The Avellino-Rocchetta Disused Railway Cycle Route in Irpinia

When you think of Campania, what comes to mind is the coast, the islands, the queues. Irpinia is the exact opposite: a hinterland of hills, vineyards and Apennine villages that mass tourism almost entirely ignores. And it's right here that one of the finest railway lines in the South runs, the historic Avellino-Rocchetta Sant'Antonio line, conceived in the 19th century and known today to enthusiasts for its heritage trains. Its trackbed, stations and structures tell of a slow journey through a Campania few know.

The route

The itinerary broadly follows the spine of the railway through eastern Irpinia, among the towns of the Ofanto valley and the wine hills. You touch villages like Lapio, Taurasi and Mirabella Eclano, heart of the Aglianico country, the great red from which Taurasi is born: here the vine rows trace the slopes and in autumn the harvest colours everything. Taurasi preserves an old village gathered around its castle, while Mirabella Eclano is home to the Roman archaeological site of Aeclanum, a stop worth the detour.

Continuing east, the landscape grows broader and sterner, with the badlands and clay hills toward Calitri, a nativity-scene village that climbs the hillside with its old town and the ancient caves carved into the tuff. In these parts the railway line crosses the Ofanto valley with bridges and viaducts that seem to belong to another era, now steeped in silence. The ideal terminus is Rocchetta Sant'Antonio, already on the border with Apulia, where the great railway arteries of the South once met.

How to ride it

A railway trackbed means gentle gradients, and that's the great merit of this journey: historic railways climb and descend gradually, so compared to the rest of the Apennines the climbing demand is more contained. Be aware, though: this is not a continuous, paved cycle path. The route runs largely on secondary roads, gravel and stretches skirting the old railway bed, with a mixed surface. You need a gravel bike or at least a sturdy one, and you must reckon that some sections have to be linked together on low-traffic ordinary roads. It's an itinerary within reach of anyone with a bit of leg and a desire to explore, rather than a protected family path.

To get here the reference point is Avellino, reachable by car, from which you move toward the starting villages in the hinterland. One fascinating option is to combine the bike with the heritage trains that on certain days run the line: checking the schedules sometimes lets you load your bike and cover a stretch on rails, breaking up the route. Along the way the towns offer bars, cellars and trattorias, but the distances between villages can be long, so it's wise to plan your stops.

When to go

The ideal period runs from spring to late autumn. April and May bring green hills and blossoms; autumn, up to October, is perhaps the loveliest moment, with the Aglianico harvest, the warm colours of the vineyards and the wine festivals in the villages. The inland summer can be hot and muggy in the valleys, while winter is cold and ill-suited. In no case will you find crowds: even on harvest weekends, tourism here remains a discreet presence.

Practical tips

A practical tip: plan your trip around a cellar. Many Aglianico estates welcome visitors by appointment, and a stop at the end of a stage, with a tasting and perhaps a bed at a farm stay among the vine rows, turns the ride into a genuine story of the land. Always give notice before turning up, because here the earth is worked and the welcome is authentic but not improvised.

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