Stage 3 · Certosa di Pavia → Piacenza
- Distance
- 81 km
- Elevation gain
- 80 m D+
- Difficulty
- Easy-Medium
- Surface
- 79% asphalt, 21% gravel · 84% on cycle routes
- Terrain
- Po Plain, Po
- Cycle path
- Po Cycle Path
- Hospitality
- Hotels
GPX 1.1 file with the track, elevation and the abbeys as waypoints. Tracks are calculated on real roads and cycle routes (OpenStreetMap): check them on the ground before you set off.
Gravel variant: 86 km · D+ 70 m · 33% unpaved (main track: 21%)
Calculated with a profile that prefers gravel roads and dirt tracks (BRouter on OpenStreetMap data): more natural surface and less traffic, sometimes slower. Check it on the ground, especially after rain.
Stage map
Map of the stage Certosa di Pavia → Piacenza: track, start, finish, places to stay and abbeys
Hover the profile to see the spot on the map
Tracks calculated on real roads and cycle paths (OpenStreetMap); elevations from SRTM data — to be checked on the ground
This stage on Komoot
The same track is on the project's Komoot profile: save it in the app and ride it with voice navigation.
Overview
Leaving the Certosa behind, this stage enters the wider Piacenza plain: a landscape of growing rural prosperity with scattered towns, tree-lined avenues and ever more distant horizons, down to the Po.
Notes from the road
The Po embankment stretches straight through poplar groves and floodplains. The river appears and vanishes behind the vegetation. A headwind can slow you more than the hardest climb, better carry more water since shade here is rare. At Piacenza you enter the city on a bridge built just for bikes, separated from cars, a good way to arrive after so much open plain.
What to see
Certosa di Pavia, Pavia's covered bridge, embankments and floodplains of the Po, Piacenza with its Romanesque cathedral, Piazza Cavalli with the Farnese equestrian statues, Palazzo Farnese
Where to sleep
Piacenza: hotels in the centre (70-100€), B&Bs (55-85€), guest rooms (60-90€)
Where to eat
Tortelli con la coda, pisarei e fasö, coppa piacentina DOP, Gutturnio of the Colli Piacentini
Tips
This is the last flat stretch before the Apennines. Piacenza deserves 2-3 hours: the cathedral and Palazzo Farnese are exceptional. Some stretches of the VENTO cycle route are still under construction in 2026: allow for a few detours on the road.
Water & supplies
Water and services in Pavia at the start; then Po embankments with villages at regular intervals (Belgioioso at mid-stage). Open levee stretches exposed to sun and wind, sometimes 15 km between bars. Mosquitoes in summer.
Places to stay on this stage
- Camping Ticinocampsite
Pavia (Lido, via Mascherpa 16)- Price:
- ~€26–29 per pitch/night
- Open:
- late April – early October
- Facilities:
- shaded tent pitches, hot showers, swimming pool, Wi-Fi, in the Ticino Park 2.5 km from the centre
- Source:
- campingticino.it · camping.info/en/campsite/camping-ticino
Two-star campsite on the Ticino, just past the Certosa di Pavia: the perfect first night out of Milan/Morimondo.
Abbeys on this stage
- Start abbey: Certosa di Pavia
An amateur, non-profit project. The tracks are indicative: everyone rides independently, at their own risk.