Cycling the Adriatic Coast of italy

[MrsHJ]

So I’m stuck in bed with a sprained ankle after I fell down the stairs and whilst I contemplate doing a lot of billing before month end I thought I’d share my cycle plans for next year. This year is still on schedule with Saint Malo to Nimes booked and Zell am See to Budapest pencilled in.

I’m thinking of doing the Italian Adriatic coast next May. Venice to Brindisi over a fortnight.
https://www.cicloturismo.net/adriatic-b ... -di-leuca/
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/297455
https://www.biroto.eu/en/cycle-route/it ... rt00001869

I’ve already done part of the eastern Adriatic coast in Italy so I’ll start at Venice airport and go via Treviso as Conrad has previously recommended and Padua because I want to see it and I’ll revisit part of the Po delta although going North to South instead of west to east. I was worried it might be a slightly urban boring trip but the various guides I have (mostly Bradts series which cover Abruzzo and Marche and Emilia Romagna ) suggest that although there will be a fair few coastal resorts it’s anything but cookie cutter. It will be much more of an urban trip than a countryside one though I think. I realise there is some very beautiful Italian countryside but my previous Italian trip was one of the most memorable I’ve done not for the countryside along the Po (it’s was nice but not spectacular) but for the stunning cities and towns along the way.

Previous experience of cycling in Italy makes me sceptical of the road surfaces (very rough lumpy gravel being my least favourites) and width of the roads and just generally not being set up as favourably as say France. I am not expecting a signposted or especially bike friendly route. On the positives I love Italy, there’s plenty of affordable accommodation in May, gelato, I get to practice my Italian and it’s good for me to explore new places. Should be warm but not hot and fingers crossed I don’t get weather like last years giro d’italia.

So any advice or experience very welcome. Especially on road quality - do I just end up talking a gravel bike and putting some wide tyres on it or as this one is coastal will it be more wide boulevards?

I will likely go inland a few times - there’s a bus to urbino and a train to Ascoli Piceno. I’m really looking forward to seeing Puglia although I probably won’t have time to go onto the Gargano peninsula I hope to have a day trip to Lecce after I finish in Brindisi. BA fly into Venice several times a day (plus so does everyone else depending on my departure point) so I might get a Friday evening flight and a taxi to a hotel 10/20km away from the airport and BA fly back from Brindisi as do easyJet and I think Ryan air.

Photos from the Italian tourist site. I’ve just realised I might see a bit of the men’s Giro d’Italia.

[Jdsk]

Sounds great.

I'd definitely include Padua... history of the University and of all universities, and wonderful artworks.

And find your favourite book or podcast about Hannibal's journey... and then include Cannae:
https://www.military-history.us/2016/02 ... ite-visit/

Jonathan

[nirakaro]

I rode across from France to Ferrara eighteen months ago, and don’t recall any issues with road quality (on 38mm tyres IIRC).
Don’t miss Ferrara – small but delightful world heritage city centre, not too touristy, more good restaurants than you could shake a stick at, and the most bicycle-y place I’ve ever seen.

[MrsHJ]

I rode across from France to Ferrara eighteen months ago, and don’t recall any issues with road quality (on 38mm tyres IIRC).
Don’t miss Ferrara – small but delightful world heritage city centre, not too touristy, more good restaurants than you could shake a stick at, and the most bicycle-y place I’ve ever seen.

Thank you Nirakaro (and Jonathan). I cycled through Ferrara in spring 2022 and had a great trip, beautiful city.

[sarniacycle]

I'm very jealous! I'd love to be doing this and have a few thoughts that may be useful.

Re road surfaces, I haven't done this stretch (except around Fano) but remember other bits varying depending on the comune or provinicia charged with their upkeep. Most of my cycling was with a 26" tourer and 1.5" tyres so almost exactly 38mm (same as nirakaro). Worked fine.

More random/less helpful thoughts.

* Mosquito repellent for that part of the country really helpful.
* After the Po valley, the valleys run west/SW to east/NE down from the very high Appenines so unless you stick almost exactly to the coast, as you travel south/SE, you're traversing lots and lots of ups and down. Sticking to the coast is the most touristic bit (and industrial) with fewer quiet road opportunities.
* Ravenna amazing and lovely beyond the Byzantine stuff too (everyone in the town cycles, so nice to see in Italy)
* Urbino also amazing - Giancarlo De Carlo's architecture (check out the Faculty of Education especially) in addition to the Renaissance stuff.
* Cycle from Urbino down to Fano is stunning!
* Fano itself very cute, like Lucca and others, basically a town stuck on a Roman city with so much of the original left to see.
* But... if you want to get to Lecce/Brindisi anyway, perhaps think of a tour of Puglia? Especially if you like swimming and less crowded coastal areas. Less humid, fewer mosquitos, cars, industry, better gelato... Or, there's the Acqueducts cycleway from Caposele in Campania to the Santa Maria di Leuca at the SE tip of Puglia: https://www.bicitalia.org/it/bicitalia/ ... o-pugliese

Best of luck with the travels and getting the ankle better.

