By bicycle from Udine to Cividale del Friuli

Bike

28 May 2018

Bike

By bicycle from Udine to Cividale del Friuli

A cycle path safely links the city of Udine to the ancient Lombard capital of Friuli. The trail follows the FVG4, a long path that cuts across the whole central Friuli, connecting Caneva in the province of Pordenone to the Slovenian border of the Natisone valleys. Here is the map: (https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/3287786#map=11/46.1163/13.3285) From the centre of Udine (parco Moretti) to Cividale del Friuli is about 25 km. You can also avoid the city centre, starting from the village of Godia near the Torre torrent. Here there is a convenient car park adjacent to the bike trail. Doing so saves you about 18 km on the round trip, leaving a bit of time and energy to go beyond Cividale and visit some villages in the Natisone valleys. Right here, where I am starting today, between Udine and Povoletto, the route gives us a pleasant surprise: a cycle/pedestrian bridge. Inaugurated a few weeks ago, it not only allows the crossing of the torrent in complete safety, but also offers a beautiful view. The trail is suitable for all and is passable in all seasons. But it is in spring and early summer that, in my opinion, it offers the best with the expanses of rapeseed fields in bloom and all the colours that nature can offer in the summer. It is not a proper bike trail but, in the short sections where you are forced to share the road with cars, you still cycle safely on secondary roads with very little traffic. It is a trail with a mix of surfaces that I recommend doing on a mountain bike. You often ride on asphalt but there are also dirt and farm tracks, as well as a couple of fords, which sometimes oblige you to pas through an entertaining few inches of water. We cross a territory where the link between man and the land is still strong: agricultural fields, kitchen gardens and private gardens. They are all protected and cared for by the embrace of the Julian foothills to the northeast, but above all by the ability and the innate green thumb of the inhabitants of these areas. After Cividale del Friuli the route takes the name of Bimobis. It is an itinerary that, for the fittest, crosses into Slovenia passing through Kobarid (Caporetto) and Tolmin and returns to Italy via Gorizia. This route is also well indicated. For those who want more information on the cycling routes in the area, the tourist office in Cividale will be happy to help you. I wish you much fun with your pedalling!