Italy (all)

The notes of ``[a fortnight spent] touring western Sicily in May/June 2000, staying in hotels.'' Includes fine pictures.

A lively report, with many fine pictures. It touches some of the most beautiful places in Italy I have had the chance to see so far: Ancona - Ascoli - Norcia - Spoleto - Foligno - Assisi - Perugia - Passignano - Cortona - Siena - Firenze.

Ascoli Piceno is an almost perfectly conserved medieval town. The buildings are ancient, and many roads are narrow, winding, cobblestoned paths. [We] walked through [Cortona] all evening and enjoyed the beautiful views in all directions. It is a small town with many narrow and steep roads, and as always all buildings were hundreds of years old.

Siena was packed with tourists, but it still manages to remain a nice and friendly place, and not as overwhelming as Florence. I like Siena a lot [...] We had plenty of time to visit the beautiful cathedral, and the one wall they managed to put up for a much bigger cathedral, until the bubonic plague put a stop to their plans in the 14th century. We visited the museum, which allows climbing up all the way to the top of that wall, providing a tremendous view.

The Marche region lies to the east of the Apennine mountains, and has every kind of terrain you could wish for. From long sandy beaches on the Adriatic coast to rolling hills and valleys leading to the high mountains of the Sibillini in the south of the region, and the highest of them all, Monte Vettore at 2,476m.

According to one book I read, Marche is 69 percent hills, and 31 percent mountains. Certainly, if you're not going up, you seem to be going down, and only on the extreme coastal strip is there flat riding to be had. On top of that, it has more castles and hill top towns than you can shake a stick at. Like Umbria was a few years ago, Marche (apart from the coastal area) seems to be one of Italy's best kept secrets, and that's fine by me!

This one was probably a little tougher than our previous tours of Tuscany and Umbria even though the mileage was a little lower, but it was well worth every extra bead of sweat, just as enjoyable, and I'd go back tomorrow.

Was the first bicycle tour in Italy? I have no idea but Italy is probably the most popular destination for bicycle touring next to a trip to the local ice cream shop. And in Italy, the most popular destination is Tuscany. It's not surprising, Tuscan wines, renaissance treasures, warm summer nights, and rolling hills, what visitor has ever been able to resist the charms of Tuscany whatever the mode of transportation.

Everyone chooses a tour for different reasons, depending on their interests and experience. I had two reasons for wanting to visit Italy, history and the check-box effect.

I mostly like to travel in order to see historically interesting locations and wonder at the human drama played out at those locations. For a child of western civilization (although my European friends my find that claim presumptuous for an American) one can't find a richer stage than that provided by central and northern Italy. My route would take me from Rome, the seat of the most important civilization of the ancient Mediterranean through the lands of the earlier Etruscan civilization, to the birth place of Renaissance Europe, Florence. Along the way, my route promised pleasant scenery and good food. I found all of the above and more in my trip.

Il seguente viaggio cicloturistico ripercorre una delle vie di pellegrinaggio utilizzate fino dal secolo IX per raggiungere le ``estreme terre della cristianità'' e il sepolcro dell'Apostolo Santiago (San Giacomo Maggiore). Durante questi 2000 chilometri si attraversa ogni paesaggio, dalle Alpi ai Pirenei, dal Mediterraneo all'Atlantico passando per zone montane e pedemontane, altopiani, prati, campi coltivati, fiumi, città d'arte, semplici villaggi, ecc., ecc. Il tratto in territorio spagnolo è meglio conosciuto come Camino de Santiago, Chemin de St. Jacques o Cammino Reale Francese ed è stato dichiarato ``Patrimonio dell'Umanità'' dall'UNESCO e ``Itinerario Culturale Europeo'' dal Consiglio d'Europa dal 1987.

My name is Louis Tousignant, a Canadian in his mid fifties, living in Nova Scotia on the Atlantic shore. Having cycled Copenhagen to Rome in 1998, and the U.K. in the mid 80's, it seemed a good idea to try Eastern Europe. As an eager amateur photographer, I particularly wanted to see Krakow, Prague and Budapest. Having had a grand time in Italy the year before, I also wanted to see Venice, a must... before one dies... Ergo this trip which I enjoyed tremendously.

This 52 day trip included 33 days of touring (3003 km for a 91 km/day average) and 19 days of travel and tourism. The load, minus water, was 20 kg, distributed in 4 saddle bags and one camera bag on the rear rack.

