Aquileia

This is our last stopover in Italy for the time being as we have decided to go and explore Croatia.

We arrived here nice and early so had a drive around the area to see where we would like to explore.

We have never seen so many ‘wine shops’ (that’s what they are called here) they are around every bend on the road !

So we stopped to get some local wine, well it would be rude not to !

Aquileia is an ancient Roman city at the head of the Adriatic about 6 miles away from the sea. Its approx 60 miles north of Venice.

The city is now small but it was actually one of the worlds largest cities in the 2nd century. We wanted to visit here because it is one of the main archaeological sites of Northern Italy and on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The city is very interesting and ruins were fascinating. We had a lovely day cycling around exploring.

The area is also set up very well for cyclists. A disused railway line is now one of many cycling trails in the area. We cycled over to Grado which was a long cycle but all flat and we are so pleased we did.

What a lovely gem of a place. Grado has so much to offer a tourist, it has beaches, a historic town with a market every day, lovely shops and restaurants.

The 20 mile cycle was worth it and we stopped on the way back and treated ourselves to a slap up meal.