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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Via Appia. Regina Viarum and Historic Centre of Rome

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
180 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 52
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.

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Why this ride

From Lanuvio it runs 180 km to Lanuvio; allow about 3 h 52 of riding. It goes by way of The Via Appia in Rome, Villa Adriana, Historic Centre of Rome and back through Villa Adriana.

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. 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. 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. 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 Historic Centre of Rome.

  4. 4. Historic Centre of Rome

    You cannot ride into the heart of Rome with any dignity, but you can arrive in a way that does the city justice. Come in by the Appian Way, the Via Appia Antica, laid down in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius and later called the queen of roads, and the approach tells you who built this city and what they wanted from it. The old stone surface, with its basalt blocks, still runs for miles south of the walls, between pines, tombs and lonely arches of aqueduct. Closer to the centre the road joins the real city, with the Colosseum, the Forum and the imperial fora lined up like a geology of power, the Pantheon with its famous open oculus, and then Baroque Rome, with Bernini fountains in squares that seem to appear around every corner.

    Read the complete Historic Centre of Rome write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Historic Centre of Rome, about halfway. Next is back through Villa Adriana.

  5. 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 129 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Via Appia in Rome.

  6. 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 149 km into the recorded legs. Next is Via Appia. Regina Viarum, 32 km on.

  7. 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 Historic Centre of Rome

Villa Adriana → Historic Centre of Rome is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Historic Centre of Rome to back through Villa Adriana

Historic Centre of Rome → back through Villa Adriana is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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.

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