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Two Capitals — Aquileia to Cividale
STARTING FROM · Cividale del Friuli · 1 day
QUICK INFORMATION
- DURATION
- 1 day
- COUNTRY
- Italy
- REGION
- Cividale del Friuli · Friuli-Venezia Giulia
- CATEGORY
- Cities & Culture
ABOUT THIS ITINERARY
The region’s whole early history fits in one drive: Aquileia, the Roman and patriarchal capital whose mosaics anchor the plain, and Cividale, the Lombard capital whose UNESCO Tempietto crowns the hills — linked by an hour of quiet roads through the Colli Orientali wine country.
OVERVIEW
The route at a glance
Morning in Aquileia — basilica, forum, museum — then the drive north-east through the vineyards with a cantina stop, arriving in Cividale for the Tempietto and the lamplit bridge in the evening.
THE SCHEDULE
Day by day
From the Roman plain to the Lombard hills
- Morning
Aquileia — basilica mosaics, forum and river port
3 hoursThe patriarchal basilica’s 760 m² mosaic floor, the forum colonnades and the excavated Roman port on the Natissa.
- Midday
The Colli Orientali drive and a cantina stop
1.5 hoursThe quiet ridge roads through one of Italy’s great white-wine zones, with a tasting stop by appointment.
- Afternoon
Cividale — Tempietto, museums and the bridge
3–4 hoursThe golden stucco saints of the Tempietto, Ratchis’s altar in the Christian Museum, and the Devil’s Bridge view at dusk.
THE ROUTE ON THE MAP
Stops on the map
MORE ITINERARIES
Other routes from Cividale del Friuli
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Trattoria under the arcades of Corso Paolino d’Aquileia — Natisone trout and frico
Pasticceria on Piazza del Duomo — the gubana, the town’s own pastry
Osterie of the Natisone valleys — barley soup and smoked pork in bilingual villages
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Historic-centre B&Bs and rooms in the old town’s palazzi
Agriturismi among the Colli Orientali vineyards — stay at the winery
Udine as the rail-connected base — Cividale is 24 minutes away by train
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
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