A route from Monselice to Ferrara through the lower Po River plain; one crosses the two longest rivers in Italy, the Adige and the Po, and travels through Polesine(*) to cross the Po and finally arrive at Ferrara.
Point of departure is the train station at Monselice. Upon leaving the station take Via Matteotti to the right, then following the GPS trace first go to the ring road and then get on Via Ca’ Oddo, which has a bike path on the right side all the way to Ca’ Oddo, a tiny village with a church and a villa hidden behind a high wall and gates.
Continue south as far as Sant’Elena, then at Vescovana you will find on the right a local road which follows along a canal; here traffic is virtually nonexistent and pedaling along the canal you will reach the village of Sant’Urbano and then Ca’ Morosini a village divided into two by the Adige River.
Crossing the Adige we continue towards Lendinara, and in 3 km/2 miles we arrive at the main piazza of the village. Shortly after we come to the Adigetto canal, we turn left and follow the canal for a bit along the right bank, then at the second bridge we switch to the left bank, which after a bit more becomes a bike path; we pedal along the Adigetto in a relaxed environment as far as Villanova del Ghebbo where the route leaves the Adigetto to continue along the Scortico canal.
Staying along the Scortico canal one reaches the center of Fratta Polesine right in front of Villa Badoer, one of the greatest masterpieces of Andrea Palladio. At Fratta there are several other villas starting with Villa Molin-Avezzù, a short distance from Villa Badoer.
After Fratta continue along the Scortico canal, cross Strada Transpolesana and continue south as far as Pincara where there is a section of bike path along the Bianco canal. After Pincara you will arrive at Fiesso Umbertiano a farm village that grew around Villa Morosini Vendramin, the southernmost of all Venetian villas.
After Fiesso continue south towards the Po which we reach at Occhiobello, a village situated just north of the Po embankment. Once at the piazza one can climb onto the embankment by way of a stairway which has a wheel-slide for bikes at its sides. When you get to the top you will find a road on the embankment. From the embankment one can see the Po partially hidden by trees that grow in the soil of the floodplain. Follow the road on the embankment to Pontelagoscuro, which unfortunately is not usually bike friendly (except on holidays during the summer) and is in fact rather perilous by being narrow and open to automobile traffic. Only for the final few miles is there a bike path on the left.
At Pontelagoscuro we come to a bridge over the Po where we cross from the Region of Veneto into the Region of Emilia Romagna, the Province of Ferrara. Following the route of the GPS trace one reaches the train station at Ferrara in about 5 km/3 miles. If you have time it is definitely worth the effort to visit this city of art; the best known monuments are the Castello degli Estensi [Este Castle] and the Palazzo dei Diamanti [diamonds].
