Castelli Romani Dawn Loop

A 291 km loop

Open this ride in the planner →

Why this ride

A rider’s loop: clean exit, memorable middle, calm return. 291 km round from Fiumicino-Isola Sacra - plan on about 5 h 18 of riding. On the way it passes La Massimina-Casal Lumbroso, Scenic stretch near Rignano Flaminio, near Forano and Anagni. The climb of the day is Fiumicino-Isola Sacra.

Roadbook

1. Fuel stop in Fiumicino-Isola Sacra fuel

   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.

   This was the site of Portus, the great imperial harbour of Rome. The emperor Claudius began building it in the first century AD because the old river port at Ostia could not handle the enormous grain ships coming from Egypt and North Africa, and Trajan added a hexagonal inner basin whose outline is still visible today, now a lake inside a park near the airport. On Isola Sacra itself lies the necropolis of Portus, a cemetery of brick tombs with inscriptions and reliefs showing the trades of the people buried there: millers, doctors, shipwrights. Across the river, the ruins of Ostia Antica are among the best-preserved Roman towns anywhere.

   Fiumicino town, on the northern bank of the canal, is famous among Romans for its seafood restaurants, and people drive out from the city specifically to eat fish here. Grilled or fried, spaghetti with clams, or a simple plate of anchovies, it is all very good, and lunch by the water is a fine reward for a morning ride. The island side is quieter and more residential.

   As riding goes, this is flat coastal country, with straight roads, roundabouts and plenty of traffic, especially around the airport and on summer weekends when Romans head to the beaches of Fregene and Ostia. The roads are not always in good condition, with potholes and patched surfaces, so keep your eyes open. Fuel, food and everything else are easily available. The sea breeze can be refreshing in summer but strong in winter, and in the evenings the sunsets over the Tyrrhenian Sea can be spectacular. Inland, the roads soon lead to the hills, where the Castelli Romani wait.

2. Fiumicino-Isola Sacra pass

   You top out here; the road stops climbing.

3. Near La Massimina-Casal Lumbroso finish

   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.

   This was Rome's door to the sea. The ancient city's port was at Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, and when that silted up, the emperors Claudius and Trajan built a vast new harbour a few kilometres north, near today's airport. Trajan's basin, a perfect hexagon cut into the land, still holds water, surrounded by woods, and you can see it clearly from a plane landing at Fiumicino. Grain from Egypt and North Africa came through here to feed a city of a million people, and it was dragged up the river on barges pulled by oxen along the towpaths. Ostia Antica, a short ride south, is one of the great archaeological sites of Italy, a whole Roman town of streets, warehouses, baths and apartment blocks, and on a quiet weekday it is far less crowded than the Forum.

   The road in from Tuscany is usually the A12 motorway from Civitavecchia, or the old Via Aurelia that runs beside it, both flat and quick along the coast, with the sea glinting between umbrella pines on the right and the Tolfa hills on the left. After hours of cypress avenues, cream-coloured hills and the long climbs around Pienza and Radicofani, it is a deliberate wind-down. Traffic thickens fast once the airport signs appear, and the junctions around the Fiera can be confusing, so read the signs early. Expect gusty sea wind on the open stretches in the afternoon.

   Practically, everything is here: fuel stations on all the main roads, a big shopping centre at Parco Leonardo with food of every kind, and trains to Rome and to the airport, which makes it handy for anyone flying home or meeting someone off a plane. A quiet tip for the last hour of daylight: ride the few kilometres to the beach at Fregene or Focene, sit with your back to the pines and watch the sun go down into the Tyrrhenian before you face the city.

4. Scenic stretch near Rignano Flaminio scenic

   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.

   The dominant feature here is Monte Soratte, a long limestone ridge rising abruptly out of the plain to the north of Rignano. Horace wrote of it standing white with snow, and it was a holy mountain long before Christianity, with a monastery on the summit now. Inside it, a network of tunnels dug before the Second World War served as a German command centre in 1943 and 1944 and was later adapted as a Cold War bunker. Guided tours run on some days.

   The riding around Rignano is varied and enjoyable. The tufa plateaux are crossed by roads that suddenly plunge into ravines and climb out again, with tight bends and short, steep sections. The villages perched on the tufa cliffs, like Civita Castellana and Sant'Oreste, at the foot of Soratte, are dramatic. Surfaces vary from good to poor, and some minor roads are narrow and rough. Traffic on the Flaminia can be heavy close to Rome.

   Fuel and food are available in Rignano and the surrounding towns. As a scenic stretch, the view of Soratte rising above the plain is the highlight, especially in the morning light.

5. Photo stop near Forano photo

   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.

   The Sabina has a long history. The Sabines were among Rome's earliest neighbours and rivals, and the legend of the rape of the Sabine women tells of their uneasy relationship. In the Middle Ages, the great Benedictine abbey of Farfa, a short ride away, was one of the most powerful in Italy, with lands across central Italy and a famous library. It still functions, with a village of medieval houses and shops around it.