Well it was so good, we just had to do it again, and catch some of the places we missed (actually, it's Tuscany as well, but it didn't rhyme). Same format as before, route maps, daily reports, planning info, packing lists etc. Another brilliant time, and we made some great friends.

The road from Montepulciano to Pienza drops steeply outside the medieval walls, and I braked cautiously on the sharp turns after coming out through the dimness of the Porta di Grassi into the early morning sun. After almost two weeks of bike touring in Tuscany I had learned to expect these long descents each morning from the medieval towns that guard the highest hills -- and also to expect the equally long, grinding climbs up to them each evening. At first looking down on the honey-colored stones of the Renaissance church of San Biagio, the road wound all the way around it, then below it, before swinging out into the magnificent valley.

It was early morning in May, 1999, and we four NBW riders had the road to ourselves. Siena lay in sunny haze somewhere to the north, and to the south were rolling, poppy-covered fields, scattered olive groves and grape vines, topped by the occasional farmhouse. The descent was enticingly fast and the road was smooth, but I braked to look back up at the church and Montepulciano's jumble of red-tiled roofs and towers above, trying to freeze the memory. Surely, centuries before me this same sight greeted weary pilgrims trudging up from the Monte Amiata hills, or, more likely, soldiers sent from Siena to besiege the town and take it from the Florentines (both cities apparently captured and recaptured poor Montepulciano for hundreds of years, it's a wonder there's anything left). I could empathize with both pilgrim and soldier, having peered up through sweat-stung eyes at many a Tuscan hill town as I pedaled doggedly upwards.

When my wife, Jeannie, and I first bicycled Tuscany in 1995, we found the combination of the culture, the history, the food & wine, and most importantly the friendliness of the people made us eager to return. So, for our 25th wedding anniversary we made our plans to return to Italy for a month.

As we have cycled through many beautiful, interesting, curious, and friendly places, we have often remarked that someday we would like to visit a place and stay long enough to feel more of a pulse of the life than we might if we were only there for a day or two. This trip to Italy we wanted ``to be'' in Italy - essere in italia. We wanted to stay in one place for at least two weeks, to learn the bus schedule, to have to remember when the bakery was open, to learn to enjoy the differences in the pace of life and not just pass through as tourists.

Abbiamo visto o piú spesso immaginato tra le nuvole i maggiori massicci alpini. Abbiamo visto nascere l'Oglio, l'Adda, l'Inn, il Reno, la Reuss, l'Aare, il Rodano, il Ticino. Non un solo giorno è mancata la pioggia, non un solo giorno è mancato il sole. Dal passamontagna al costume da bagno, niente è rimasto inutilizzato. Va da sè che, se anche il racconto fosse riuscito noioso, il giro non lo è stato. I km sono stati 1130 km, circa 28500 metri di salita, per una pendenza media del 5 per cento. Sedici valichi: Ampola, Giogo di Bala - Croce Dominii, Gavia, Alpisella, Forcola di Livigno, Bernina, Albula, Oberalp, Susten, Grimsel, Furka, Gottardo, Nufenen, Folungo, Bocchetta di Sessera, Colma. Sei cime: San Matteo m 3678, Piz Blaisun 3210 metri, Gross Muttenhorn m 3099, monte Zeda 2156 metri, Rocciamelone 3538 metri, Lera 3358 metri. Le cime piú belle: Zeda e Rocciamelone. I tratti di percorso da non perdere assolutamente: la traversata dal lago d'Idro a Croce Dominii; il Passo Susten; la panoramica sopra il Lago Maggiore.

Visto dal lato atletico puo' sembrare una cosa non eccezionale attraversare l'Italia da sud a nord in bicicletta, basta seguire la costa essere ben allenati avere bici da corsa ultraleggere un buono staff al seguito (ammiraglia massaggiatori meccanici) e un buon albergo con tutti i comfort per rilassarsi tra una tappa e l'altra! Purtroppo noi non avevamo nulla di tutto cio'; noi non eravamo per niente allenati a pedalare, semmai allenati a portare vassoi, con alle spalle una stagioone turistica appena conclusa che certo non ci aveva lasciato in ottima forma. Non volevamo assolutamente costeggiare il mare ma assaporare le salite che tanto facevano sudare i nostri beniamini al ``giro''. Al posto delle bici da corsa ultraleggere avevamo i nostri ``normali'' rampichini ancora piu' appesantiti da piu' di 35kg. di bagagli e atrezzi. Dormivamo nella prima pensione che trovavamo all'imbrunire, eravamo addirittura dotati di sacco a pelo. I massaggi ci avrebbero fatto molto comodo ma ancor di piu' ci mancava l'ammiraglia per borracce viveri e bagagli. Un sogno sarebbe stato poi un meccanico che ci avesse riparato le forature, visto che abbiamo bucato in tutto 29 volte!

