Leaving the FS train station in Vicenza, take the street to the right that follows along the train tracks, go up a short ramp to get on the overpass across the tracks; once across, an uphill street to the right could take one to the Santuario di [Sanctuary of] Monte Berico; instead, continuing straight along the main road, after a few hundred meters you arrive at a (*)triumphal arch on the right; this is where the Riviera Berica bike path begins, one of the few examples of a true, dedicated bike path in Italy [or, more appropriately, a bicycle-pedestrian path, as indicated by the white line that runs along its length, and that separates bicyclists from pedestrians].
The path first runs between houses and gardens, passing near the Villa Valmarana ai Nani, then crosses the statale [state road] 247 to Este, and continues along the same road for a few hundred meters; to the right behind a row of trees is the Villa la Rotonda (Villa Capra-Almerico), Palladio’s masterpiece; shortly after the bike path leaves the main road and continues through fields of corn and vegetable gardens to the town of Longare, where one can go into town after crossing the statale again; here, after a few hundred meters, the bike path ends in a residential area.
You can then go back to Vicenza, or continue to Pojana Maggiore and Montagnana, but along local roads not dedicated bike paths.