   The riding here is a delight. The roads wind through olive groves, vineyards and oak woods, climbing up to hill towns and dropping into valleys, with constant views. The Via Salaria, the old Roman salt road, runs to the south, and the roads towards the Monti Sabini and Rieti offer more challenging curves and higher altitudes. Surfaces vary, and potholes are common on minor roads. Traffic is light, but watch for local drivers and agricultural vehicles.

   Forano has a few bars and shops, while fuel is easier to find in the valley towns, such as Passo Corese or Poggio Mirteto. A lunch of local olive oil, bread, cheese and cured meats, perhaps in a trattoria in one of the hill towns, is the perfect way to taste the Sabina. The Tivoli and Sabine hills roads continue south and east, a natural extension of the day.

6. Near Anagni, on the way back swim

   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.

   The most famous scene in Anagni's history is a slap. In 1303 agents of the French king, led by Guillaume de Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna, broke into the papal palace and seized Pope Boniface VIII, an outrage that shocked Christendom and marked the beginning of the papacy's move to Avignon. Whether anyone actually struck the old man is debated, but the story stuck. The cathedral has a crypt covered in thirteenth-century frescoes so complete that it is often called the Sistine Chapel of the Middle Ages.

   On the swimming side, honesty is required. The Sacco river has a long history of industrial pollution and is not a place to swim. The nearest natural lake is Lago di Canterno, near Fiuggi in the hills to the east, a quiet lake in a wooded basin. Fiuggi itself is a spa town famous for its mineral water, which was credited with curing Michelangelo's kidney stones.

   The riding around here is better than the valley floor suggests. Roads climb from the valley into the Monti Ernici, with tight bends, steep gradients and views back over the plain. The surfaces are variable, and local traffic can be unpredictable. The A1 motorway runs along the valley, making it easy to reach from Rome.

   Up in Anagni, leave the bike outside the walls and walk; the lanes are steep, the bars serve proper espresso standing up, and the view from the cathedral terrace over the valley is worth the climb in boots. Fuel is down on the main valley roads.

7. Food stop near Cisterna di Latina food

   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.

   In January 1944, after the Allied landings at Anzio, Cisterna was the scene of fierce fighting. American Rangers advancing on the town were ambushed and almost destroyed, and the town itself was largely ruined. It was rebuilt after the war, and today it is a busy agricultural centre.

   Just outside Cisterna lies one of the most beautiful gardens in the world: the Giardino di Ninfa. Built among the ruins of a medieval town abandoned in the seventeenth century, it was created by the Caetani family in the twentieth century, with roses climbing over ruined walls, streams of crystal-clear water and rare plants from around the world. It opens only on certain days, and visits must be booked, but it is unforgettable. Above it, the medieval hill town of Sermoneta has a magnificent castle.

   As a food stop and finish, the area is excellent. The Pontine plain produces buffalo mozzarella, vegetables and fruit, and the restaurants serve hearty Lazio cooking. The riding on the plain is flat and straight, but the roads into the Monti Lepini climb steeply with hairpins and views. Fuel and food are plentiful in Cisterna and Latina.

8. Back to Castelli finish

   This low, flat island between two arms of the river is rich in history. It was the site of Portus, the harbour that the emperors Claudius and Trajan built to supply Rome, and the ruins of warehouses, docks and a hexagonal basin can still be seen. Ostia Antica, the old port town, is only a short ride away.

   For a ride that began in the Castelli Romani, the hills south-east of Rome, this is a westward finish, down to the coast. The roads are flat, straight and often busy, with traffic lights and roundabouts, and the surface is mixed, with patches and potholes. The Via del Mare and the Via Ostiense connect Rome to the coast, and they are heavily used by Romans going to the beach, especially at weekends, so weekdays and early mornings are best. Pine woods and reed beds line parts of the coast, and the air smells of salt and resin.

   The coast has a strange history. Ostia Antica was a major port for centuries and is now one of the best-preserved Roman towns, with a theatre, shops and mosaics that are far less crowded than Pompeii. Lido di Ostia, the modern seaside town, was developed in the 1920s and is where many Romans spend summer weekends. In winter, the beach is quiet, and the seafront restaurants serve fresh fish and fried calamari.

   Fuel is plentiful in Fiumicino and Ostia, with large stations on the main roads. The area has many fish restaurants, especially around the old fishing port of Fiumicino, where the catch is landed each morning, and a plate of spaghetti with clams is the typical meal. Bars along the beach serve coffee and pastries.

   Walk out to the sea wall if you have time. The mouth of the Tiber is muddy and plain, but there is something satisfying about seeing where the river that gave Rome its life reaches the sea.

Where this sits

Rides near here