The whole trip lasted for 918 kms which I covered with average speed of 17.7 km/h climbing 20,310 meters vertically. I used my touring steel bike with triple chain ring (52/42/30) and 7 speed rear block (12-23). I had two bags - one on the handlebars for maps, camera and some food and expandable Trek bag on the rear rack containing all my clothes, toiletry, and spares.

The 7-week adventure had consisted of a solo cycle tour, which started in Chamonix and finished in Lyon visiting the Alpine regions of Switzerland, Austria, Italy and France.

The well-written, well-illustrated report of a grand tour of the Alps. The 7-week adventure had consisted of a solo cycle tour, which started in Chamonix and finished in Lyon visiting the Alpine regions of Switzerland, Austria, Italy and France. This article covers my journey of almost 2200miles.

Having cycled and mountain biked around my native Peak District for many years, I decided the time had come to venture further afield and to try my hand at cycle touring. I had both backpacked and cycled on many occasions, but never had I combined the two together. Graduating from university gave me a sufficient opportunity, since I had a lengthy vacation to fill and the commencement of work later in the year would inhibit such a trip in the future. Preparations were made, panniers purchased and on the 1st August 1998, I found myself heading for Chamonix.

An account of a cycle tour of Tuscany and Umbria in May 1998. A day by day blow of the places we visited, how we got there (and how we didn't), pretty stuff like pictures we took, and some possibly useful stuff like packing lists etc.

From Carsten's Cycling Web, the Web site of Carsten Gregersen.

This tour has it all: Deep Austrian lakes, steep rocks in the Dolomites, impressive Swiss mountain scenery and the gentle slopes of the Jura Mountains. Last, but not least, there is Europe's highest mountain, Mont Blanc. I have only one day off-road in the Dolomites - otherwise I go along surfaced roads. Starting out as a group of ten we eventually split into smaller groups. I ride most of the tour by myself.

My name is Louis Tousignant, a Canadian in his mid-fifties, living in Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic shore. I am always on the look out for riding partners, as I plan one major trip every year, up till now in Europe, but New Zealand and South East Asia are in the wings. All my recent trips have included the following parameters: 100 km/day (give or take 20%) on average; hotels, B&B's or pensions, no camping; most meals in restaurants; start in one country, exit in another, to maximize coverage; 5 to 6 week duration (participation in one leg of the trip is of course possible for those who can't spare the time). [...]

This was my first major trip without time constraints. My last touring experience dated back to the mid-80's. In this context, I did not plan properly, beyond defining the broad outline of the itinerary: Denmark, shortest possible time in Germany therefore Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Northern Italy to Rome. I had no maps for long stretches of the trip, except for France and Italy (Michelin 1:200,000 or 400,000), and no computer on my bike. For a variety of business reasons, I had not trained to any significant degree before the trip, in fact I was green. Finally, I wrote sketchy notes as I went along and here I am, writing a trip report 4 years after the fact...

From Glenn and Sheila Ord's Home Page: On the Road to Nowhere - Nowhere is the Place. With an emphasis on budget travelling - Our experiences and advice for cycling in Europe. This guide is entirely based on our 7 1/2 months (12,000 km) in 1998 across (and back) Europe: staying almost entirely in campgrounds (185 tent nights). This was supplemented by our time in Italy (April-May 1999).

Touring Italia 1998 started in Linköping (about 200 km south of Stockholm). We then went to the most southern point of Sweden (Smygehuk), before taking a ferry to Rostock in former East Germany. After a short visit to Leipzig we continued through the Chech Republic before reaching Munich. Thereafter we passed the Alps via Brennerpass, Passo Costalunga (Karerpass) and Passo Rolle at 1984 slm. In Italy we passed Venice, Bologna, Florence, Pisa and Siena before reaching Rome after some 3 100 kilometres.

