13. Bassano del Grappa – Piazzola sul Brenta

Long but easy stage, it runs alongside the Brenta river. There are few inhabited centres. Woods, cultivated fields: we have entered the Po Valley. A beautiful environment to admire.

From Bassano we start again from Piazza della Libertà, we pass in Piazzale L. Cadorna in front of the Gothic church, ossuary of the fallen of the First War. Then you follow Via Colomba and start a stage without any gradient, but long. After several roads, climb the left bank of the Brenta. Now the road becomes a dirt path, then it returns to road and path again, but it is a nice straight road with a wonderful view of the waters of the Brenta on the right, which extends considerably in width. Return to the road and then go up the embankment and underpass the SS 248. Also underpass the SP 58, near Cartigliano. You can continue the walk along the river bed, crossing a small canal. Once you get off the road, after various detours, you follow the road that leads to an aggregate quarry. After passing the barrier, you return to the river bank. After a few kilometers we find the Friola bridge. Crossing the Brenta river near Friola, you can find food and water: along the way other inhabited centers are quite distant. Then go towards Camazzole up to Via Bernardino (cyclists continue straight on up to Agugiaro). The route passes between the river and the beautiful lake of Camazzole and near the small town of Agugiaro. You take a small road again, pass a quarry and return along the river. Under the Fontaniva bridge, then the railway bridge, there is a nice, unequipped picnic area. Beyond the Brenta, 5 km away is Cittadella. Continue along the Brenta cycle path with the Brenta on the left and Lake Grantorto on the right. The landscape does not change for other kilometers and you arrive on the SP 27, near Carturo. After taking a cart track, go back to following the cycle path, cross a canal over a small bridge. Then you leave the cycle path and go along the strip of land between the lake and the river, then arriving at Villa Contarini, the center of Piazzola sul Brenta.

VARIATION: way of  St. ANTONY from Bassano del Grappa to Camposanpiero and Padova