The Southern Appennines
Date: July 16 – 23 2025
This is just a record for ourselves really — we’re travelling happily and slowly, taking each day as it comes, and wishing it wasn’t ending so soon.
16 July | Matera – Tricarico
A quick note on why we tour on eMTBs. Today’s ride is a perfect example of what counts as a “road” according to the three mapping apps we use. Many of these so-called roads start as gravel, then morph into grass tracks, faint dirt paths alongside fields, or blackberry-choked single track that would be unmanageable without full suspension and electric assist. Sometimes, we’re pushing — hike-a-bike style. No, we’re not too old for this sort of nonsense… but yes, we carry a PLB.
We’re picking each day’s destination based on distance, climbing, and the chance of finding a grocery store — or on bloody European Sundays, a cheapish restaurant. There is no retail on Sundays.
Tricarico delivered: an enormous apartment, a little worn but clearly in the family for generations, and an authentic small-town festa. Their patron saint had already been paraded around town, and that evening there was a free concert and fireworks. We wandered out around 9 p.m. while it was still quiet, but the stage and stalls were ready to go. At midnight, we were jolted awake by fireworks that felt like they were being launched from the rooftop. A good, genuine kind of town.
Accom: Malvarosa
17 July | Possidente
We stopped in Pietragalla en route to visit the Palmenti di Pietragalla – 400-year-old hobbit-like wine-making caves. There are about 200 of them dug into the rock, each with a grape-stomping chamber and a pit below for fermentation. There’s little signage, but we were lucky enough to meet a young local woman who explained everything. Most were originally owned by local families; some still are, others now preserved by the government.
Our hosts in Possidente, Angelo and Anna Possidente, were extremely friendly and told us 60% of the town’s 700 residents are related.
Accom: La Casetta Di Anna
18 July | Conza della Campania
A steady ride to the replacement town of Conza della Campania, rebuilt in the ’80s after a devastating 1980 earthquake. Nearly 3,000 people died and 250,000 were left homeless.
Of the $40 billion allocated to reconstruction, only $9.6 billion actually reached the people. The rest? About $20 billion went to creating a new class of local millionaires, $6 billion to the Camorra, and $4 billion in political bribes. You can see the evidence across the region — rebuilt towns, funded projects that were never built, and empty subdivisions.
Conza itself feels like a West German aid project: a gridded layout with uniform houses. Not bad, but quite unlike the organic chaos of a typical Mediterranean town.
Accom: 12 Nocembre
19 July | Mirabella Eclano
No blackberry-blocked single tracks today — a relief. Mirabella has Roman ruins (Aeclanum) and a world-class supermarket. The ruins are part of the old Via Appia and can be freely explored for a modest fee.
Pam’s supermarket is the most impressive deli we’ve ever seen: a whole wall of chilled fresh pasta, an aisle of dried pasta, an army of deli meats with three butchers ready to chat, and a cheese and wine section that goes on forever. Typical of Italy — unchilled beer and no junk food.
Accom: B&B Relais Aeclanum
20 July | Campolattaro
A 43 km ride turned into 60 with a detour from a too-busy road and some bonus laps of Benevento (accurately translatable as “Good Fart”). The route looked tame on the map but hid several brutal climbs, including a new record: 22°.
Highlight of the day? Finding an open supermarket. On a Sunday.
Accom: La Magnolia sul Lago
21 July | Guardiaregia
We’ve found ourselves on the Appennino Cycle Trail, a 3,000 km route running the length of Italy. We’ll follow it for a few days. It’s mostly tar-sealed, scenic, and nearly car-free — absolute luxury.
We cruised 41 km through forests and farmland, with a Roman ruin along the way that Jill thought was spectacular. I’m all crumblied out so I sat in the shade and played with the inevitable friendly stray dogs. Guardiaregia is a classic vertical village – stacked up a hillside and totally non-English-speaking. Real Italy.
Accom: Il Palazzetto dei Briganti Trans: The little palace of the brigands
22 July | Isernia
A gentle 500 m climb through the Matese Regional Park — a perfect day’s riding. Smooth sealed roads, hardly any traffic, and a final descent to Isernia’s lovely old town. We might be the only foreigners here.
Accom: Residenze Portacastello
23 July | Sant’Elia Fiumerapido
Another glorious day on quiet roads. Our one off-road section was blocked by a conveniently bulldozed barrier — someone must’ve known we were coming and the only route around it involved a few 20° climbs. For the non-cyclists, that’s Very Bloody Steep.
We’re staying on the outskirts of town, so Sant’Elia itself remains undescribed. But we do have a view of Monte Cassino and since it’s only a 500 m climb we’ll visit it in the morning.
Only a week left in Italy now — and some of that will have to be spent finding boxes and dismantling bikes. The adventure continues, but it’s starting to feel like the home stretch.
Accom: L’Airone Country House
Matera – Tricarico
Max elevation: 691 m
Min elevation: 114 m
Total climbing: 1305 m
Total descent: -1020 m
Total time: 06:00:04
Tricarico – Possidente
Max elevation: 1023 m
Min elevation: 588 m
Total climbing: 1215 m
Total descent: -1096 m
Total time: 06:04:32
Possidente – Conza della Campania
Max elevation: 786 m
Min elevation: 367 m
Total climbing: 1073 m
Total descent: -1371 m
Total time: 05:52:38
Conza della Campania – Mirabella Eclano
Max elevation: 811 m
Min elevation: 344 m
Total climbing: 1127 m
Total descent: -1180 m
Total time: 10:14:52
Mirabella Eclano – Campolattaro
Max elevation: 504 m
Min elevation: 126 m
Total climbing: 1324 m
Total descent: -1262 m
Total time: 06:30:04
Campolattaro – Guardiaregia
Max elevation: 689 m
Min elevation: 386 m
Total climbing: 727 m
Total descent: -530 m
Total time: 05:39:04
Guardiaregia – Isernia
Max elevation: 1249 m
Min elevation: 350 m
Total climbing: 1330 m
Total descent: -1620 m
Total time: 05:12:35
Isernia – Sant’Elia Fiumerapido
Max elevation: 907 m
Min elevation: 86 m
Total climbing: 1078 m
Total descent: -1406 m
Total time: 06:01:45
Well Steve, not only a good record for you both, but a really interesting day by day cycling experience through lesser travelled parts of Italy for we your readers … and watching you working your way from the SE up and across the centre and passing the busy Naples area on your left. It does remind me of how much country you cross in such a short space of time on a bike and not such flash fast travels roads either. It’s a fantastic Blog with such a good record with those photos … had to watch them go round and round a few times. Experiencing wonderful stuff! (Not so keen on some of those hairy looking non-roads!)