The first section of this route follows a trail called “Sui Sentieri degli Ezzelini” [On the Trail of the (*)Ezzelini] a bicycle/pedestrian path along the canal/river Muson, and a continuation of the Muson dei Sassi route between Padova and Castelfranco. For now the bike path ends at Spineda, but it is planned to continue as far as Asolo. This route includes a climb up to the town of Asolo, a side-trip to Villa Barbaro at Maser, and concludes at Montebelluna.
Point of departure is the FS train station at Castelfranco Veneto: start by taking the sottopassagio [underpass] below the tracks and leaving from the rear; by following the roads indicated on the GPS map you will reach the Muson and the unpaved bike path which follows along the left bank (the right bank if doing this route in reverse).
You will pass once again under the train tracks by way of a narrow metal catwalk under the bridge; continue as far as SR 245 (Borgo Vicenza). Here get back on the regular road with traffic, and follow the well-signed brown arrows Sui Sentieri degli Ezzelini (see the example in the upper right hand corner) as far as a large rotary, which one can avoid by way of a bike path that runs underneath.
At first you follow along the bike lane on the right side of the road to Castello di Godego (SR 245, Via Valsugana); after a while turn right where you will pass in front of a school housed in a Venetian villa; here starts the bike path which follows a bit on the right, a bit on the left of the Muson. You arrive in the locality of Spineda where the bike path ends abruptly in front of a metal bridge; a poster enclosed in a plastic box announces the end of the path.
The maps along the route indicate a continuation along the other part of the canal, but in reality, it doesn’t exist yet. The best option is to turn back to Spineda and from here follow the roads indicated on the GPS map as far as Onè di Fonte, and from here to Fonte Alto, where you take the downhill road to the right heading towards Asolo. At the bottom you come upon and cross the Muson again. Immediately after begins the uphill climb to Asolo (Via Foresto di Pagnano).
The climb initially is fairly steep, but then eases up a bit with sections that seem comparatively flat. Towards the end you arrive at the built-up part of Asolo; the road continues to climb in a spectacular sequence of villas, gardens and palazzos. At the end you reach the main piazza of Asolo, a small town that for centuries has been a gathering place of artists and writers, among them Robert Browning, Giosuè Carducci, Eleonora Duse who had a house here, and Ernest Hemingway.
Drop back down to the valley by a downhill road to the east, along Via Foresto Nuovo; at the end of the descent turn to the left onto Via Palladio, which takes you to Maser; after a short distance, again on the left, is the colossal Villa Rinaldi; then after a few kilometers you reach Maser with the celebrated Villa Barbaro of Palladio [and the adjacent Tempietto Barbaro, Palladio’s most charming design. RB]; from here by way of local roads you reach Montebelluna with a train station on the Venezia-Feltre line.
Last visit: June 3, 2012
Castelfranco-Montebelluna 44 km