VOLCANIC CONES AND THERMAL WATERS

(Link - 11 km + Euganean Hills Loop,  63 km)

From the main Green Tour route it is possible to reach the Euganean Hills Loop, which is not very far, to discover one of the most fascinating areas of the Veneto region. The visitor to this unusual formation of hills, conspicuously of volcanic origin, rising from the plain with regular conical shapes, feels as if they were in a park thronged by huge green pachyderms. It is an area marked by a multi-millennial history, blessed with lush nature and beneficial thermal water, and featuring a rich artistic heritage, including castles, abbeys, villas: a real treasure chest that must be enjoyed slowly, fully savouring a truly unique landscape.

In Montegaldella (km 0.0), you leave the Green Tour route and start following the Bacchiglione cycle path until just before the castle of San Martino della Vaneza (km 4.7), which is worth a visit. You then head south through a fine countryside until you get to the hamlet of Fossona di Cervarese Santa Croce (km 7.7), past which you soon reach the Euganean Hills Loop, signposted as regional route E2 (km 11.0), which you will ride clockwise. After the hamlet of Treponti (km 12.6), where you can take a detour to Luvigliano to visit villa dei Vescovi, managed by the FAI, the National Trust of Italy, you arrive in the magnificent area of the Abbey of Praglia (km 16.0), a place of tireless worship in an oasis of greenery and peace. A leisurely ride on flat terrain then takes you near the Biotope of monte San Daniele with its lago Verde lake (km 21.0), and to the suburbs of Montegrotto Terme (km 23.0), important resort of the celebrated Euganean spa area, a station on the Venice-Padua-Bologna railway line. After a level crossing, you soon reach the Battaglia canal (km 27.5), which branches off the Bacchiglione a little up north. You head south along its cycle path, past the impressive outline of the Catajo castle (km 28.7) and through Battaglia Terme (km 29.6) and Monselice (km 35.9). This pretty small town is watched over by the Rocca di Ezzelino, and is also a stop on the Padua-Bologna or Mantua railway line. You should not neglect to take a detour to visit the picturesque hamlet of Arquà Petrarca, the place where Petrarch, the celebrated poet and humanist from Arezzo, spent the last years of his life. We are now at the southernmost end of the loop and, continuing our round from Monselice on the compact gravel banks of the Bisatto canal, we arrive in Este (km 45.3), the walled town whose Latin toponym, Ateste, indicates how it once was on the river Adige before it was diverted following the 6th century Cucca breach. After leaving Este, you ride along the west side of the hills, always following the Bisatto canal, while the Berici hills nearby start coming into view. You go through Rivadolmo (km 48.5), Lozzo Atestino (km 55.0), Vo’ Vecchio (km 60.7) and Bastia di Rovolon (km 68.2). After Bastia, a short stretch with pleasant ups and downs takes you back to the point where you had joined the Euganean Hills Loop (km 74.0), from which you can ride back to Montegaldella (km 85.0).

Possible detours

• Montegaldella is also crossed by regional cycle path I1 Garda-Venice. In this section (between Vicenza and Padua), it follows the Bacchiglione river from Vicenza to the south area of Padua, Bassanello, from which you can easily get to the city's heart of Prato della Valle.

• The Battaglia canal, which flows along the east flank of the Euganean hills, is followed also by cycle path I2 Veneto Loop, along which you can ride up to Padua (always in Bassanello) or down to Battaglia Terme, where you can head east and follow the Bacchiglione river all the way to Chioggia on the coast.

• Este lies on the "Anello delle Città Murate", the Walled Towns Loop, a fascinating 65-km route that also goes through Montagnana and follows long sections of the river Frassine. In the hamlet of Vighizzolo d’Este you can ride on peaceful minor roads and reach the river Adige, which you can cross on the Ca’ Morosini bridge and get to Barbuglio in no time. This is the starting point of the pleasant Adige-Po cycle path, which goes through Lendinara and Fratta Polesine, and in little more than 30 km reaches the river Po in Polesella.

• From Lozzo Atestino you can ride on minor roads and quickly get to Noventa Vicentina. This is the destination of the Riviera Berica cycle path that follows the former railway line on the east side of the Berici hills, which takes you to Vicenza in just 30 km. A cycle path from Noventa to Pojana Maggiore and further south to Montagnana is also in the pipeline.