olive groves, and traces of it, together with ancient settlements, can be found near the sea.
Read the complete The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast 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 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C.
3. The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C
Matera is one of those places where the first view genuinely changes the mood of a day. You walk to the edge of the modern town, look down, and there are the Sassi: two hollows in the limestone filled with houses stacked on top of each other, their roofs serving as streets for the houses above, churches cut into the rock, staircases and alleys tumbling down to the edge of a deep ravine, the Gravina. Across the gorge, the Murgia plateau is riddled with caves and rock churches, some with Byzantine frescoes, used by monks and shepherds for over a thousand years. People have lived in these caves since prehistoric times, which makes Matera one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world.
Read the complete The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 137 km into the recorded legs you reach The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C. 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 The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast.
5. The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast to Tarentum
The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast → Tarentum is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tarentum to The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C
Tarentum → The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C to back through Tarentum
The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian C → back through Tarentum is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Tarentum to The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast
back through Tarentum → The Appia Traiana along the Adriatic coast is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.