There’s a hidden side of Italy that you can’t experience by car, nor glimpse from the window of a high-speed train.
It’s an Italy made of forgotten trails, old railway tracks, villages clinging to mountain slopes, and dirt roads that whisper stories.
The Ciclovia Lagonegro – Rotonda is one of those stories: a hiking and cycling path winding through Basilicata and Calabria, following the remnants of a disused railway line now reborn as a path for cyclists and walkers in search of raw beauty.
From the silence of an abandoned station
The journey begins in Lagonegro, perched at 906 meters above sea level. Once a railway hub, it’s now a gateway to stillness.
As soon as you step onto the old railway track, the rhythm changes.
You enter a suspended world, far removed from traffic, haste, and intrusive noise.
The cycle route runs roughly parallel to the provincial road but drifts away just enough to offer tranquility, cutting through cool, damp tunnels, aerial bridges, and postcard-perfect glimpses of hilltop towns.
The surface is often smooth — a well-packed white gravel road.
In some stretches, you can still see the geometry of the old rails, even if now the train has become a bicycle, the pace is slow, and the eyes are eager.
It’s an uphill journey — both physically and mentally — reaching an altitude of 1,432 meters as it crosses the Valico dei Cerri, a scenic pass and natural junction between valleys and microclimates.
Lake Sirino and the tunnels of time
Beyond the pass, your gaze opens onto Lake Sirino, a natural mirror of water nestled among the mountains.
It’s a moment of visual suspension, an unexpected postcard.
Then come the tunnels: carved into the rock, some short, others long and winding, cold, dark, and eerily silent.
It feels like moving through time itself, stepping from one dimension into another.
The tunnels lead to Pecorone, a tiny hamlet in the municipality of Lauria, home to just 280 residents, with low houses and a slow, steady rhythm.
The railway disappears here for a few hundred meters, swallowed by modern asphalt.
But the track is soon found again, heading downhill: a quick, exhilarating, almost liberating stretch.