Italy / Livigno / Stelvio route advice

macdan

Hi there, our club are heading out to Italy for some riding from a base in Livigno.

Hoping that some of you may have been there and could offer some knowledge

We have a massive loop planned riding north out of Livigno / Ofenpass / Santa Maria / Prato / Stelvio / Bormio / San Carlo / Livigno. Mapping says 3600m of climbing over 140km.

Has anyone done this loop, or know of any blogs that might help elucidate? There seems to be a road tunnel at the top of Lago di Livigno - anyone been through this? Is there a public transport means of getting back from Bormio - Livigno with a bike - bus/coach (just in case anyone wants to bail out)?

We've got some reasonable experience from previous tours Pyrenees / Granada - Pico Veleta etc but 2500m is our previous max for a single day's riding.

Another day is Gavia / Mortirolo easier side and the train back from Tirnao (Bernina Express). Would be interested if you done this before?

Thanks for any info!

andymiller

You can't ride through the tunnel but there is a bike shuttle service. It's relatively frequent. The times are on a sign at the entrance - otherwise you can find the times on the Livigno tourism website or on the website for the company that runs the tunnel (or look on my website - see link below). I don't know how many bikes the shuttle can take - you might need to split up, or arrange a private transfer.

NB the Bernina Express is a tourist service with no spaces for bikes BUT the Ferrovia Retica (RhatischeBahn) run a normal regional train with bike spaces. But check times and numbers of bike spaces.

I saw some buses (especially on the Swiss side) that had bike racks - and possibly you could put bikes into the luggage space underneath.

Do you know about the Bike Alta Rezia consortium? This is a marketing body for hotels marketing cycling holidays. The URL is something like http://www.altarezia.eu. Hotels that are part of the consortium offer things like guiding. If your hotel is part of the consortium they should be able to provide advice.

You don't say where you are are stretches of the SS38 where bikes are banned. You can get from Bormio to the foot of the Mortirolo using a semi-official cycleway which links to the Sentiero Valtellina. You'll definitely need the Sentiero to get to the station at Tirano. You can find more info on my site - URL in the signature.

If you are planning on going down towards Ponte di Legno from the Gavia there's a tunnel with a fairly horrible road surface. Take care as your eyes adjust.

The Mortirolo *and* Gavia in one day. Yikes!!!!

Sorry this is a bit rushed I'm posting from a campsite using an iPod Touch. Ask if you need more.

macdan

Andy many thanks for this, sounds like you know the area well and we need to do a little more planning. I'll check out your site.

We're staying at the Concordia in Livigno - on day 2 we're planning to ride out to Bormio and then take the SS300 which I think goes up the Gavia(?) so we should be avoiding the SS38, and then SS42 and a right turn up and down the Mortirlo and in to Tirano. at this point we will definitely need some kind of transport back to LIvigno :-)

The "semi-official cycleway" you mention I take it that's ok for road bikes?

andymiller

macdan wrote:

The "semi-official cycleway" you mention I take it that's ok for road bikes?

Absolutely, it's basically a section of the old strada statale that was hit by a massive landslide - so they had to dig a new tunnel lower down. There's a steep tarmac ramp at one point. I say 'semi-official' because although there are a couple of signs at key points, there doesn't seem to any official acknowledgement that it exists.

airwise

Another great route is to head up to the Forcola and over the Bernina into St Moritz. Over the Julier Pass and back over the beautiful Albulapass before the final climb to Livigno. About 120 miles with 3500m of climbing - but the climbs are more gentle and the roads better than around Bormio.

We did the Mortirolo and Gavia from the other side two times and it's a better route IMHO - the descents on both are far more pleasurable plus you get to climb the sides the mountains are famous for. Do not underestimate this ride though - it's one of the toughest I've done particularly if it's hot.

rhnb

Did some of those routes in 2008 with some friends.
We were based in Bormio.
I wrote up the trip here if you're interested. Might give you some ideas...

http://www.bikeit.eclipse.co.uk/bormio2008/index.htm

As someone has already pointed out you can't ride a bike through the Livigno tunnel anymore, but there is a shuttle bus to take you through (and your bike of course!)

Hope this helps.

macdan

Thanks for the tips everyone. We're out there next week so I will come back after the trip and answer some of my own questions here.

macdan

Hi - posting back to answer some of the questions.

We managed the big Livigno / Ofenpass / Santa Maria / Prato / Stelvio / Bormio / San Carlo / Livigno loop but decided to cut out the tunnel by using a local driver. There is a shuttle bus but it looked like you could be hanging around a while to be transfered.

Ofenpass was beautiful, Stelvio mighty and the ride back from Bormio tough :-) The local bar owner in Bormio told us busses wouldn't take bikes so we all hacked it back through a thunder storm.

Luckily we had booked a decent hotel in Livigno - The Concordia - who looked after us well and helped with extensive re-hydration. A good setup with bike storage and friendly staff.

On day 2 we did the Gavia from the Bormio side, really beautiful ride (but nasty chewed up roads first couple of kms on the descent and the hilariously frightening pitch black tunnel various people have warned about) - and then on to the Mortirolo (easy) side. Some descended the Mortirolo hard side - I chose not to because I thought my brake blocks would catch fire. Once again we decided to not risk public transport back and used a driver to follow us for the whole day. This worked out brilliantly (a couple of riders opting out of some of the day's climbs) I would highly recommed a support vehicle if your budget allows and/or you have mixed abilities.

Day 3 was a ride out of the Alps to Lake Como - Reasonable climb out of Livigno and then a right turn over and down the Bernina Pass. The Swiss roads were absolutely amazing - wide, smooth and beautifuly kept.

The last couple of days we spent at Como which is jaw droppingly beautiful. We stayed at the Menaggio hostel to offset the the costs of the first Livigno place. Again a nice setup overlooking the lake, friendly and very good value. They do need to improve their bike storage facilities but I'd recommend the place. Some rides around the lakes and a wonderful ride up the Ghisallo to the famous cycling shrine. Whatever you do - do not miss this.

In short, Italy was an exceptional ride and I want go straight back :-)