[Bice]

I live in the Cilento part of the year - the lumpy mountains south Salerno - and I would not be too attracted by this, TBH.

Almost everything in Italy goes down the coasts, so the route is going to be very busy. Lots of interesting things to see along it, for sure, but also a lot of cars and lorries and sprawl. I would chose the bits along the east coast that you are really interested in and then do something circular by going inland. So explore the Veneto or Le Marche or, my favourite I think, Puglia and Basilicata going to places like the cave city of Matera.

Puglia is flatter than the Abruzzi, which may also be a bonus. The Norman-Swabian medieval stuff shows how important the area once was.

[MrsHJ]

Thank you both for your thoughts and suggestions.

I have plenty of time to plan as I’m hoping to do this the first half of May next year so I will continue to reflect on your ideas. I’ll be checking the giro route when it is released to see if there is any overlap! Both so I can see it and also so I don’t have accommodation problems.

Do you think there will be mosquitoes in early may? It seems a bit early.
I recognise it will likely be built up/busy for about a third of the trip between say Rimini and Termoli- is that assumption about right?. I have already been reflecting in that. I think I’m ready to make the “sacrifice” to see the towns in the area (including side trips to Urbino and Asciolo P).

I’m definitely a fan of Italian cities and towns and I’m willing to compromise a bit in the countryside- I do love good scenery too but I get that sometimes it’s tough to get everything on one trip. I did the Po route a couple of years ago and the scenery there was a bit dull but the cities were spectacular and that worked for me. I was hoping that one acceptable compromise of the relatively busy area with tourists would be lots of cycle paths - does this look realistic? I’ve limited busy roads to just over 20km and that’s mostly to get over bridges etc.

It’s also partly around flight logistics- I’m only going to be able to travel for about 2 weeks so I think I’ll have to fly and Venice and Brindisi have a fairly reliable flight schedule to the UK.

I’m hoping that once I’ve dipped my toe into Puglia I’ll come back and visit Puglia and Basilicata more extensively.That is definitely in the plans! So is Sicily and I’ll be keeping my eyes open for other ideas- maybe some of the national parks and Apennine areas.

Ps inquiring minds want to know why the gelato is better in Puglia? Because that is tempting me!….

[sarniacycle]

Hi again
If it's a warm spring, mosquitos definitely possible. But maybe just cycle fast!

This is all quite personal but what Bice says above is, I think, spot on. For me, there's 3, maybe 4, criteria: scenery; culture/towns; cyclability/nice cycling; price. On the overall score, there's many bits of Italy that for me would score higher/more urgent and the bit under discussion would fall down on cyclability and probably scenery (not directly but because the geography forces you to to take busier, faster roads, closer to the built up coast with less variation in terms of villages, towns, countryside etc).

Gelato is always better in the south. Don't know why - the cows are mostly in the north, aren't they?

[MrsHJ]

I’ve been reflecting on your comments. My current draft has now extended the route by a couple of days which now means I get a week cycling in Puglia and I make it to Lecce, Otranto and Santa Maria Di Leuca at the bottom of the heel. This satisfies my inner completist and I think the route when it’s developed is aimed to finish there at the point where the 2 seas join.

I’ve got the national geographic travel guide on Puglia and I’ve also started refining the route slightly to take in towns like Ostuni. I have Bradt guides on my kindle for the rest of the route- just waiting for the revised Abruzzo one to come out in December,

I can take a Thursday evening flight out of London/Bristol to Venice which is likely to be cheaper than a Friday flight and generally is a slightly easiest day for travel to find my extra day and instead if a day trip to Lecce I can use my final day for cycling and the train back to Brindisi for an airport. I can see the the trains from Gagliano Leuca to Brindisi mostly take bikes. I’m tempted just to go in September/october (which is currently reserved for EV14) but I suspect early May will be perfect for this trip.

The advisory on mosquitoes and gelato has been noted! The ankle is mostly recovered and I’m preparing for my cycle down through france in just over a month.