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NORTHERN TEVERE CYCLE ROUTE

NORTHERN TEVERE CYCLE ROUTE

The longest river of the Central italy, the third in the nation, rising in Emilia-Romagna, flows through an easter strip of Toscana and divides in two parts Umbria from Pistrino to Attigliano, then marks the borders with Lazio up to Orte, then flow into Tyrrhenian sea, beyond Rome. Tevere river is famous because flows through Rome and its beauty but it has a less know side that skims beautiful hills, green fields and old towns. During the old age the river marked the border between Etruscans, settled on the west side, and Umbrians, settled on the east side. Some ruins are still apparent. In the last century the river has been used to produce the energy through the two dams of Montedoglio and Corbara and, during the years, on is riverbed, was founded many natural oases, river parks and green itineraries.   

At the moment there are a lot of short cycle routes where the river flows through the principal towns in Umbria. This don't seem a problem, because outside the cities, around the riverbed, there are many local roads with very low traffic in which is really safe ride the bikes. Let's try to discover a unique safe route from Montedoglio to Deruta!!
The path starts from the Montedoglio Lake,  Sigliano, an artificial lake near the source of Tevere. an artificial basin near the source of Tevere. The first segment run along the western coast of the lake, pass near the dam and descend to the natural protected area of Golena del Tevere, then pass just a couple of kilometres far from Sansepolcro (Tuscany). Passed the border between Tuscany and Umbria, from Selci Lama start a segment of cycle route that end at the south of Citta' di Castello, under the bridge of main road E45. After about 4 miles of local roads start a new segment of cycle route along the river from San Maiano to Promano where, to evitate the main road the path goes up to the hills near Montone. The route descend to Santa Maria Disette, then goes to the cycle path of Umbertide. Beyond about 11 miles on local roads on the right side of the river the route cross the bridge of Ponte Pattoli and connect with the local cycle route on the Tevere's left side. Just a couple of curves and start a long segment of cycle route from Ponte Felcino to Ponte San Giovanni.

From here the last part of this route go to Torgiano,

then to Deruta.

Now is possible to get the Assisi-Spoleto cycle route riding through the Premartane hills above Deruta,

along local roads,

among wild nature,

up to Bettona

and at the end of the downhill to Cannara.

DETAILS

(map)
Start: Montedoglio
End: Deruta
Length: 84.14 Mi/135,5 Km
Climb: 684 yds
Level: Easy 
Road surface: mixed
Suggested bicycle: Hybrid, MTB

Connection (map)
Start: Deruta
End: Cannara
Length: 16.08 Mi/25,9 Km
Climb: 746 yds
Level: Hard
Road surface: mixed
Suggested bicycle: Hybrid, MTB

WHEN

the best seasons to ride along the Tevere Valley are from spring to early summer and late summer to early autumn, when temperatures are between 15 and 30 degrees; in summer the temperatures exceed 30 degrees, so it is suggested to start early in the morning.

ARRIVE

by car: 
From the North (Milan , Bologna, Verona , Venice ), take the A14 and exit at Cesena Nord, take the E45 towards Rome, exit at Pieve Santo Stefano Sud and take the SP48 to the lake (map).- From the South take the A1 motorway and exit at Orte, take the E45 and exit at Pieve Santo Stefano Sud and take the SP48 to the lake (map). 

by train: 
The railway station is Sansepolcro, from Rome takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes to Perugia Ponte san Giovanni, take a look at the timetables, and 1 hour and 45 minutes from Perugia Ponte San Giovanni to Sansepolcro, take a look at the other timetables, sorry but along FCU line is not available the bike transport on the train. 

by plane: 
The closest airport is the San Francesco d'Assisi Airport, which is about 50 miles away and links this region to London, Milan and in summer with Barcelona and Brussels. Sansepolcro is connected to Fiumicino Airport  by train through the stations of Roma Termini and Roma Tiburtina, via Perugia Ponte San Giovanni.

SLEEP

In Umbria , you can find both b & b cheap (about 60 euro for a double room ), and luxury spa at competitive prices.

EAT

cured meats, truffles, spelt and lentils represent that you can find on the table here. Tipical menu starts with a cutting board of cured meats followed by a rich plate of strangozzi (a kind of pasta) with truffles or a spelt and lentils soup and ends with typical roasted sausages and pork ribs.

EVENTS

"Mostra Nazionale del Cavallo" - 12/13/14 September 2014 - Citta' di Castello. International horses exhibition.

"Tiferno Comics" - from last week of September till first week of November - Citta' di Castello. Comics strip exhibition.

"Umbria Film Festival" - in July - Montone - Cinema Festival in one of the most beautiful village in Umbria.

"Agosto Torgianese" - first three weeks of August - Torgiano - Folk fest in town.

"Palio della Brocca" - first week of September 2014 - Deruta - Games among quarters of the town.

"Sagra dell'Oca" - from last week of July till first week of August - Bettona. Typical italian country festival where locals prepare, cook and serve local cuisine and goose based dishes

"Festa della Cipolla", first two weeks of September - Cannara - Festival dedicated to the onion where it can be enjoyed in all the preparations along the streets;

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