The sixth leg of the Northern Way goes from Perugia to Assisi, the city of St Francis, and is one of the loveliest stretches of the entire journey, both for the emotional impact of making it to Assisi and for the artistic and cultural beauty you’ll encounter along the way. Today’s route is short and quite easy, it’s a great chance to recover after all the hard pedalling of the past few days. It will get you to Assisi without too much of an effort as you enjoy this beautiful part of Umbria. Today’s route is under 30 kilometres long and begins from the historical centre of Perugia, down Via dal Pozzo. The road becomes very steep after the church of San Bevignate and leads to Casaglia, and then further downhill to Ponte Valleceppi, where you pick up the cycle path along the Tiber.
From here you will travel over dirt and paved roads without traffic, along the same route those walking the St Francis’ Way cover, until you reach Bastia, from where, in the distance, you can already glimpse a beautiful view of Assisi rising on the slopes of Mt. Subasio. When you get to the feet of the city you will climb upwards over the Via Mattonata, or brick footpath, to avoid traffic. Stay on your bike for as long as you can, then get off to walk the last bit that leads to the Lower Basilica, the point of arrival of the St Francis’ Way. If you feel very fit by this point, so you might consider continuing upwards to the top of Mt. Subasio to the Eremo delle Carceri hermitage, a beautiful spot with gorgeous views of the valley below. To get there you will need to have the energy to face a few kilometres of steep uphill riding over a gradient in excess of 10%. You really do need to be fit.