The Treviso-Ostiglia Greenway on the Old Wartime Railway
The Treviso-Ostiglia greenway follows a long former military railway that cuts a straight line across the Veneto plain between fields and hedgerows. Born for wartime reasons and never fully brought into regular service, today it is an almost ignored green corridor, outside every tourist circuit.
Foto: Poul Krogsgård (Public domain) — Wikimedia Commons
Some of the finest cycle routes are born from failed projects. The Treviso-Ostiglia railway was conceived for military reasons, a strategic link that was to cross the Veneto plain from east to west, but history soon rendered it useless and much of the line never saw regular service. That failure of a century ago is today's cyclists' gift: a very long straight line reconverted into a greenway that cuts across the lower plain far from any tourist destination, in a silence rarely found in such a populated region.
A straight line
The character of this itinerary is all in its straightness. A railway on the plain had no reason to curve, and so the greenway runs dead straight for kilometres among cultivated fields, tree rows, hedges and ditches, in that agricultural landscape of the lower Veneto that no one considers a destination and that for this very reason preserves a plain, forgotten charm. You pedal into the real countryside, that of work and the seasons, not that of the postcards.
The line connects the Treviso area, to the east, with Ostiglia, on the Po, to the west, crossing much of the Veneto plain transversally. Along the way you pass the small farming centres of the lowlands, with their bell towers, rural courtyards and locks on the reclamation canals that regulate the waters of this land wrested from the marshes. It's a succession of landscapes seemingly alike and in reality always different, punctuated by the crossings over and under the country roads, by the old railway keeper's houses and by the bridges spanning the plain's watercourses. There are no famous monuments: the monument is the line itself, its stubborn straightness and the military history it tells.
How to cycle it
Getting there is convenient because the greenway crosses a territory densely served by roads and villages: you can join it at many different points and ride longer or shorter stretches depending on your legs and your time. The surface is largely compact, well-maintained gravel, typical of reconverted railways, suited to gravel bikes, mountain bikes and touring bikes with appropriate tyres. The great advantage is the total flatness: the elevation gain is negligible, the route level and regular, and the effort low in nature, made of persistence more than exertion. The real challenge, if anything, is the wind on the plain, which on certain days can accompany you or oppose you for kilometres without any shelter.
When to go
The best time runs from spring to autumn, from April to October. Spring is perhaps the finest moment: the fields are green, the hedges in bloom and the air still cool. Autumn brings the warm colours of the crops and the low light that lengthens the shadows along the straight line. Summer is doable but can be muggy and unshaded in the middle of the day, so it's best to set off early. In any season, however, solitude is guaranteed: this is one of the least frequented greenways in the Veneto, outside every circuit, and you may pedal for long stretches without crossing a living soul, with only the sound of your wheels on the surface and the song of skylarks above the fields.
There is then an almost meditative quality to this way of cycling. The straight line removes the surprises of the route and frees the mind: with no curves to negotiate nor climbs to manage, thought unwinds and the eye grows accustomed to catching the small variations of the countryside, the cut of a ditch, the flight of a heron, the change of a crop. It's a journey that teaches patience and rewards those who know how to appreciate slowness, the exact opposite of the tourism that races from one monument to the next.
A practical tip
A practical tip: keep an eye on the wind and, if you can, organise your route to have it behind you on the way back, when your legs are more tired. On such an exposed, straight line it makes an enormous difference. Then carry water and something to eat with a good margin: there are villages, but on the greenway services are sparse and you may find yourself immersed in the countryside for a long time without a bar or a fountain. It is precisely this essentiality, however, that is the point of the journey: a straight line in the heart of a Veneto that no one looks at.
Practical guides for Treviso
Practical info
When is the best time to visit The Treviso-Ostiglia Greenway on the Old Wartime Railway?
The recommended time is April and October, when it is less crowded.
Where is The Treviso-Ostiglia Greenway on the Old Wartime Railway?
The Treviso-Ostiglia Greenway on the Old Wartime Railway is located in Veneto plain, Treviso-Ostiglia (Mantua).
