Motorcycle itinerary in Friuli Venezia Giulia, between the greenery of Lake Barcis and the heart of the Friulian Dolomites.
We will cross the desolate "lean lands", known precisely as Magredi, to discover all the curves between Aviano, Montereale, Valcellina and Maniago and the spectacular Piancavallo plateau.
Un itinerario immersive in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia of about 174 kilometers for lovers of mountain roads.
Index of contents and milestones
Let's start from Pordenone, however after having walked through the building curtain that winds along the sides of Corso Vittorio Emanuele between medieval and seventeenth-century buildings up to the Town Hall.
The Magredi
Da Pordenone we head north towards Vivaro, driving through forests, mountains and the view of the Magredi, also called Grave. It is a vast territory with a desolate and desertic, almost lunar appearance, where the torrents Cellina e meduna they created a stony bottom. We are in the presence of an arid expanse, hot in summer and frozen in winter, an Italian steppe, with unique flora and fauna. In 1996 the Magredi were included in the European list of Sites of Community Importance, the SCIs. Some areas are closed to civilians, as the territory is used by both the Italian and US armies for exercises with tanks and assault vehicles.
Maniago
Arrived at Vivaro we reach Maniago through the SP27 and we stop to visit the city, awarded the orange flag of the TCI. Maniago has been famous since the Middle Ages for its cutlery and the noble art of forging blades. It develops around the square Italy and its XNUMXth century fountain and ancient buildings such as Attimis palace, the church of the Immaculate Conception and the 600th century municipal loggia. We recommend a visit to the blacksmith's art and cutlery museum.
Montereale
We return them motorcycle and we travel along the SR251 towards Montereale where history and geography mix. Montereale is the family that lived in the castle now in ruins, while Valcellina is the adjacent valley, an ancient commercial hub in the foothills and today an important geographical area with evidence of human settlements as early as the protohistoric period. Do not miss the event on mid-August with a curious name: "from curtì to curtì", in which private courtyards are opened to the public with culinary stands linked to local tradition.
Piancavallo and the Friulian Dolomites
Leaving Montereale, we head towards Piancavallo driving along the Pedemontana SP29 up to Aviano and then up, along the hairpin bends that will take us to our first stage in the Dolomites. Piancavallo is a well-known ski and sports resort. It rises in The Dolomites less known and worldly, more real, in short. Not for other Unesco world heritage and protected by the regional park of the Friulian Dolomites which with its 37.000 hectares of uncontaminated nature is the largest park in Friuli.
Cimolais and Lake Barcis
From Piancavallo we take the stupendous panoramic road of the Pian delle More which after about fifteen kilometers brings us to the sight of the beautiful artificial lake Aprilis or of Barcis (name of the main town on the north shore). Driving towards Ponte Antoi we find the entrance to the Forra della Cellina nature reserve included in the Regional Park of the Friulian Dolomites and we stop to visit the ravine dug by the Cellina torrent. Destination for climbers from all over the world due to the presence of overhanging walls. We then drive on the Sr251 and then on the SP20 up to Andreis, characterized by the presence of the avifaunistic recovery area for the care of birds of prey. Leaving Andreis we go back on the SR251 up to Barcis, a charming tourist resort where we park the motorbikes to stretch our legs with a walk along the lake and eat something in one of the many restaurants present. We take the motorbikes and go to Cimolais, a town nestled in the mountains. We take the panoramic 13-kilometre road which, going up the Cimoliana valley, takes us to the Pordenone refuge, so dear to the writer Dino Buzzanti. In summer it is paid and inhibited if there is too much turnout, but we recommend the experience. Returning to Cimolais we take the SR251 again and pass the Sant'Osvaldo pass, up to the Vajont area where the wounds on the mountain left by the landslide of 1963 are still present.
Belluno
The SR251 takes us with its bends over the border with Veneto in Longarone and where we will take the SS51 up to Ponte nelle Alpi and then the SS50 for our destination: Belluno, inserted in the Natural Park of the Belluno Dolomites and surrounded by the high mountains that frame it. To visit its small historic center tidy and collected and the panoramic views.
