The Trabocchi Cycle Route: Riding Suspended Above the Adriatic

The Costa dei Trabocchi is that stretch of the Abruzzo shoreline where ancient wooden fishing contraptions loom over the sea like giant insects. The railway that once ran along the coast has been decommissioned and turned into a cycle route linking Ortona to San Salvo Marina — about 42 kilometres with the sea always within sight.

You start from Ortona, a town perched on a headland with views across the Adriatic. The cycle path descends to the coast and from there unfolds as a continuous ribbon between rocks, beaches and trabocchi. The surface is good, mostly asphalt with some compacted gravel sections. The gradient is minimal: the route follows the coastal profile with gentle undulations that never tire you out.

The beauty of this route lies in the stops. Every few kilometres you encounter a trabocco, often converted into a restaurant where you eat the freshest fish with your feet almost in the water. The coves between one trabocco and the next are accessible only on foot or by bike — no car parks, no beach clubs, just stones and clean sea.

You pass through San Vito Chietino, where D'Annunzio wrote Il trionfo della morte, Rocca San Giovanni and Fossacesia with its Benedictine abbey on the headland. Each village has its own character, its own focaccia, its own dialect. This is not a uniform coast: it changes colour, changes light, changes scent according to the hour and the season.

The most spectacular section runs between Torino di Sangro and Casalbordino, where the cycle path rides a mid-slope ledge between Mediterranean scrub and open sea. In spring the gorse is in flower and its scent mingles with salt air. In autumn the light is raking and the trabocchi look like ink drawings against the sky.

The route can be done in a single unhurried day, or in two days with an overnight stay along the coast. The best time is May–June and September–October. In July and August the path sees more use but remains enjoyable, especially in the morning hours.

The Trabocchi cycle route is one of those experiences that reframes your idea of Abruzzo: not only mountains and national parks, but a secret coast where fish are still caught using wooden machines and taut ropes.

Practical guides for Torino

• Where to stay in Torino
• What to see in Torino in 2 days
• Where to eat in Torino
• How to get to Torino