The Dolomites are behind you, but there’s still a lot to enjoy as the München-Venezia cycle route takes you through the Prosecco wine country, and the charming towns of Vittorio Veneto, Conegliano and Treviso.

Map and altitude profile

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Route description

A quiet road with nice views, takes you around the Lago di Santa Croce. Note that there are three shortish sections of tunnel. The route then joins the SS51 as it heads towards Vittorio Veneto. The road here is much quieter than it is further north - probably because the through traffic has taken the autostrada whose two massive viaducts dominate the landscape as the road follows the Meschio river. You could continue on the SS51 almost all the way into Vittorio Veneto, but the route makes a couple of detours off the main road. Both involve a sharp right turn off the main road, and the signs are easy to miss, so keep an eye out.

The first detour (signs Laghi Blu) takes you past a hydro­electric plant as it descends two lakes before then climbing back up to the strada statale. There’s then another stretch on the SS51 before another sharp right turn which takes you down a narrow tarmac lane to another lake another scenic detour: turn right (again the sign is easy to miss). The lake is the Lago del Restello, and on the other side of the lake is the medieval Torre di San Floriano. There’s a little picnic area and drinking water fountain. For my money, this is the more scenic of the two detours.

The München-Venezia cycleway beside the Lago del Restello and Torre San Floriano near Vittorio Veneto

Serravalle and Vittorio Veneto

Back to the SS51. You could continue on the main road, but the official route turns right onto the Via del Gambero. This takes you directly into the centro storico of Serravalle past the castle. (Serravalle is one of the two neigh­bouring towns that came together to form Vittorio Veneto). There’s just one catch: the one-way system means that officially you have to get off and walk - look for the ‘Bici a Mano’ (cyclists dismount ) signs. This and the cobbled street means that most cyclists seem to stick with the main road; if you do decide to take that option, be sure to stop in the Piazza Flaminio. On the eastern side of the square is one of the Veneto’s treasures: the Palazzo della Communità and Torre Civica. 

Coming out of Vittorio Veneto there’s a lovely cycleway alongside the Meschio river. Eventually, the route leaves the river, turning right to cross over the autostrada and pick up the SP103 (Strada del Prosecco). It’s a scenic route through the Conegliano wine country, but it’s also quite narrow and fast, so a bit stressful, and it’s a relief when you get to Conegliano where a roadside cycleway takes you into the centre of town.

Cycleway beside the Fiume Meschio in Vittorio Veneto

Update: there is an altern­ative route that means that you can stay on quieter roads for most of the way to Conegliano: 360 metres after you first join the SP103 you come to a fork in the road, where the strada provin­ciale bears off to the right, you can take the left-hand fork (sign for Scomigo). This road (the Via Cavalla e Bruscole) heads downhill for 1.3 kilometres. When you get to a junction turn right onto a narrow tarmac lane (the Strada delle Bruscole). The Strada delle Bruscole makes a short climb to rejoin the SP103. Turn left, and then, 150 metres further on, turn right (by the Bar-Trattoria Da Alice) onto the Via Mangesa. The Via Mangesa continues for 3.7 kilometres before coming out onto the SP103 where you rejoin the official route as it heads into Conegliano. (thanks to Penny F for suggesting this option. If you have any feedback on it please email me).

Map and latitude profile for the variant:

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Run your cursor over the graph to show the elevation, and distance from the start, for any given point on the route. (Note: the altitude graph is not shown where the route is flat).

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Conegliano and Nervesa della Battaglia

The star sight in Conegliano is the frescoed Duomo on the Via 20 Settembre - a pedes­trian street that runs parallel with the route. A little further along the Via 20 Settembre, there’s a nice restaurant: the Osteria Oca Bianca.

Frescoes on the façade of the Duomo di Conegliano

From Conegliano the route heads towards Ponte della Priula and the river Piave, once over the river, it heads for Nervesa della Battaglia, and the Montello park.

This area was the scene of some of the most decisive battles in the First World War. In 1917 the Italian forces suffered a massive defeat at Caporetto (now Kobarid in Slovenija) and were forced to make a long retreat to form a new defensive line along the river Piave. In summertime, the Piave seems to be more gravel than water, but in the winter and spring of 1917-18, it was a formidable obstacle to the Austro-Hungarian army, which tried, at huge cost to cross the river. As you head towards Nervesa della Battaglia, you can see one of the boats that would have been used to form the pontoon bridges across the river as soldiers tried to cross the broad expanse of water.

As you look towards Nervesa you’ll see, on the heights above it, the brick ossario surrounded by vineyards. The ossario (or Sacrario to give it its official title) holds the remains of 9,235 soldiers who died in the battle for the Piave. If you want to visit the Sacrario, it’s open from 9:00 to 17:00 Tuesday to Saturday. If you’re inter­ested in the World War I sites, further on there’s the Commonwealth War Cemetery at Giavera del Montello. (Both British and French forces had fought alongside the Italians in the battles along the Piave). The small cemetery is tucked away behind the local church and reached by a path that runs through olive groves. 

Nervesa della Battaglia: cyclist riding part of the München-Venezia cycleway. In the background is the Ossario (war memorial).

The Montello

From Nervesa the route skirts the southern edge of the Montello - a hill that rises about 230 metres in altitude above the surrounding plain that runs for 13 kilometres east to west and five kms north-south. The area has been declared a Parco Ciclistico by the provincia di Treviso and the route follows a road that has the status of a Zona Traffico Limitato - meaning that it’s restricted to local residents. The Montello is a playground for cyclists - at least if you enjoy climbing - with 33 climbs to choose from. If you fancy a side-trip there’s more inform­ation (in Italian) on tutteleprese.it. You can also download a pdf guide to the area from the visittreviso.it website (direct download link: visittreviso.it: Montello cycling loop and link roads).

While the Montello is a cyclist’s playground, there are a couple of junctions where you need to be partic­u­larly careful - watch out for the incrocio pericoloso signs.

The route follows the Via Baracca - named after an Italian fighter-pilot ace who was shot down over the Montello and whose emblem went on to be used by Ferrari. For much of the way, it follows the Canale del Bosco an artificial waterway built by the Venetian Republic in the 16th century to irrigate the plain north of Treviso. It’s a glorious ride, but eventually, the route turns south towards Treviso.

Up to this point, the München-Venezia coincides with the Veneto regions I4 route. But on this next stretch towards Treviso the München-Venezia route seems to be different. (Note: I was following the gps track for the official route which may have been wrong). The I4 route heads along the Via San Pio X and the Via Madonna delle Mercedes while the München-Venezia route takes some unsur­faced roads. A little further on it makes another detour while the I4 follows what looked like a perfectly reasonable roadside cycleway beside the Via Trieste. If I were doing this section of the route again, I would follow the Veneto region’s route. 

A roadside cycleway takes you along the Viale Brigata Treviso to the city walls and the Porta San Tommaso. 

Palazzo della Communità, Serravalle (Vittorio Veneto)

Articles in this series

• München-Venezia Overview
• München-Venezia: 1: München to Achenkirch
• München-Venezia: 2: Achenkirch to Hall-in-Tirol
• München-Venezia: 3: Hall-in-Tirol to Brenner
• München-Venezia: 4: Brenner to Fortezza Franzensfeste
• München-Venezia: 5: the PusterTal (Fortezza Franzensfeste to Toblach)
• München-Venezia: 6: the Ciclabile delle Dolomiti
• München-Venezia: 7: the Via Alemagna (Sotto Castello di Cadore to the Lago di Santa Croce)
• München-Venezia: 8: the Lago di Santa Croce to Treviso
• München-Venezia: 9: Treviso to Venezia