This year's bicycle tour was to take me roughly from where I had left off last year all the way to Slovenia and back, traversing Southern Tyrol, the Dolomites and the Carnic and Julian Alps on the way there, the Karawanken, Grossglockner- and Zillertaler-Alps on the way back.

A report of the ``Nove Colli''. I've come to Cesenatico, hometown of Marco Pantani, to ride the Nove Colli (nine hills) Grand Fondo, a 205 km long death ride in the hills on the eastern side of Italy near Rimini.

So what is Nove Colli? Nine major climbs plus other not so horrible climbing together totaling 89 km and 3220 metres of climbing., Also 34 km of flat bits and the fun part - 77 km of discesa. There is an option of doing a short course of 130 km with only 4 nasty climbs, and 1335 metres of climbing.

The riders have thinned out a lot by now and occasionally I am by myself and can occasionally see no one else. Pass through Ponte Uso again and my right leg is threatening to cramp full stop instead of the twinges I am having. The road undulates after Ponte Uso and this is actually a relief after a succession of grinding climbs followed by speedy descents. I can try and appreciate the countryside while I try and keep my leg from cramping.

Il percorso si snoda su circa 280 km con dislivelli modesti e abbordabili anche con la bicicletta discretamente carica, è un piccolo viaggio che consiglio anche come preparazione a raid più impegnativi. Io sono partita da Sondrio, la mia città, e ho affrontato il giro del lago in senso orario toccando Lecco, Bellagio, Como e poi di nuovo Sondrio.

la strada fino a Bellagio è veramente entusiasmante, corro veloce sulle sponde rocciose che si immergono nelle acque del lago liscio come olio, attraverso i tranquilli abitati di Onno e Vassena, in località Rigona la strada comincia a salire e corre più alta sul lago, da Regatola in rapida discesa raggiungo Bellagio dove mi fermo alcune ore, per visitare il paese, rifocillarmi e riposare all'ombra dei platani della Punta Spartivento.

From the pages of Becana. An 840km trip in August 1997. River Po is the longest in Italy. This is the nicely organized and illustrated report of a fascinating tour through Pianura Padana.

This is the report of a one week bicycle tour in the Swiss Alps and parts of the Italian and Austrian Alps I undertook in the ``summer'' of 1997. Complete with plenty of useful practical information. The itinerary was Zürich - Tannen - Grimsel - Furka - Hospental - Oberalp - Splügen (village) - Splügen (pass) - Maloja - Bernina - Poschiavo - Aprica - Gavia - Bormio - Alpisella - Ofen - Umbrail - Stilfserjoch - Reschenscheideck - Arlberg - Braz - Wildhaus - Ricken - Zürich

[I crossed] for the first time in my life some of the famous Dolomiti passes: in the end [...] I went to 13 different passes. [...] [F]rom Canazei the route is steep at once. (I didn't expect so much: I think I've been deceived by images of 1996 Giro when Zaina climbed up very easily.)

The border to Slovenia is just a few km behind Gorizia. They still actually have border guards there even though Slovenia has recently become an EU member, but they just wave everybody through. Route 444 follows the freeway but is very quiet and pleasant, far more than the roads in Italy that led us here. At Ajdovscina we took route 207 and 621, which turned out to be more hilly than we thought - we gained 750 meters in one long and relentless climb, with little shadow. Very scenic though, with many views of the valleys. Near Podkraj a windy but exhilarating descent began, and after Logatec the second half of the descent was perfect, with safe long curves and no traffic. The last few km to Lubljana were busy though, as usual when entering a large city.

I used to have this mental image of Slovenia as one of those Socialist paradises, with gray people living in gray cities and trees growing in the potholes. Quite the opposite! Friendly clean cities, very good roads, and on a warm Saturday evening like this one the streets and cafes are bursting with people enjoying themselves. This country has definitely arrived in the 21st century. Ljubljana has a very pleasant old town, although much of the rest isn't very pretty.

In early May of 1997 I bicycled from Brindisi to Pompei, and after three days [among] the ruins, I bicycled to Napoli (25km) and took the train to Roma. [...] I [...] began making my way north along the west side of the Villa Borghese, a large, richly wooded park in north central Rome. I rode on park roads and paths as well as main roads and side streets.

