Mountain biking and walks among green hills and castles

We are a few miles north of Udine where the last ice age shaped and carved a postcard landscape just waiting to be explored on wheels or on foot.

From the town hall square of Fagagna located 176 m asl, in a few minutes’ climb you reach the colle del Castello (227 m asl). From up here the view is beautiful, especially at sunset, but even now at dawn it is a show not to be missed. For the view sweeps 360° from the plains to the Alps. I like to get out early in the morning because it is easier to come across some wild animal on the road to photograph.

After a well-deserved break to admire the rising sun I get back in the saddle and in a few minutes I arrive in the surrounding countryside: here, there is the most important medieval manor in Friuli Venezia Giulia. This is the Castello di Villalta,, a building with a very ancient history, and today a very popular destination for wedding celebrations.

In Villalta di Fagagna, I cross one of the three marked cycle trails in the area. The first is the Stringher Tacoli which, accompanying us for 15 km on a 70% dirt road and 30% asphalt, completes an entertaining circuit in the countryside around the village of Moruzzo. In one of the hamlets crossed we come to the Castello di Brazzacco. Almost at the end of the tour I take a break with the unmissable view from the well-kept village of Santa Margherita del Gruagno (200 m asl).

However, you do not have to follow the indicated routes. Nearby, there are many other interesting dirt tracks that deserve to be discovered by bike or on foot, and which are also ideal for our four-legged friends. You are spoiled for choice here.

In the charming village of Moruzzo, for those who are not tired, you can follow the other cycle trail: the il Savorgnan Di Brazzà, which, in small part, retraces the previous route and then goes further east: 16 km long over mixed ground. It offers a pleasant succession of ups and downs immersed in the nature of the hills. Peace and silence accompany us even when we arrive on the provincial SP83 road called dei 4 venti. This is a lovely paved road that connects Fagagna to Pagnacco, on which you aare more likely to come across cyclists and pedestrians than cars.

Today I decide not to continue on the marked trail and I head for home. I follow the “4 venti” to the end and cross a bridge over a rather special water course: the Lini. This small stream, in fact, has the peculiarity of flowing from south to north rather than the other way like all other rivers in the region. Only the Slizza in the municipality of Tarvisio has the same characteristic. In this area, it is easy to come across some heron, white stork or the very rare hermit ibis from the  Quadris nature reserve, not far from here.

I arrive almost to the end of the road and see a beautiful historic house: Brunelde. This building bears its age very well and “invites me” always to take a few pictures. From here, it is also possible to take another well-marked route called  Collinbici, which leads further north, passing through  Caporiacco and its castle, and leading to the villages of Majano and Colloredo di Monte Albano.

But for me today it is enough and I go back home. I’m tired but happy to have spent some time in nature with my mountain bike, in a territory tailored for cyclists and walkers.