Caesar European Cycling Trip from London to Rome

Caesar Bike Tour Highlights

The Itinerary for the Caesar Expedition is split into 2 stages. Riders may participate in either or both of the stages. If you’d like to take on the entire Caesar challenge choose to Hail Caesar!

Stage 1 –  London to Como

Stage 2 – Como to Rome

From Como we head east through the picturesque regions of Lombardy and Veneto before turning north towards the mighty Dolomites. Bolzano serves as our springboard into this stunning mountain range where we will take in a number of the classic Sella Ronda passes. We then descend towards the Serenissima (the most serene) – Venice – before island hopping to Chioggia and into Emilia Romagna, whose fine cuisine and historic towns beckon. From here we enjoy some respite from the hills as we follow the Adriatic coast before heading inland to the Via Amelia and crossing the Rubicon, just as Caesar did uttering those fateful words as he descended on Rome – ‘The die is cast’. We take in the principality of San Marino before crossing the Appenines into Tuscany. From here we explore the rugged beauty of the Maremma region on our way to the Eternal city – Rome – our final destination of the Caesar Epic Adventure.

Caesar Bike Tour Dates 2026

All tours and individual stages are available as a custom tour for your group – contact us for details.

What’s Included?

• Accommodation in our carefully selected hotels
• Meals – hotel breakfasts, snacks en route and pre/post-ride nutrition, lunches including the famed Ride and Seek picnics, multi course group dinners with a focus on the local cuisine.*NB we include occasional independent lunches & dinners to break up the week
• Ride and Seek jersey
• Garmin 1030 use with all routes preloaded
• Ride and Seek water bottle
• Kit laundry service once a week
• Passionate, experienced and knowledgeable guides always on hand to help

Not Included

• Alcoholic beverages
• Bike hire
• Pre & post tour accommodation

Supplements

• Single supplement – Our prices are based on twin/double occupancy. If you wish to have your own room then a supplement is applicable.

Deposit

• To reserve a place on a stage of this tour we ask for a deposit of €1000 (or your local currency equivalent). We also accept payment in GB£ and AU$. The final invoice will include any applicable single supplements and bike hire costs.

Caesar Bike Tour Food

Stage 2 – Como to Rome

From Como we head towards the Dolomites where mountain fare will once more be the order of the day. The canerdeli – farm style dumplings – and apple strudel are real standouts. From here we descend down to Venice and a more forgiving topography. This is reflected by a lighter cuisine with the risottos of the area particularly good. With its rich and varied history Venice actually has a very different cuisine to the rest of northern Italy. Signature dishes such as Bigoli in salsa (pasta with anchovy and onion) and sepe al nero (cuttlefish) are testament to this uniqueness.

Caesar Reading

Our Expedition Tour reading lists are aimed at being accessible to everyone – all the books are historical but there is fiction, primary authors and serious historians so take your pick! As always if you want any more information or more recommendations please contact us

Start here, with the greatest memoir in ancient history. Caesar’s own words.

Julius Caesar Caesar – A Conquest of Gaul

A brilliant, readable tale of the politics and lives of early Rome.

Christian Meier Caesar: A Biography

Widely regarded as the most significant historian of his era, writing sharp and succinct accounts of the greatest politicians and statesman of the classical period.

Plutarch The Fall of the Roman Republic: Six Lives

An entertaining, fast moving and gripping read

Tom Holland Rubicon The Last Years of the Roman Republic

Shakespeare’s shortest play but a true classic

William Shakespeare Julius Caesar

Entertaining, sometimes crude but historically accurate and always fun. Definitely worth a listen if you want another way to get your history!

Cameron Reily and Ray Harris Life of Caesar Podcast

Caesar Bike Tour History

Biography

“I had rather be first in a village than second at Rome. “

– Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was born in Rome on 12 or 13 July 100 BCE into the prestigious Julian clan. His family were closely connected with the Marian faction in Roman politics. Caesar himself progressed within the Roman political system, becoming in succession quaestor (69), aedile (65) and praetor (62). In 61-60 BCE he served as governor of the Roman province of Spain. Back in Rome in 60, Caesar made a pact with Pompey and Crassus, who helped him to get elected as consul for 59 BCE. The following year he was appointed governor of Roman Gaul where he stayed for eight years, adding the whole of modern France and Belgium to the Roman empire, and making Rome safe from the possibility of Gallic invasions. He made two expeditions to Britain, in 55 BCE and 54 BCE.

Caesar then returned to Italy, disregarding the authority of the senate and famously crossing the Rubicon river without disbanding his army. In the ensuing civil war Caesar defeated the republican forces. Pompey, their leader, fled to Egypt where he was assassinated. Caesar followed him and became romantically involved with the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra.

Caesar was now master of Rome and made himself consul and dictator. He used his power to carry out much-needed reform, relieving debt, enlarging the senate, building the Forum Iulium and revising the calendar.

Dictatorship was always regarded a temporary position but in 44 BCE, Caesar took it for life. His success and ambition alienated strongly republican senators. A group of these, led by Cassius and Brutus, assassinated Caesar on the Ides (15th) of March 44 BCE. This sparked the final round of civil wars that ended the Republic and brought about the elevation of Caesar’s great nephew and designated heir, Octavian, as Augustus, the first emperor.

Brief History

Caesar is considered by many historians to be the foremost figure in Western civilisation. Our journey with him begins at the furthest northern point he reached in 54BCE as the first Roman invader of Britain, and ends in Rome, the city he eventually ruled as dictator and was assassinated in 10 years later.

Caesar ‘s two most famous political and military campaigns are the Gallic and Civil Wars. One reason for their fame, or infamy, is he wrote an excellent factual (most of the time!) account of both of these events. The other reason is they literally changed the course of history.

The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged from 58 BC to 50 BC culminating in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory against overwhelming odds (at the very minimum 2 to 1), resulted in the expansion of the Roman Republic over the whole of Gaul (mainly present day France, Belgium and some of Switzerland). While militarily just as strong as the Romans, the internal division of the Gallic tribes allowed Caesar’s tactical nouse to reign supreme. Even a last ditch attempt by Vercingetorix to unite the Gauls against Roman invasion was too little too late.

Although Caesar portrayed this invasion as being a preemptive and defensive action, most historians agree that the wars were fought primarily to boost Caesar’s political career and to pay off his massive debts. Still, Gaul was of significant military importance to the Romans, as they had been attacked several times by native tribes both indigenous to Gaul and farther to the north. Conquering Gaul allowed Rome to secure the natural border of the river Rhine and the oceans, although Caesar did cross the channel and defeat an indigenous army in his dual invasions of Britain. This conquest has been seen as both a series of military successes by a tactical genius as well as a horrific devastation and slaughter of local populations for personal gain.

The Great Roman Civil War (49–45 BCE), also known as Caesar’s Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire. It began as a series of political and military confrontations, between Caesar and his political supporters (broadly known as Populares), against the Optimates, supported by Pompey ‘the Great’ and his legions. Caesar eventually defeated the last of the Optimates in the Battle of Munda and became Dictator of Rome. This conflict ranged from Italy, Albania, Greece, Egypt, Africa, and Spain, but its first big step was that of Caesar over the Rubicon river as he headed south to Rome with his legions behind him. We will also take this fateful road.
The changes to Roman government concomitant to the war virtually eliminated the 500 year old political traditions of the Roman Republic and led to the foundation of the Roman Empire.