Castelli Romani Dawn Loop · short arc

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fuel stop in Fiumicino-Isola Sacra

   Isola Sacra is a flat, triangular island at the mouth of the Tiber, cut off from the mainland by the river's natural channel, the Fiumara Grande, and by an ancient canal dug under the emperor Trajan. Most people know the area only because Rome's main airport, Leonardo da Vinci, sits just to the north, but the island and its surroundings hold a remarkable amount of history if you are willing to pause for it.

   Read the complete Fiumicino-Isola Sacra write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Castelli Romani Dawn Loop is where the day begins. Next is Castelli Romani Dawn Loop high point.

2. 2. Fiumicino-Isola Sacra

   Isola Sacra is a flat, triangular island at the mouth of the Tiber, cut off from the mainland by the river's natural channel, the Fiumara Grande, and by an ancient canal dug under the emperor Trajan. Most people know the area only because Rome's main airport, Leonardo da Vinci, sits just to the north, but the island and its surroundings hold a remarkable amount of history if you are willing to pause for it.

   Read the complete Fiumicino-Isola Sacra write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Castelli Romani Dawn Loop checkpoint 8.

3. 3. Near La Massimina-Casal Lumbroso

   The Tiber does its last bit of meandering here, between the airport at Fiumicino, the exhibition halls of the Fiera di Roma and a scatter of new suburbs at Ponte Galeria and Parco Leonardo. On a map it looks like nothing much, a tangle of motorway junctions on the western fringe of Rome, and on the ground it is mostly that. But it is a very old landscape under the concrete, and if you have ridden down from the Val d'Orcia, it is worth knowing what you are arriving into.

   Read the complete Near La Massimina-Casal Lumbroso write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 292 km. Next is Scenic stretch near Rignano Flaminio.

4. 4. Scenic stretch near Rignano Flaminio

   North of Rome, the ancient Via Flaminia runs up through the Ager Faliscus, a landscape of volcanic tufa plateaux cut by deep, wooded ravines, and Rignano Flaminio sits right on its line. The road was built in the third century BC to link Rome with the Adriatic, and you are following, more or less, the route of legions, merchants and pilgrims who travelled it for two thousand years.

   Read the complete Scenic stretch near Rignano Flaminio write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Scenic stretch near Rignano Flaminio, about halfway. Next is Photo stop near Forano.

5. 5. Photo stop near Forano

   Silver-green olive groves cover the hills of the Sabina, the ancient land of the Sabines north-east of Rome, and the oil they produce is among the oldest protected olive oils in Italy. Forano is one of the small hill towns of the area, perched above the Tiber valley with stone houses and narrow streets, and from its edges the view stretches across the river to the volcanic hills and mountains beyond.

   Read the complete Photo stop near Forano write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Photo stop near Forano sits at 195 km, about halfway. Next is Rome / Central Italy return.

6. 6. Near Anagni, on the way back

   South of Rome the Sacco valley runs south-east between two lines of hills, and Anagni stands on a ridge above it, a town of grey stone that the Middle Ages treated as a second Rome. Four popes came from here, and for long periods the papal court lived behind its walls. This stop lies down below, between Anagni, Paliano and Gavignano, in the farmland of the Ciociaria.

   Read the complete Near Anagni, on the way back write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Rome / Central Italy return comes up about 219 km into the recorded legs. Next is Food stop near Cisterna di Latina.

7. 7. Food stop near Cisterna di Latina

   South of the Alban Hills, the land flattens into the Agro Pontino, the plain that was once the Pontine Marshes, a malarial wilderness that defeated the Romans, the popes and Napoleon. It was finally drained in the 1930s under Mussolini, in a vast project that created new towns, farms and canals. Cisterna di Latina sits on the edge of the plain, at the foot of the Monti Lepini.

   Read the complete Food stop near Cisterna di Latina write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Food stop near Cisterna di Latina closes the day.