A one-day bike ride from Spoleto to Assisi in central Italy

First I thought of biking from Assisi to Rome. I’d seen a route on Komoot! But the logistics seemed daunting. Get a bike, make my way through Rome to the train station, get on the train….

So I decided on a one-day ride, from Spoleto to Assisi. There’s a bike route! (Even if it’s not obvious on Google maps.) I’d even finally get to see this hilltop town! Plus maybe I could get some olive oil from the beautiful agriturismo (basically a villa set amid the olive trees) that I’d stayed in more than a decade ago not too too far from Assisi.

I reserved a bike from the bike shop closest to the Spoleto train station, a store jam-packed with bikes and gear. I asked for a bici muscolare, translated as a “muscle bike”, figuring maybe it would be a gravel bike. Or a hybrid. Just please not something like a beach cruiser. And not a road bike since that was another option. 25 euros for the day, including helmet, lock, repair kit.

I ended up with a smooth-riding bike with fatter tires. I decided muscle bike = no assist. Oops, forgot to take a photo!

I picked up the route a couple of miles from the shop. I definitely did not want a road bike for this path. While it’s generally paved, it’s rarely smooth asphalt. And those underpasses certainly aren’t!

My route was about 30 miles and flat, often following water. I’d downloaded the route from Komoot to use offline .. but I hadn’t realized I needed to save it while online and I now had no internet access (old phone). Good thing the Assisi-Spoleto route is mostly well signed.

And when it wasn’t, I learned to follow the blue signs for the Appennino Bike Tour.

I spotted a few rows of grapes, a grove of olive trees. A white hill town in the distance that on a different trip I’d have wanted to explore.

Should I have detoured to the wine town of Montefalco? I saw a sign — maybe it would have been 30 minutes of pedaling each way? Years ago three of us drove there from the agriturismo, determined to find the source of the wine we’d enjoyed with dinner the night before. I’m the one who ended up asking the police for directions to the winery. My mind draws a blank at the name now.

Montefalco is known for the Sagrantino grape. It’s also a DOCG, the highest designation for Italian wines. Next time. Maybe I can time my trip for a wine festival?

But really it’s a shame that the bike route doesn’t go through the town or at least have a marked loop off the Assisi-Spoleto route.

An Australian couple I met in Bevagna, an old walled village with narrow streets, said they’d met another pair of cyclists who told them about a special festival tied to olive oil that was already happening. Not that my Google search delivered. I did learn about five weekends of open olive oil mills — and a bike ride — starting later in October. Less intimidating than stopping at a random farm selling olive oil too.

Tip: it’s easy to lose the route in Bevagna. Just skirt the walls.

Art along the trail outside Bevagna:

More sights:

I finally can see Assisi. Oh that hill! I walked the bike up a steep, narrow road. Maybe the bus would have been smarter?

Assisi, I realized when I finally finished the climb, is probably best appreciated in the evening, after the tourist buses have left. Like San Gimignano in Tuscany.

I took a quick look inside the basilica for St. Francis of Assisi, hoping no one would object to my bike shorts.

Now down the hill, using my brakes. My plans for getting olive oil from the agriturimso have fallen apart. And now there’s no train for an hour and a half. And then there are two within 30 minutes of each other. I just shake my head at the crazy schedule.

I know, I could just go find a gelateria and chill. But I figure it will take roughly the same amount of time to bike back as to wait for the train and travel that way. Your turn to shake your head.

I did get gelato, though … in Spoleto.

Practical stuff

• A ticket on a regional train from Rome to Spoleto cost 10.50 euros in 2024 and took about 90 minutes. Anything involving an Intercity train costs more. And yay, I could avoid the main station and pick up the train at Tiburtina, an easier trip from where I am staying.
• If you’re taking a bike on the train, there’s a charge. No worries, the ticket machines speak English. And look in the lower right for the bikes and dogs option.
• I know, water fountains are everywhere in Rome. But water doesn’t flow freely in the countryside. I did not find a single water fountain or toilet along the route. And you don’t go through a town for the first 18 miles or so, until Bevagna. (I should have eaten lunch there. Instead I stopped for a slice of not-great pizza in Cannara, the next town.) Plan accordingly.