Rome traffic was busy, fast and assertive (I wouldn't call it aggressive). The simplest way to explain how to ride in Rome traffic is - follow and mimic the Vespa riders. It is easy to keep up with traffic. As you approach a red light do whatever it takes to get to the front of the line - with all the motorized Vespas. That includes crossing the double yellow line, or riding right on it, in order to pass everyone and get to the front. When the light turns green, sprint across the intersection and fade over to the right so the cars and other traffic can pass you. I never once felt threatened, got honked at, or even noticed an ounce of hostility. It's just fast and assertive. Rome drivers will NOT hit you.

A group of five, three boys and two girls, went to Sicily in the third week of March 97. We all love cycling but for three of us it was the first week-long trip. We brought our mountain bikes, but did only two off-road stretches. [...] What makes Sicily an excellent place to cycle is the quality of the food. And in fact you'll read about ice-cream, sesame-filled bread, ricotta-filled cakes, spaghetti with sardines and bread-crumbs, pasta with anchovies and melanzane, cassata and cannoli, almond pastries, olives bread... but cyclists do need prime fuel after all!

Dieter flies back to Munich from South America, and jumps without waiting on his bike to conquer the Alps. It is not going to be easy...

Coraggioso, intoned the bar-keep as he pressed two steins of beer to a couple of very hot American cyclists escaping the gaudy sun over the Lombardy plain. It was a word (courageous) we heard often on our three-week bicycle jaunt from the French- Italian border on the Riviera to Venice on the Adriatic.

Dieter flies back to Munich from South America, and jumps without waiting on his bike to conquer the Alps. It is not going to be easy...

This website is a diary of a first attempt at cycle touring in Italy (spring 2000) which included visits to 5 top Serie A football games on route between Rome and Milan. Very much inspired by reading other peoples bike tours [...] I had soon purchased my bike and panniers and had my maps out planning my first cycle tour which would combine my two main interests of football and cycling.

My trip began watching the Rome derby and then ended in Milan to see Inter Milan play Juventus in the derby of Italy. Cycling nearly 800km inbetween these two cities I managed to take in the hills of Tuscany, Pisa, the Ligure coastline, Lake Garda and Lake Como while also visiting 3 other top football games watching the teams of Juventus, Palma, AC Milan and Fiorentina.

Lucia comes from Brazil to have a taste of cycling, both on-road and off-road, in Italy. She first visits Lake Garda, one of the great areas for mountain biking in Trentino, very popular with German bikers, and rides among others one of the Tremalzo trails. She then moves to Tuscany, and visits places like San Gimignano, Siena, and Volterra. After an intense cycling day, she treats herself quite rightly to the delights of Tuscan cuisine... In August 1997 Lucia added sections on the Amalfitan Coast and Sardinia.

26 July 1996 from 09:00 to 15:30 - Km 90.

Our tour started at the Venezia airport. Naturally the first destination was Venice downtown. It is somewhat hard to find the two-kilometer bridge that connects old Venice with Mestre, we had to use some very congested freeway-like bridges and roads. In Venice, no bicycles or cars are allowed (or practical), the road ends at Piazzale Roma. To park the bicycles, make a U-turn when reaching the piazza and ride down a steep driveway just before the first of the two small bridges, right across from the parking garage building. Then walk back to the piazza and take the vaporetto (shuttle boat) #82 north (south is much more scenic but requires switching boats at San Marco) until the Zitelle station, which is one block south of a very pleasant youth hostel.

Dieter flies back to Munich from South America, and jumps without waiting on his bike to conquer the Alps. It is not going to be easy...

This 1996 trip through Italy was our second 1,000 mile bicycle tour. Our first 1,000 mile cycling trip was in Ireland the summer before. Italy proved to be a delightful challenge. We accomplished one goal, which was to crack the myth that Southern Italy was not a good place to travel, especially by bicycle, something we repeatedly heard in California. Our second goal was more nebulous. We knew we would ride 1,000 miles, but we weren't positive which route we would take. As you will see, the route evolved as we went along. Our experiences were all positive, and the people we met were extremely helpful and hospitable. One important feature of our trip was that I took the time to learn some basic Italian (including grammar) beyond phrasebook dialogue. It made all the difference in the world, because people knew we were trying to speak their language and they appreciated and respected that very much.

Von Bozen nach La Spezia auf der Straße.

A report of a 50/100/200km event (pick your own) in the Italian Dolomites, by Sheila Simpson. Sheila is Editor of Arrivee, the magazine of Audax UK, the Long Distance Cyclists' Association in the UK.