Why this ride
From Arbizzano-Santa Maria it runs 300 km to Arbizzano-Santa Maria; allow about 4 h 42 of riding. On the way it passes Villa Caldogno, Tombola and back through Villa Caldogno. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Villa Serego and Tombola
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 300 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 42
- 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. Villa Serego
Andrea Palladio built many villas around the Veneto, but the one at Santa Sofia di Pedemonte, in the Valpolicella just north-west of Verona, is the oddball of the family. Commissioned by Marcantonio Serego in the mid-sixteenth century and never finished, it has none of the smooth classical calm of the Rotonda. Instead its courtyard is lined with giant Ionic columns built up from rough, rusticated blocks of local stone, as if the building were half turning back into the hillside. Only part of the planned design was completed, and the effect is wonderfully strange.
Read the complete Villa Serego write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Villa Serego is where the day begins. Next is Villa Caldogno.
2. Villa Caldogno
Villa Caldogno is one of the quieter Palladian villas, standing in a park on the edge of the town of the same name, a few kilometres north of Vicenza. Andrea Palladio designed it in the mid-sixteenth century for the Caldogno family, and it shows his early style: a compact, symmetrical block with a triple-arched loggia in the centre, a pediment above, and no unnecessary decoration. Inside, the main hall and rooms are covered with frescoes by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo and Giovanni Battista Zelotti, depicting scenes of country life, banquets, games and love, painted with charm and humour. Like the other villas of the Veneto, it belongs to the UNESCO listing of the City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas.
Read the complete Villa Caldogno write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Villa Caldogno comes up about 76 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tombola.
3. Tombola
In the flat, fertile plain south of Verona, near the town of Cerea, a low rise in the fields called Tombola hides the remains of a Bronze Age settlement. The site is listed among the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it belongs to a group of wetland villages that once stood among the marshes of the Valli Grandi Veronesi, a large area of wetland that was drained and reclaimed over the centuries.
Read the complete Tombola write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 154 km into the recorded legs you reach Tombola. Next is back through Villa Caldogno.
4. back through Villa Caldogno
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Villa Caldogno write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Villa Caldogno, late in the day. Next is Villa Serego.
5. Villa Serego
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Villa Serego write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Villa Serego. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Villa Serego to Villa Caldogno
Villa Serego → Villa Caldogno is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Villa Caldogno to Tombola
Villa Caldogno → Tombola is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Tombola to back through Villa Caldogno
Tombola → back through Villa Caldogno is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Villa Caldogno to Villa Serego
back through Villa Caldogno → Villa Serego is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.