CYCLE ITINERARIES ALONG THE GOTHIC LINE
September 3 2024

A cycle tour of places of remembrance and historic sites in the Marche and Romagna.

Discover the programme for our “Cycle holiday in Romagna and the Marche along the Gothic Line”.

The most important battle for Italy was fought in the Apennines, to the south of San Marino. The names of Riccione, Coriano, Gradara, Rimini, Pesaro, and Cattolica remain etched in the history of the War. On the one side, there were the allied forces of the British Eighth Army, with soldiers from Poland, New Zealand, Greece and Great Britain, plus the US Fifth Army, with troops from Canada, America, Brazil and India. Opposing them, were the German forces.

Riccione was divided in two, with the Canal Port right on the edge of the Gothic Line. The first Canadian troops arrived in Viale Ceccarini on September 3rd 1944, and distributed sugar, chocolate, biscuits and canned meat to the hungry people of Riccione. In return, the soldiers were given the local “piadina” bread, baked with the little flour that remained in the town. Riccione was liberated on September 18th 1944.

We are adding this extra element to our cycle itineraries with this special one-week tour, visiting places of remembrance, cemeteries, museums, and the sites of some crucial battles. This fascinating experience will both enrich your sense of history and leave you with many evocative memories.

The programme for our “Cycle holiday in Romagna and the Marche along the Gothic Line” includes the following: brief visits to the Ghurkha Cemetery on the road to San Marino, to the Commonwealth Cemetery at Coriano, and the English Cemetery at Gradara; visits to the Peace Museums at Trarivi and Montegridolfo, to the “Quota 204” Monument and the Queen’s Bays Memorial at Montecieco, and to the railway tunnels at San Marino, used to shelter refugees.