Dante – Rome to Bologna (Gravel Adventure)

Dante – Rome to Bologna Gravel Epic – Highlights

• Ride some of Italy’s finest champagne gravel, linking the iconic strade bianche of Tuscany with hidden farm roads and forest tracks.
• Explore the breathtaking Val d’Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage landscape of rolling hills, cypress-lined roads and picture-perfect villages.
• Enjoy a superb mix of gravel and quiet bitumen, from Tuscany’s famous white roads to the lesser-known lanes of Emilia-Romagna.
• Wander the medieval streets of Siena, home to the legendary Palio and one of Italy’s most captivating historic centres.
• Discover Florence, birthplace of Dante and the cradle of the Renaissance, before tracing the story of his exile northwards.
• Visit Ravenna, where Dante completed The Divine Comedy and where his tomb remains one of Italy’s great literary landmarks.
• Unwind in Bagno Vignoni, the extraordinary thermal village whose central square is a centuries-old hot spring.
• Savour the flavours of central Italy, from Tuscan pecorino, bistecca and olive oil to Emilia-Romagna’s fresh pasta, Parmigiano Reggiano and traditional balsamic vinegar.
• Sample some of Italy’s great wines, including Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Chianti Classico and Sangiovese from Emilia-Romagna.
• Celebrate your arrival beneath the porticoes of Bologna, Italy’s gastronomic capital and the perfect finale to an unforgettable gravel adventure.

Dante – Rome to Bologna Gravel Epic: Tour Dates 2027

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

What’s Included

▸ Accommodation in carefully selected hotels
▸ Meals: hotel breakfasts, snacks en route and pre/post-ride nutrition, lunches including the renowned Ride and Seek picnics, and multi-course group dinners focused on local cuisine (with occasional independent lunches and dinners for variety)
▸ Ride and Seek kit
▸ Navigation units with all routes preloaded
▸ Ride and Seek water bottle (s)
▸ Kit laundry service (once per week)
▸ Passionate, experienced and knowledgeable guides always on hand to support you

What’s Not Included

▸ Alcoholic beverages
▸ Bike hire
▸ Pre- and post-tour accommodation

Single Supplement

▸ Prices are based on twin/double occupancy
▸ A supplement applies if you would prefer a private room

Deposit

▸ A €1,000 deposit (or local currency equivalent) is required to reserve your place
▸ We also accept payment in GBP and AUD
▸ The final invoice will include any applicable single supplements and bike hire costs

Dante – Rome to Bologna Gravel Epic – Food & Wine

One of the great pleasures of travelling through Italy is discovering just how dramatically the food and wine change from one region to the next. Over the course of this journey from Rome to Bologna, we’ll ride through three of the country’s great culinary heartlands, each with its own traditions, flavours and local pride.

In Lazio, expect simple Roman classics built around exceptional ingredients—fresh pasta, cured meats, pecorino cheese and olive oil that needs little embellishment. As we enter Tuscany, the cuisine becomes wonderfully rustic. Thick-cut bistecca alla Fiorentina, handmade pici pasta, wild boar ragù, ribollita and the celebrated pecorino cheeses of Pienza are all staples of the region, often accompanied by some of Italy’s finest extra virgin olive oil.

Naturally, Tuscany is equally renowned for its wines. We’ll pass through the landscapes of Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Chianti Classico, where Sangiovese reigns supreme. Whether enjoyed in a family-run trattoria or overlooking a vineyard at the end of a day’s ride, these wines are as much a part of the landscape as the cypress-lined hills themselves.

Crossing into Emilia-Romagna, Italy’s culinary reputation reaches another level. Home to Parmigiano Reggiano, traditional balsamic vinegar, mortadella and some of the country’s finest handmade pasta, this is a region where recipes have been perfected over generations. Bologna, our finishing point, is rightly regarded as one of Europe’s great food cities, famous for tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini in brodo and bustling markets filled with irresistible local produce.

For us, food and wine are never an afterthought. They are part of the story of a place, and one of the great rewards of exploring Italy by bicycle.

Dante – Ride Data & Route

The tour is classed as a 3 Espresso Cup tour. There is one official rest day during the tour, along with two optional rest days in Siena and San Marino. For those who prefer to keep riding, there will also be opportunities to get out on the bike on these days.

In terms of terrain, none of our gravel routes are overly technical in nature. Each day features a mix of surfaces, combining gravel tracks with a range of paved sections.

The distances and elevation for each day are shown below.

The route itself takes us through some of our favourite regions of Italy, starting on the coast in Lazio before passing through Rome and heading north into Tuscany, home to the famed strade bianche.

Along the way, we enjoy two-night stays in both Siena and Florence, before briefly venturing into the enchanting region of Le Marche and visiting San Marino, the world’s oldest republic. From there, we cross into Emilia-Romagna, passing through Ravenna, the final resting place of Dante, before bringing the tour to a fitting conclusion in Bologna, Italy’s celebrated culinary capital.

Dante – Rome to Bologna Gravel Epic – History

Our Gravel Epic follows more than a spectacular route across Italy — it traces the life and legacy of one of the country’s greatest literary figures, Dante Alighieri (1265–1321). Widely regarded as the “Father of the Italian language”, Dante transformed European literature through The Divine Comedy, an epic journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise that continues to inspire readers more than 700 years later.

Our journey begins in Rome before heading north through the heart of Tuscany. Florence (Firenze), Dante’s birthplace, is central to his story. It was here that he became a prominent poet and politician before bitter political rivalries led to his exile in 1302. He would never return to the city he loved, and much of The Divine Comedy reflects both his longing for home and his reflections on power, justice and the human condition.

Leaving Florence, our route continues through landscapes that Dante himself would have known. The hills of Tuscany, the fortified heights of San Marino and the plains of Emilia-Romagna all formed part of the political and cultural world of medieval Italy. While Siena was one of Florence’s great rivals during Dante’s lifetime, today it provides another window into the remarkable city-states that shaped Italy’s history.

The emotional climax of the journey comes in Ravenna. After years of wandering between the courts of northern Italy, Dante found refuge in this beautiful Byzantine city, where he completed The Divine Comedy and died in 1321. His tomb remains one of Italy’s most important literary pilgrimage sites. Florence repeatedly requested the return of his remains, but Ravenna has steadfastly refused, preserving the final resting place of Italy’s greatest poet.

By finishing in nearby Bologna—home to Europe’s oldest university and another centre of medieval scholarship—we conclude a ride that is not only a journey across Italy’s finest gravel roads, but also through the landscapes, politics and ideas that shaped one of history’s most extraordinary works of literature.