Published on: 19 January 2017  | Last updated: 7 February 2018

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.

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.

Overview map

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

Distances

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

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

Options and connections

The official route has two main options - one goes via Feltre to Venezia and the other via Verona to Ostiglia. 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.

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)

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 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.

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 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.

Articles in this series

• The Via Claudia in Germany and Austria: Overview
• Via Claudia Part 1: Donauwörth to Landsberg Am Lech
• Via Claudia Part 2: Landsberg am Lech to Füssen
• Via Claudia Part 3: Füssen to Imst
• Via Claudia Part 4: Along the valley of the Inn
• The Via Claudia in Italy: Overview
• Via Claudia Part 5: The Vinschgau
• Via Claudia Part 6: Algund to Trento
• Via Claudia Part 7: Trento to the Lago di Caldonazzo
• Via Claudia 8: San Cristoforo al Lago to Feltre via the Valsugana
• Via Claudia Part 9: the Valsugana cycleway to Bassano del Grappa
• Via Claudia Part 10: San Cristoforo al Lago to Feltre via the Passo Croce d’Aune
• Via Claudia Part 11: Feltre to Treviso
• Via Claudia Part 12: Treviso to Altino (and Venezia)
• Via Claudia Part 13: Trento to Verona and Ostiglia