Cycling in Rome.

If you catch a glimpse of the Giro d’Italia you will see how fanatic the Italians are about their cycling. But, surprisingly the capital city is a tough experience if you want to visit the city by bike.

rare to see so many cyclists on the roads. These look like a few tourists who hired bikes,  by the Spanish steps.

Overall, visiting the capital of Italy is a great experience there are multiple layers of civilisation and culture. But, the huge number of  sites are spread out.  A bike definitely enables you to see more but be warned the roads are not designed for cyclists.

In many places you can easily spend 10 minutes without seeing anyone venturing onto a bicycle. I asked a local why there were so few cyclists in Italy’s capital city. Firstly there is quite a long distances between the centre and where most people live in the suburbs. Also the roads into the city are two or three lane of cars with zero cycle lanes. The second (and very obvious reason) is that the roads are pretty tough for cyclists.  When they are not stuck in a traffic jam, Rome drivers are quite fast. I wouldn’t say aggressive, but you really need to be a confident cyclist. A local explained the best way to cycle is assertively. – Follow the Vespas – try to get to the front of the queue at traffic lights.

Many of the main routes are two or three lanes. It’s hard to find quiet roads to travel on. There was one isolated cycle path by the river, but you rarely saw many cyclists on it. As we know in England, encouraging cycling is not as simple as putting an isolated cycle path in the middle of a city.

It’s rich history means the city is quite spread out. Given the levels of congestion, small mopeds are quite popular (just think Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.) The Vespa drivers really are ‘skilled’ at weaving in and out of traffic. But, it’s like no one wants to risk a slow bicycle on the fast streets of Rome.

Needless to say, the bikes you see in Italy are generally pretty classy. If you do see a Roman on a bike, it’s not a cheap MTB in garish colours from Taiwan.

The centre of Rome is a labyrinth of cobbled streets and beautiful piazzas. It’s nice getting lost in the myriad number of streets and squares. Some are pedestrian only (free of cars) and these are very nice. But, if you turn a corner, you can find a car coming straight towards you. There are no pavements, and you have to squeeze out of the way. In Rome the car is king.

Well, what did the Romans ever give us apart from aqueducts, sewers, roads, running water, education, health care et al..?(Monty Python)

Well true, but the Romans didn’t do much for the old bicyclist.

More Photos of Cycling In Rome

Visiting Rome by bus and bike.

Bike Sharing Scheme

Rome has a bike sharing scheme. See: Rome Bike Sharing (though the English button didn’t seem to work, and so it’s hard to get any info.)

Rome

Bike and Fiat Punto

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• Cycling in Italy