Italy - where best to tour??

philip99a

I love going to Italy and I love meeting Italian people but my best cycle-touring has never (yet) been in Italy.

1) I'm not good on mountainous terrain. Flat to rolling to steep is fine. Though I absolutely agree that no climbs = no view = dull. But I reckon the more stunning parts of Tuscany, the Appenines, the Alps, the Dolomites are not for me on a bike. Still leaves lots tho.

2) The parts of Italy where I've toured (ie the north) tend to be pretty heavily populated even outside the towns. Planning regs seem different (looser?) than here so an area which may look like countryside on the map often has small factories, lorry parks etc scattered fairly thinly over it.

3) Italian life is amazingly conventional. If you want a meal at 1.30pm you can't have one. You're too late. And outside tourist areas if you don't want the full primo, secondo bit, they can get very sniffy.

4) Cycling is popular but as a sport. Cycling is mostly for chain gangs in lycra.

5) The car drivers are dangerously, proudly insane. It's dangerous. Much worse than here (or Spain or Denmark or the Netherlands or France)

Don't get me wrong. When I die, I want to wake up in Italy. But I don't think I'll have my bike with me.

Am I stupid with the above and where's good to tour in Italy?

Campag Super Nova; faster than a cannon ball

spokecp

agree with all these points,i got knocked off my bike head on by a motor cyclist who was speeding down the wrong side of the road, within two days of being in Italy and after 2 weeks of trouble free cycling in France. What I did love in Italy however was the life in the small villages and towns. French villages are often feel eerily abandoned.

mercsport

" Don't get me wrong. When I die, I want to wake up in Italy."

I like that line ! Yes , me too I would suppose .

" Am I stupid with the above and where's good to tour in Italy? "

Perhaps a better question would perhaps be ' where not to tour in Italy ? ' ...and I don't know if there's an answer to that . I've been to most places over there on my bike except for the extreme S.E., Puglia , and can't think of anywhere that is hostile to the bicycle tourist . My first excursion through the middle of Naples was an eyeopener , ( backwheel collapsed too ! ) and I thought it was the pits , but now I regard it as one of the greatest cities to visit .
Although attracted to the mountains and hills mostly , on a circular tour from Verona to Budapest once I came to regard my return to Italy via Croatia as an ' escape route ' , and the ferry from Zadar to Ancona was a liberating ship . The joy was tremendous when wheeling my bike off the ferry that day . Home !
The greatest surprise for me was that , as I had to get back to the airport , instead of heading into the hills I elected to ride the Via Emilia all the way to Piacenza , flat , busy and straight as heck all the way . The surprise being that I enjoyed it hugely ! The best of Italian towns and cities all the way .
No , I can't think of anywhere that's lousy for the bike and self specifically .
Ciao ,

Bruce

philip99a

Any others?? Despite Mercsport, I'm not yet convinced! More pasta, more chianti.

Campag Super Nova; faster than a cannon ball

Cathryn

How can you knock Italy? Totally agree it's 'hilly' and that the drivers are barking, but it's glorious. How about Sardinia? Not so hilly round the coast, and very beautiful. Or Sicily? NO idea about hills but it'll be sunny! I think I'd start in Sicily if I was touring.

We're just back from the Amalfi Coast and remarked (as we tried not to crash our convertible hire car) how the Amalfi Coast road would be much better for cycling than driving. Glorious place, with top wine!!!!

Gran E. Gear

I haven't cycle-toured in Puglia, but I did spend a summer working there, and saw quite a few cycle tourists. Now, the heighth of summer would be no ime to tour this part of the world, but I imagine May/September would be beautiful. The coastal towns were beautiful, and the roads inland through what almost seemed like desert brought you to thee little towns in the middle of nowhere like the towns in spaghetti westerns.

Having said all that, I think I'd sooner tour in Tuscany or whatever, just because I'd trust them being a bit more geared up for tourists ... dunno.

More past - more chianti - more espresso with those gorgeous Mulino Bianco hazelnut-creme filled croissants you get for breakfast ...

xilios

I've cycled through Italy once alone in '05 and this spring with my wife and we had a wonderfull time. We found the drivers very courteous, the roads mostly good and the hills reasonable.
The scenery around the lakes in the north, lake Trasimeno the Natinonal parks and Tuscany was just fantastic.
<u><b>BUT</b></u>, we found most campgrounds in a very poor state, very expansive, food was good but expansive and also difficult to find at times.
Best place to cycle in Italy? I think it would be near the national parks while skirting the coastline.
Oh, and when I die, I think Greece would be a much beter place to wake up in, and with my bike [8D]


www.geocities.com/bike_journeys/index.html

Cathryn

Mulino Bianco...my favourite brand of Italian biscuits!!!! You've brought back a LOT of happy memories. Along with Baci chocolates. And my best new discovery....nobile di valpolicello red wine. Fabulous!!!

philip99a

I'm nearly persuaded!

Puglia sounds good. Amalfi. Sicily. I'd wondered about Sardinia. Maybe one day I'll tackle the hills of Tuscany. So many roads, so little time!

I love the idea of xilios's expansive Italian food. I eat too much of it, which can make it very expansive. Sometimes not cheap either! [:)][:)]

mercsport

Sorry my post didn't carry the weight of conviction with it .
Nonetheless Cathryn's note about the Amalfi coast road reminded me that from around the latitude of Naples and south , aside from all ( seemingly ) car / bus drivers being nutters , they all drive on the ruddy 'HORN' !!!
Any approach to any corner is preceded by a great blast of noise , and being Italy is likely to be a triple toned fanfare to boot . Bus / Coach drivers particularly seem to like to get up to within an inch of your backwheel and give it full welly . But they all seem to do it . No , the Amalfi coast for me was a cacophony of cars/buses hooting their horns .
It's in their genes I expect but the practise is well entrenched all over the Italian south , including Sicily . Ear protectors wouldn't be a too bad an idea.
Be warned !

Bruce