It can be done the Via Romea in Italy by bike, with 8-10 stages from Bassano del Grappa to Rome, for a total of about 1000 km, an exciting cycle touring experience that we tell in first person.
In reality, the Via Romea Germanica runs along the route that from northern Europe, intercepting the roads coming from the east, led since the Middle Ages to the most desired destination of Catholics, St. Peter’s Basilica.
It officially goes da Stade (Saxony, Northern Germany a few kilometers from Hamburg) a Roma. In total 2200km. If you do the Italian section are 1019from the Brenner Pass.
For me it was the baptism of the cycle traveler: first journey with a bike equipped with bags and a good dose of enthusiasm, intercepting the route from Bassano del Grappa.
The Via Romea in Italy, the stages by bike up to Rome
To avoid discouraging most in the presentation of over two thousand kilometres of the route originating from the pilgrimage to Rome, one could cite the ancient quotation (about 500 BC) by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu who founded Taoism: “Even a journey a thousand miles long begins with one step”.
For my “first step” I settled for a thousand kilometres, all in Italy, with average stages of 100 km per day. The pretty Venetian village of Bassano it is emblematic: represented the first of the beautiful countries that I have crossed and that normally one does not have the time to reach them to visit them slowly.
The main destination of the day was Padua, reached by following the cycle path and the signs of the Brenta itinerary, alternating asphalted stretches smooth gravel roads, almost always on the banks of the river.
The “stamp” on the credentials it can be done anywhere but to the Basilica of S. Antonio has a significant symbolic value. Credentials, despite the plural, is a subtle diary where pilgrims certify their passage in order to obtain the certificate of “pilgrimage” in the appropriate office in St. Peter’s Square.
Another pearl of the trip is the progressive change of gastronomy. Padova I paired it with bigoli with duck sauce. The next destination was Ferrara, passing through Rovigo, first following the course of the Bacchiglione and then the placid canals that lead to the surprises of the day, the river village of Battaglia Terme and Monselice, pleasant towns where the excuse of a snack and a coffee make it possible live the experience as a traveling tourist.
The Via Romea in Emilia Romagna
The city of the Este family can be reached by pedaling on the imposing “Destra Po”. Dinner with the pumpkin cappellacci with meat sauce enhanced by the view of the Este castle. Third stage towards Ravenna with the pleasant surprise of the embankments kept as botanical gardens near Argenta.
The itinerary takes us towards “the valleys” the lagoon where numerous flamingosbut also cranes, garzette e herons, have been nesting for years. The most suggestive stretch is where the embankment divides the Comacchio valleys from the last kilometers of the Reno river before flowing into the Adriatic. The vision is bucolic: you stop pedaling and we let ourselves be carried by the wind, with the screech of birds searching for food in the stagnant water and the rustle of papyrus on the river, beautifully clean. It would be worth going there just for that short stretch. A few steps from the famous Dante’s tomb in Ravenna there is the Corrado Ricci pedestrian street where numerous trattorias e restaurants overlook and offer the heady scent of piadina just removed from the plate. The most original one is the Ca’ de Vèn: an unmissable experience also for the historical aspect. If you need a day off, the city has everything to forget the bike for a day: art, history, friendliness and great food.
The next 100km or so pass through Forli, the last flat stretch, and from here the climbs begin. Never too long, but tiring for slopes often above 10%, and in an asphyxiating succession. The goal was Santa Sofia, little known, but headquarters of the Via Romea Committee whose President Flavio Foietta is happy to meet the pilgrims. We are still in Romagna and all the regional specialties are present in the restaurants, but only here are the tortelli alla lastra (stuffed mini piadinas) found.
The stages in Tuscany of the Via Romea
With the fifth stage you enter Tuscany, the shortest with only 65 km, but 2,000 in altitude and the transit of the Passo dei Mandrioli, over 1,100 m. The destination of the day is a choice where length and mysticism match: La Verna was the place of meditation of St Francesco where he received the stigmata.
The serenity that reigns in the woods is part of the experience and the night’s rest rewarding. After so much uphill comes the downhill from which you can see the Arno and getting to Arezzo is quick. Now we are in the Valdichiana. No cycling difficulty if you choose the asphalt, but there is also the more demanding gravel version.
The goal of the day is Cortonaa delightful medieval city, which stands on a steep rock which must be attacked to climb 300 m in less than 3 kilometres.
From the hotel window you can see the Mount Amiata, the Tuscan plain as far as the eye can see with the lakes of Chiusi and Trasimeno between which we will transit tomorrow in Umbria. The dinner plate includes the ciaccia, a fried-and-eaten flour dough with house salami.
By bike in Umbria on the Via Romea
The seventh stage raises the cultural rate: destination Orvieto with an obligatory stop in Città della Pieve which can be reached after yet another climb up the steep hill.
Here he was born Perugino, one of the great artists of the Renaissance, who after also frescoing the Sistine Chapel, left frescoes and paintings in his town, some of which are still hanging in the cathedral and available to all. The other works are visible with guided tours.
The ride of the day reaches Orvieto with flat roads, but the city is on top of a tuff cliff that looks like it was cut with an axe. My personal sensation was that of a space-time leap: an ancient city, intact in its identity thanks to various bans for cars. It deserves a stop of at least one day.
In Lazio on the Via Romea
The eighth day has for goal Viterbo “the city of the Popes”: You pass through Bagnoregio, a town where you have to stop for a snack in the artisan bakeries, but above all to take pictures Civita of Bagnoregio, a town suspended on an inaccessible tuff rock connected by a pedestrian bridge of 300 meters.
Entry is limited but it’s worth it to savor an authentic one back to the middle ages. Later we come to Montefiascone and from here on the itinerary coincides with that of the Via Francigena with the advantage that the indications for pilgrimages on walls and poles double. Viterbo is also worth a visit, after dinner based on earthworms all’amatriciana e donuts with aniseand in the morning before the last stage.
Rome is very close, less than 100 km downhill, and road signs frequently mention it. It’s not accumulated fatigue, but something more subtle: progress is very slow near the finish, perhaps because you want to slow down and postpone the end of the journey as much as possible, making me understand that the purpose of the journey is not the destination, but the journey itself.
Via Romea, information to do it
We have followed the official site for information on the itinerary and numerous historical, cultural and food and wine insights www.viaromeagermanica.com/.
Here you can also request credentials that entitle you to discounts in partnered hotels and restaurants and access only to pilgrims to very cheap reception facilities. Furthermore, a list of volunteers with mobile phones is provided who can help in case of need in the area. Unlike other paths, there is only a free offer.
No less helpful was the impeccable guidance of Simone Frignani of Terre di Mezzo Publisher (296 p. – €18) with lots of suggestions and anecdotes to read like a book.
The used bike is handcrafted by Aeko – www.aeko.it. Deda steel frame, BacMilano luggage rack, Vaude waterproof bags.
Photo Sauro Scagliarini
READ ALSO
2 beautiful cycling routes along the Rhone and the Rhine
The Jura Trail by bike from Basel to Nyon
Advertising