The Via Claudia Augusta in Italy • Italy Cycling Guide

Published on: 19 January 2017 | Last updated: 13 January 2020

Via Claudia Augusta, looking down towards the Vinschgau (Val Venosta)

At a glance

Distance

355 kilometres (Ostiglia option) or 387 kilometres (Quarto d’Altino/Venezia option)

Difficulty/terrain

Easy but there are more challenging options if you want them.

Traffic

The northern part of the route is almost entirely on traffic-free cycleways. On the southern parts of the route it mainly uses quiet roads.

Surfaces

Predominantly on surfaced roads or cycleways

Finding your way

The signposting is generally excellent but note that some of the variants aren’t signposted, and once beyond Verona and Feltre signposting tends to be very patchy.

Cyclists on the Via Claudia near Graun im Vinschgau

Introduction

The Via Claudia crosses the Italian-Austrian border near Nauders and follows the Adige (Etsch) river as it heads towards Verona and then the Adriatic.

The route takes you through the Südtirol, and Trentino into the Veneto —each region with its own history and identity. The Trentino and Südtirol are two of Italy’s most distinctive areas. The Südtirol is overwhelmingly German-speaking while the Trentino is predominantly Italian-speaking.

The Italian section includes some of Europe’s premier traffic-free cycleways. These bike paths are a bit like the cycling equivalent of motorways and the only disadvantage is that it’s all too easy to zoom through and miss the riches along the way.

The Via Claudia passing the Schloss Kastelbell (Castello di Castelbello)

Highlights

The scenery along this stretch of the route is gorgeous. On one side of the broad river valley you have the great mountains of Lombardia and the Brenta Dolomites, and on the other the Dolomites.

Verona and Venezia are the best-known city destinations along the way, but some of the less well-known towns are great places to visit. My pick of the places you haven’t heard of but are worth your time would be: Glurns (Glorenza), Bozen (Bolzano), Trento and Feltre.

The Via Claudia in Italy: Overview map

Map: VCA-Italy-overview-show map in overlay | VCA-Italy-overview-show map in new window

Options and connections

The official route has two main options - one goes via Feltre to Altino near Venezia, and the other via Verona to Ostiglia (the former was one of the main ports on the Adriatic, and the other an important port on the Po river). They’re both good options. The first option has the obvious attraction of Venezia but there is a tricky climb from Trento —although you can avoid it by taking the shuttle or the train. The second option offers a relaxed cruise to Verona, but to be honest after Verona it’s not especially interesting.

We need to talk about Venezia

(Apologies if you have already read this before).

Many people will be attracted to this route by the fact that it leads to Venezia. I hate to say it, but Venezia is far from ideal as the destination for a cycling tour.

The first and most obvious problem is that bikes are banned from the historic centre of Venezia. You can ride over the causeway that leads to Venezia, and to the ferry terminal, or the Santa Lucia train station but that’s as far as you can go — you aren’t allowed to either ride or push your bike in the pedestrianised zone.

The ban on bikes reflects the huge problem of overcrowding. In summer, Venezia is a small place that gets hit by a daily tsunami of people. With an estimated 30 million visitors a year, the situation has become so bad that there has even been discussion of using turnstiles to control access to the Piazza San Marco.

My advice would be that if you want to see the treasures of Venezia then go out of season. Don’t obsess about getting to Venezia, and ignore everything else along the way - there are a lot of places along the way where you can enjoy the region’s rich artistic and cultural heritage.

Hopefully that won’t put you off the route altogether. My top tips would be to find somewhere to stay on one of the islands on the eastern edge of the lagoon. From here you can take a vaporetto to the outer-lying islands of Burano and Murano and from there into Venezia itself. You can also island-hop along the edge of the lagoon to Chioggia and back (or continue south to Ravenna).

Variations

The position is complicated by the fact that the official route as you see it on the viaclaudia.org website (viaclaudia.org: interactive map), and on OpenStreetMap maps differs from the route as it exists on the ground. For example, at Algund (Lagundo) north of Meran (Merano) the official route leaves the river and detours through the wine country via Marling. It’s a nice route, but as far as the Südtirol region, and the signposting, is concerned the route continues to follow the river on towards Meran and Bozen.

In this guide I have presented all of the variants so that you can choose between them. The other main variant is at Borgo Valsugana where the official route climbs to Castello Tesino and goes from there to the Croce d’Aune. The original route also offered the option of continuing along the Valsugana cycleway to Tezze and then on from there to Feltre. This option is still signposted and still perfectly viable.

Connections

As cycle routes go, the Via Claudia is well connected, so there are lots of options if you want to include it in a longer journey. It connects with two of Italy’s main international cycle routes: the Ciclopista del Sole (eurovelo 7) and with the Ciclovia del Po (eurovelo 8) which runs east-west across the country.

The Ciclopista del Sole continues south from Trento to the Lago di Garda, and then Mantova. From Mantova you can continue to Bologna and then Firenze and Rome. You could also turn left at Bozen and then follow the PusterBike cycleway to Toblach (Dobbiaco). At Toblach you can then head south into the heart of the Dolomites on the Ciclabile delle Dolomiti or pick up the Drauradweg through Austria (see also: italy-cycling-guide.info: Through Austria along the River Drau from Toblach to Tarvisio).

