Why this ride
From Lanuvio it runs 289 km to Lanuvio; allow about 5 h 03 of riding. It goes by way of The Via Appia in Rome, Villa Adriana, Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar and back through Villa Adriana. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Via Appia. Regina Viarum and Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 289 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 03
- 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
Mille Miglia Historic Route Core
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 31 km this is Mille Miglia Historic Route Core, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 31 km
- Named road
- Mille Miglia Historic Route Core
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is The Via Appia in Rome.
2. The Via Appia in Rome
Rome's regina viarum, the queen of roads, leaves the city through the Porta San Sebastiano and heads south-east toward Capua and eventually Brindisi. It was begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, and the first miles out of Rome are now protected within the Parco Regionale dell'Appia Antica. The stretch of the old road is lined with tombs, ruins of villas, catacombs and umbrella pines, and the original paving stones, huge polygonal basalt blocks, still surface parts of it.
Read the complete The Via Appia in Rome write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Via Appia in Rome comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Villa Adriana.
3. Villa Adriana
Hadrian never did anything by halves. Below the hill town of Tivoli, on the plain east of Rome, the emperor built himself a retreat that was less a villa than a private city: palaces, baths, libraries, theatres, gardens and long reflecting pools spread over more than a hundred hectares. Villa Adriana was constructed in the early second century AD, and Hadrian, a restless traveller and amateur architect, filled it with references to places he had seen, most famously the Canopus, a long pool lined with columns and statues meant to evoke the Egyptian canal of that name. Walking through the ruins today, among cypresses and olive trees, you get a sense of a man trying to bring the whole empire home.
Read the complete Villa Adriana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Villa Adriana. Next is Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar.
4. Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar
The Etruscans built their houses of wood and mud brick, which is why so few survive, and they built their tombs of rock, which is why we know them best through their dead. The Banditaccia necropolis at Cerveteri, north-west of Rome, is a city of tombs: great round tumuli covered in grass, cut into the volcanic tufa and laid out along streets, with chambers inside carved to look like houses, with beds, chairs, columns and beams. The necropolis, together with the painted tombs of Tarquinia further north, was listed by UNESCO in 2004, and walking its lanes is one of the most atmospheric experiences in central Italy.
Read the complete Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar, about halfway. Next is back through Villa Adriana.
5. back through Villa Adriana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Villa Adriana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Villa Adriana sits at 187 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Via Appia in Rome.
6. back through The Via Appia in Rome
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Via Appia in Rome write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Via Appia in Rome comes up about 258 km into the recorded legs. Next is Via Appia. Regina Viarum, 47 km on.
7. 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
Via Appia. Regina Viarum closes the day.
Leg by leg
Via Appia. Regina Viarum to The Via Appia in Rome
Via Appia. Regina Viarum → The Via Appia in Rome is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Via Appia in Rome to Villa Adriana
The Via Appia in Rome → Villa Adriana is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Villa Adriana to Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar
Villa Adriana → Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar to back through Villa Adriana
Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tar → back through Villa Adriana is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Villa Adriana to back through The Via Appia in Rome
back through Villa Adriana → back through The Via Appia in Rome is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Via Appia in Rome to Via Appia. Regina Viarum
back through The Via Appia in Rome → Via Appia. Regina Viarum is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.