Why this ride
203 km from Itri to Itri, about 4 h 32 of riding. The stops in between: Appia. Regina Viarum and back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum. It climbs into the mountains.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Via Appia at the Itri Pass and Via Appia. Regina Viarum
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 203 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 32
- 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. The Via Appia at the Itri Pass
Ancient Rome's first great highway, the Via Appia, was begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, and it ran from Rome south to Capua and later on to Brindisi on the Adriatic. At Itri, in the hills behind the Gulf of Gaeta, it squeezes through a narrow pass between the Monti Aurunci and the sea, and the road still crosses the same gap today. A stretch of the old paved line survives near the pass, with its big, rounded basalt blocks, though you will need to get off the main road and look carefully to find it.
Read the complete The Via Appia at the Itri Pass write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Via Appia at the Itri Pass is where the day begins. Next is Via Appia. Regina Viarum, 36 km on.
2. Via Appia. Regina Viarum
Terracina is the point where the Via Appia, the queen of roads, meets the sea after its long straight run from Rome across the Pontine plain. The Romans built the road in 312 BC under the censor Appius Claudius, and for its time it was a marvel: paved, drained and as straight as engineering allowed, linking Rome to Capua and later to Brindisi. The stretch through the Pontine marshes was notorious for mosquitoes and malaria, and travellers often took a canal boat alongside the road instead, as the poet Horace describes in one of his satires.
Read the complete Via Appia. Regina Viarum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Via Appia. Regina Viarum comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs.
3. Via Appia. Regina Viarum
South of the Alban Hills, the Via Appia drops onto the Pontine plain and runs dead straight for mile after mile, as if the Roman engineers had laid it with a ruler, which in a sense they did. This was the Regina Viarum, the queen of roads, begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus to link Rome with Capua, and later extended to Brindisi. Here, near Sezze Scalo and Latina, the road crossed the Pontine Marshes, a malarial swamp that defeated would-be drainers from the Romans to the popes. Travellers sometimes took a canal boat alongside the road instead, and the poet Horace complained about the mosquitoes and the frogs keeping him awake on that very journey.
Read the complete Via Appia. Regina Viarum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Via Appia. Regina Viarum.
4. Via Appia. Regina Viarum
The Romans called it the queen of roads, and in 2024 UNESCO agreed, listing the Via Appia from Rome to Brindisi as a World Heritage site. Begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, it was the first great Roman road, built to move armies south toward Campania and later extended to the port of Brindisi, the gateway to Greece and the East.
Read the complete Via Appia. Regina Viarum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Via Appia. Regina Viarum, about halfway. Next is back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum, 36 km on.
5. back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Via Appia. Regina Viarum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum sits at 144 km, about halfway.
6. back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Via Appia. Regina Viarum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum comes up about 176 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Via Appia at the Itri Pass.
7. The Via Appia at the Itri Pass
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Via Appia at the Itri Pass write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Via Appia at the Itri Pass closes the day.
Leg by leg
The Via Appia at the Itri Pass to Via Appia. Regina Viarum
The Via Appia at the Itri Pass → Via Appia. Regina Viarum is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Via Appia. Regina Viarum to Via Appia. Regina Viarum
Via Appia. Regina Viarum → Via Appia. Regina Viarum is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Via Appia. Regina Viarum to back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum
Via Appia. Regina Viarum → back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum to back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum
back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum → back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum to The Via Appia at the Itri Pass
back through Via Appia. Regina Viarum → The Via Appia at the Itri Pass is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.