Venice to Rome for Winchester Hospice

Venice is renowned for its beautiful waterways and buildings, such as St Mark’s Square and Basilica, the Doge’s Palace and Bridge of Sighs, and the Rialto Bridge. Depending on flight times, you can enjoy some free time exploring the sights of this wonderful city before meeting up at our mainland hotel in Mestre in the evening. Make sure to leave time to ensure your kit and bikes are fully prepared for the start of the challenge tomorrow.

Leaving Venice behind, start cycling south, crossing the many small canals and rivers which drain into the Venetian Lagoon. The terrain today is predominantly flat, allowing you to ease yourselves in relatively gently: it is, however, a long day in the saddle! Our route avoids the larger towns, but passes through several small towns and villages, all with a distinctive Italian flavour. Just before the halfway mark you will cross the River Po – Italy’s longest river – at the neck of its delta, a vast area of sandbars and wetlands. Continuing south, and roughly parallel to the Adriatic coast, ride alongside the huge lagoon of Comacchio; it could be windy here! Not long afterwards you will come to the outskirts of Ravenna, an ancient city with many buildings and monuments dating back to the 5th Century AD, where you will spend the night.

A tough day today, as you clock up almost as many miles as yesterday, but over hillier terrain. The morning, however, is flat as you head southwest and further inland, passing through fields and farmland, and small towns. Skirting the busy city of Forli, you will soon start to see hills on the horizon, and after the pretty town of Meldola the roads start to incline gently as you enter the hillier portion of today's ride. At the pretty town of Santa Sofia the gradient becomes more challenging and you will follow narrow twisting roads into the hills and along ridges. This area has National Park status and is beautiful. After a welcome descent and a few miles of flattish riding, start to climb again, with twisting hair-pin bends taking you back up into the wooded hills. An exhilarating long descent is your reward, and the last 30 kilometres form a fairly flat valley ride as you pedal alongside the river Arno. The day ends at the wonderfully-preserved historic town of Arezzo.

Today is another demanding day as you head further into Tuscany. Although there are no particularly long climbs, you will be almost continually climbing and descending, with very few flat sections. Fortunately, the scenery is so magnificent: hopefully it will distract you nicely! Set off south from Arezzo on a rolling road, coming to the first notable climb after about 45 minutes. A long rolling morning follows, with fabulous views of small hilltop towns, including the picturesque walled village of Lucignano. A flatter stretch follows as you approach the ancient town of Chiusi, an important city around 500 BC when it was part of the Etruscan civilisation. Then the climbing starts again, as you pass through shady woodland and vineyards and cross into Umbria. A couple more steep climbs await you towards the end of the day, but then you have roughly 10 miles of descent to finish the day at the beautiful lakeside town of Bolsena.

Today’s shorter mileage will come as a relief after yesterday’s big effort! Continue through beautiful old towns and villages, still in hill-country, with lovely views. A climb up to Orvieto, dominated by a huge cathedral, and built on the top of rocky cliffs rising over the plains below, will start the day. After a flat road, your path then becomes steeper and winds up through the hills as you approach the old town of Bagnoregio. You then descend fairly gently through fields of crops, interspersed here and there with rows of olive trees. The last long climb takes you back into the hills again, before you enjoy another fabulous descent through woodland, catching small glimpses of the blue Lago di Vico below. A shorter climb and descent on narrow roads brings you to the larger Lake Bracciano, a lovely setting for your penultimate evening.

With many miles and ‘dénivelé’ metres in the legs, the ‘processional’ stage is finally upon you! Ride along the lake’s edge for several miles before heading off southeast, again on small roads. After 3 days of climbing, the roads are now fairly flat as you approach Rome’s outskirts through woodland and quiet towns. Rome’s busy streets are not very conducive to easy cycling, so we recommend following a cycle path that runs along the River Tiber, taking you right into the heart of this ancient city, and finishing within a stone’s throw of some of its most famous sights. After the obligatory photos, leave your bikes with our transporter, and get together to celebrate your achievements!

We will provide a group airport transfer according to your homeward flight – or of course you can stay on longer and make the most of your time to explore Rome’s iconic sights.