Cycling the Via Francigena: From Siena to Rome

Bike setup, briefing, and ride to San Quirico d’Orcia

You start from Piazza del Campo, where every July and August the famous Palio di Siena takes place. The surface under your wheels changes quickly. From the stones of the piazza you ride onto tarmac, then onto white gravel roads — the strade bianche — that open up a landscape many people know only from photographs. On a bike, though, this place has a completely different feel: the pale dust, the hills, the light shifting hour by hour. You ride through the Val d’Arbia to Buonconvento, then deeper into the Val d’Orcia to San Quirico d’Orcia..

Unlike most Tuscan villages, Bagno Vignoni doesn’t have a central piazza. In its place there’s a pool — a large 16th-century thermal basin built at the wishes of the Medici family. After Bagno Vignoni you reach Pienza, the “ideal city” that Pope Pius II had designed from scratch in the heart of the Val d’Orcia.
Nearby stands the Cappella di Vitaleta — anyone who’s ever seen a photograph of Tuscany knows it, even if they can’t place it on a map. Not far away is the cinematic road Ridley Scott chose as the location for Gladiator. You ride through open, rolling landscapes all the way to Radicofani, where the fortress commands the plain in every direction.

From Radicofani you descend into the Val di Paglia: hills stretching as far as you can see, Monte Amiata at your back, the fortress shrinking as you ride away. You cross the Via Cassia, then a long dirt track leads to Proceno — the first village in Lazio on the Via Francigena, the gateway into different terrain. In Acquapendente you find the church of the Santo Sepolcro with its underground crypt, an essential stop for medieval pilgrims. Then San Lorenzo Nuovo, perched on the rim of a volcanic crater, where the first view of Lake Bolsena opens up. You descend into the crater on dirt roads through olive groves, meadows, and woods to Bolsena.

You leave Bolsena with the lake still visible through the curves, then the climb toward Montefiascone begins. Every meter of elevation gives back another piece of the view, all the way up to the Rocca dei Papi, where the height lets you take in the whole of Lazio at a glance.
The next stretch takes you onto the paving stones of the ancient Via Cassia — the same stones the Romans walked on — then descends into the plain. Before reaching Viterbo, there’s a stop you won’t want to skip: the thermal pools of Bagnaccio, hot water in the middle of open countryside. Viterbo closes the day: the City of the Popes, with its medieval papal palace and the narrow lanes of the San Pellegrino quarter.

The Lazio countryside has a different rhythm. Rolling hills lead you through fields and woods, followed by the climb through Vetralla, Pietrara, and Vico Martino, revealing a landscape entirely unlike those from previous days. That’s one of the deeper meanings of the Via Francigena: the land changes, and you change with it. Ride down from the plains toward Sutri, a village that feels like a hidden gem. Here, you can explore a Roman amphitheater carved entirely from local stone, an ancient rock-cut temple, and a compact old town that is one of the true highlights of this route.

Country roads, nearly the whole way. You pass through Monterosi, then the route leads to the waterfalls of Monte Gelato, inside a park where you can stop and swim enjoy a well earned break at this point in the journey. Then into the Parco di Veio along the scenic road, on to Campagnano, and through the Valle del Sorbo to Formello.

The last day starts in the Lazio countryside. You ride through green, then the city approaches gradually — secondary roads, then the bike path along the Tiber. The river leads straight to the gates of Vatican City. Cycling into Piazza San Pietro you follow in the footsteps of centuries of pilgrims who reached the end of their Via Francigena journey right here.