Amalfi Coast Long Day
A 582 km loop
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Why this ride
A rider’s loop: clean exit, memorable middle, calm return. A 582 km loop that starts and ends near Rome, about 10 h 35 of riding. On the way it passes Itri and Amalfi.
Roadbook
- Rome
start
Rome is the end of the line for the Mille Miglia, or at least the halfway mark, because the old race ran out from Brescia to Rome and back again, a thousand Italian miles in all, which is where the name comes from. It ran from 1927 until 1957, mostly through towns and villages with the roads left open and crowds standing at the kerb, and the drivers flew down the Via Cassia and through the Apennine passes at speeds that make the whole thing seem barely believable now. It ended after a crash in 1957 that killed spectators, and was later revived as a rolling classic-car parade, which still comes through Rome every spring.
Riding in Rome itself needs a particular frame of mind. The streets are old, narrow and often cobbled with the little black basalt blocks called sampietrini, which are slippery when wet and punishing on a heavy bike. Scooters pour past on both sides, buses own the bus lanes, and drivers use their horns as punctuation. Much of the historic centre is a restricted traffic zone, the ZTL, where entry without a permit earns a fine by camera, and motorcycles are not exempt in every area, so check before you go and park outside it. The ring road, the GRA, is fast, busy and sometimes badly surfaced.
The reward is that few cities pay you back so well for the trouble. Early morning, when the streets are washed and empty, the Colosseum and the Forum seem to have been waiting for you. A few hundred metres from the Vatican, the dome of St Peter's rises over a skyline of pines, domes and terracotta roofs. The Appian Way, built in 312 BC, still runs south from the city with its old basalt paving, tombs and cypress trees, and it is one of the finest places in Italy for a slow ride on a Sunday, when parts of it are closed to cars.
There is no problem finding petrol, food or coffee, since a city of over two million does not run short, and a coffee taken standing at a bar for a euro or so is one of the pleasures of Italian life. Try carbonara, cacio e pepe or supplì, and keep away from restaurants that put photographs of the dishes on the door.
Spring and autumn are best, as summer heat is severe and August half-empties the city, with many places closed.
- Itri
fuel
The Via Appia, the queen of Roman roads, threads through a narrow valley in the Aurunci Mountains between Fondi and Formia, and Itri sits right in the middle of it, a hill town crowned by a medieval castle whose towers watch over the old road. For centuries, this pass was notorious for brigands, who preyed on travellers between Rome and Naples. The most famous of them, Michele Pezza, known as Fra Diavolo, was born here in 1771, and became a legend for his guerrilla war against the French occupation of southern Italy, before being captured and hanged in Naples.
Itri is also known for its olives. The Itrana variety, grown on the terraced hillsides around the town, produces the famous Gaeta olives, small and dark, as well as a fine olive oil. Above the town, on the summit of Monte Civita, stands the sanctuary of the Madonna della Civita, a place of pilgrimage with wide views over the mountains and the sea.
For riders, Itri is a practical fuel stop on the long ride south towards the Amalfi Coast. The town has fuel, bars and small restaurants, and a short espresso stop here sets you up nicely for the coast. The road through the valley is pleasant, winding between olive groves and rocky hills, and a short distance south, it reaches the sea at Formia, with views over the Gulf of Gaeta. From there, the coast road heads south towards Naples, passing through busy towns and heavy traffic, before reaching the Sorrento peninsula and the Amalfi Coast.
The mountains around Itri, the Aurunci, are a wild and little-visited range, with narrow roads climbing through woods and over passes, offering excellent riding and fine views. The roads can be rough and poorly maintained, with potholes and gravel, and they are often narrow and twisty, so ride carefully. Summers here are hot and dry, and spring and autumn are the most pleasant seasons. In winter, the mountains can be cold and windy.
- Amalfi
food
Amalfi was once the capital of a maritime republic that traded across the Mediterranean, and it is hard to believe, looking at the small, crowded town squeezed into a ravine at the water's edge. For a few centuries around the year 1000, it rivalled Pisa and Venice, with a fleet that sailed to Constantinople, Egypt and Syria, and a population many times larger than it has now. Its maritime laws, the Tabula Amalphitana, were respected in ports across the sea. A great earthquake and storm in the fourteenth century swept much of the old town into the sea, and Amalfi never regained its power.
Its cathedral, dedicated to Saint Andrew, still dominates the main square, with a striped facade of black and white and gold mosaic, approached by a broad flight of steps, and a bronze door cast in Constantinople in the eleventh century. Next to it, the Cloister of Paradise is a quiet courtyard with slender columns and palms. The town was also famous for paper-making, and a museum in an old paper mill in the Valley of the Mills explains how it was done, with water-powered hammers and handmade sheets, and shops still sell the paper.
Lemons are the local pride, big, fragrant and sweet, grown on terraces carved into the cliffs and shaded by wooden pergolas. They go into limoncello, in pastry, in granita and in the food at every restaurant, and a glass of fresh lemon juice on a hot day is a small miracle. The small town of Atrani, a few hundred metres away, is a tiny, whitewashed village and quieter than Amalfi, and a short walk away.
The coast road to and from Amalfi is spectacular and demanding, with hairpins and tunnels and a great deal of traffic, particularly buses, so patience is needed. The harbour area has parking, but spaces fill quickly, and motorcycles are usually easier to place than cars. Amalfi has about five thousand people, with a few stations nearby, and Maiori, about four kilometres along the coast, is another source of fuel and supplies. Visit in spring or autumn if you can, when the crowds are smaller and the light is soft.
- Rome finish