The Via Claudia connects with the Ciclovia del Po/eurovelo 8 at Ostiglia on the Po, and on the Adriatic coast north of Venezia. You could follow the coastline north into Friuli-Venezia-Giulia and on from there along the coast of Slovenija and Hrvatska (Croatia). Or you could head south, island-hopping along the eastern side of the Venetian lagoon (see italy-cycling-guide.info: Islands and lagoons of the Adriatic Coast)

Distances

Via Claudia Augusta: Feltre-Treviso-Venezia option
Reschensee to Bozen (Bolzano)	113kms
Bozen to Trento	60kms
Trento to Feltre	106 kms
Feltre to Treviso	81 kms
Feltre to Treviso (via Passo di Praderadego)	108 kms
Treviso to Altino	32 kms

Via Claudia Augusta: Verona-Ostiglia option
Reschensee to Bozen (Bolzano)	113 kms
Bozen to Trento	60 kms
Trento to Verona	99 kms
Verona to Ostiglia	81 kms

Cyclist on the Vinschgau Radweg (Via Claudia) near Algund

Cyclist on the Via Claudia near Algund

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Cyclists riding the Vinschgau Radweg/Via Claudia near Partschins (Parcines)

More information

Places to stay

Hostels

There are quite a lot of hostels on the Südtirol section of the route, but fewer as you get further south. There are loads of backpacker hostels in Venezia but the ban on bikes in Venezia itself probably rules these out.

Hostels map: VCA-FT-hostels-mapshow map in overlay | VCA-FT-hostels-map show map in new window

Campsites

There are lots of campsites along the northern part of the route, but the further south you go the fewer there are. There are fewer sites after Trento. On the Verona variant, there are only a couple of sites on the route itself before Verona (and one relatively close), but you have the option of a detour to the Lago di Garda. After Verona, there’s only one site — at Villafranca di Verona. On the Feltre-Treviso variant, there are no campsites after Feltre until you get to Venezia.

Campsites map: VCA-FT-campsites-mapshow map in overlay | VCA-FT-campsites-map show map in new window

Transport and services

Please see the main overview article for information about getting back from the end of your tour.

You could of course just do the Italian section of the Via Claudia. If you are planning to travel by train to the start of the Italian section please bear in mind that the popularity of the Vinschgau Radweg means that there are restrictions on the carriage of bikes at certain times between Meran and Mals (Malles) —the nearest station to the start of the route.

Trains in the Vinschgau (Val Venosta)

The cycleway through the Vinschgau (Val Venosta) has become so popular that, during the summer, there are restrictions on when you can get on a train with your bike — but there is a bike transport service.

In 2019, these restrictions started on the 25 April and continue until the 31 October. In addition, the northern section of the line (between Schlanders/Silandro and Mals/Malles) will be closed for most of the Summer for work to electrify the line, but never fear, there will be a bus replacement service, with separate bike transport.

You can check the current official version on the Südtirolmobil website: sii.bz.it, but at the time of writing (May 2019) the rules were:

the restrictions apply from Monday to Friday between 9:00 and 13:00 and between 15:00 and 17:30
at Meran (Merano), Algund (Lagundo) and Marling (Marlengo) stations you cannot load bikes onto the trains on the line to Mals (Malles)
the first bike transport leaves Meran at 09:16 and then runs at 10:16, 11:16, 15:16, 16:16 and 17:16
you can pick up your bike at the following stations: Naturns (Naturno), Latsch (Laces), Schlanders (Silandro), Spondinig (Spondigna) and Mals (Malles)
you must have a day-ticket for your bike (which costs 7 euros)

There are no restrictions on using the trains to travel towards Meran.

There’s a maximum of 15 bikes per train, and, if you’re travelling as a large group, at any time, you’re asked to call +39 0473 201 500.

Sign indicating the way to the bike-loading point (Fahradladestelle/Carico bicicletta) in Meran station

The shuttles

The Via Claudia Augusta is unusual in that there are 6 shuttle bus services provided to support the route. Four of these are on the Trento-Quarto d’Altino branch of the Italian section:

Trento - Civezzano - Pergine
Castelnuovo - Bieno - Castello Tesino
Ponte Oltra - Sovramonte - Croce D‘Aune
Mel - Castello di Zumelle - Praderadego

I would definitely consider the shuttle from Trento (you could also catch the train). The initial stretch out of Trento is on a fairly steep and narrow road. I’ve ridden it a couple of times, and the drivers have always been considerate, but even so, you may find it a little stressful. The route out of Trento is one of the least satisfactory parts of the whole route and I would be tempted to avoid it.

There’s more information on the shuttles in the Transport and Services sections of this guide. Please note that there’s a system for booking places on the shuttles by text message. You are advised to book at least 24 hours ahead; just turning is probably not a good idea.

Resources

General tourist information

The Südtirol, Trentino and Veneto have excellent regional tourist information websites and these are the ideal starting points for planning your trip. The links are:

suedtirol.info (de/it/en/nl/cz/pl)
visittrentino.info (it/de/fr/en/nl/cz/pl/sk/ru)
veneto.eu (it/de/fr/en/es/pt)

There are also plenty of local tourist information sites: these are listed in the detailed articles.

Cycling websites

The route has its own dedicated website viaclaudia.org (de/it/en)with information about accommodation and points of interest along the route as well as shuttle services to take you to the top of the major passes.

There are plenty of sites giving more information about cycling in the areas along the route. These are listed in the individual articles.

Information about the shuttles

You can download the shuttle timetables as pdfs from this page on the viaclaudia.org website: viaclaudia.org: Shuttles über die Pässe. The page is in German, but you just need to look for the big PDF icon. The timetables are available individually or packaged together: Alle Pass-Shuttle inkl. Rückholbus.

The timetables are in German, English and Italian, and include the instructions for booking a place by text message.

Note: the pdfs available from the website are dated 2018.

Shop sign in Borgo Valsugana (Trentino)

Articles in this series

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The Via Claudia Augusta in Italy Overview