Italian Vacation

[Dan M]

Bruce,

 

We did Edelweiss' Tour of Tuscany in May. Fantastic. Terrific roads, great food, fun people. You ride every other day to towns and have a rest day in the town you are staying in, with use of the bike (which means, if you are like most of us, you ride every day) Best roads I've been on. There is ample time for sight seeing so everybody stays happy.

 

, , , repeat - the perfect vacation

 

Dan

[rossoandy]

You MUST go to Mandello and see the museum! Why not go to the factory open weekend? GMG. I rode from UK to Mandello this summer vie France ,Switzerland and cannot reccomend the trip more highly,as someone else said the mountain passes are stunning! Lake Como is stunning an the hotel i used had wonderful views of the lake and surrounding mountains. i sure there are other wonderful places ti visit in Italy but as Guzzist you must visit the mecca...oh dont forget Agostini's will hire you a bike too...

[rossoandy]

mandello images 2005

[rossoandy]

mandello images 2005

[rossoandy]

mandello images 2005

[rossoandy]

mandello images 2005

[rossoandy]

mandello images 2005

[rossoandy]

mandello images 2005

[rossoandy]

mandello images 2005

[rossoandy]

mandello images 2005

[Alex-Corsa]

Winter has set in with a vengence, so to pass the time I am planning a vacation to Italy and would appreciate any advice from those who either live there or have been. My general intent is to ride 3-4 days, take in the sights- art, natural beauty, women- buy some clothes, soak up the ambience, and drink high quality espresso untill I blow an artery. 

 

Based on the prices of Italian motorcycles, clothes, and a can of Illy I am expecting prices to be high relative to the USD therefore I'll probably have to limit the trip to about 10 days. Although I want to experience it all, it might be better to focus on one or two areas for this trip. Any suggestions for areas and time of year?

 

Thanks

 

Bruce

 

If you are a Guzzisti- fan, the best thing is ,to visit the Mandelo area,

There you'll find art (Moto Guzzi factory & museum), Natural beauty, high mountains and lake, with traditonal vilages around. For the other Stuff Milano is also in the near and you can always rent a bike at Agostini's and have some rides.

 

Other than that I have been often in parts of northen Italy but not in the south so I can't give a comparsion-opinion.

The Bolzano area is also nice ,20km north there is a very old Caslte that has been transformed into a motel with reasonable prices (25Eur pro person out of season-35 on season 2 persons Is a bit higher)The scenery is absolutelly majestic (Alpic, ect.ect..)Some German are spoken there.

 

Well though the dissadvantage in Italy is if you don't speak Italian sometimes you won't ba able to communicate at all,I plan to learn(since many things I like are Italian) Carrying a dictionary is a good Idea.

[Orson]

click here for my Tuscany trip report in November '04.

 

A nice place to stay in Tuscany is Villa il Poggiale, about 30 km south of Florence. Family owned and run, friendly English speaking staff with reasonable rates.

 

I'll echo what others have said about the Moto Guzzi museum. It's a must see. It has weird hours though...something like 4:30 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.