Hi

I am looking at possibly doing a trip to Italy next year. Thinking of the upper region initially due to time constraints. Does anyone have any ideas for a good route from Calais to the upper region and places to stay/ visit and of course good riding roads.

Many thanks

East or west Italy? My rule of thumb is for west (e.g. Turin) go down through France and for east (e.g. Venice) go down through Germany / Austria. Both of them have autoroute / autobahn options if you're in a hurry and pretty little scenic routes if you're not. Personally I try to avoid Switzerland but that's just me. I'm doing the scenic French route in a couple of weeks (a frequent trip) and looking at alternatives to my usual route at the moment.

Me personally, although I would be in a car not on a bike, I would go from Calais to Luxembourg and then down to Lake Constance in Germany and then over the Alps into Northern Italy through the lakes and into or around Milan.

I really like Luxembourg, very nice old town that's on all different levels. Great place to stop for a day or so. Lake Constance is just gorgeous, I really like Friedrichshafen. There is a Zeppelin museum there and that's pretty interesting if you're into that sort of thing.

On your way over the Alps make sure you detour through Vaduz, just so you can say you've been to Lichtenstein

After Vaduz the roads and scenery get very interesting.


I'm actually rather jealous now, I'd love to do that journey again tomorrow if I could.

+1 for this route, I have done this myself, some lovely roads and scenery for the bike. The only thing I would add is the B500 over the Black Forest in Germany if you have time

Wayne


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The Balkans
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I rode to the Italian Dolomites and back, entering France at Caen. From Calais you’ll probably want to keep round NE of Paris, going via Reims. I recommend hooking up on some of the great riding through the Vosges so you could head down Nancy direction, then Épinal and head east for Colmar (great old city here).
I’ve not ridden the southern shore of Lake Constance but, on the north side, the E54/31 between Bodman and Sipplingen is closed long-term. If you head round to Bregenz (but be prepared for some urban riding on the way) there’s a great route into/out of the Tyrol using the 200 via Warth/Lechleiten. There’s lots of great riding in the Tyrol; my route home took in the Timmelsjoch Pass on Austro/Italian border (the 186/S44b roads), which was great riding. However be prepared to pay the small toll and for hundreds of German bikers (more as you head into the mountains). If you’re to head further east then you could use the S44 (over the Jaufen Pass) to hook up with sweeping, open bends of the S12 and S40 roads.

You could easily spend a week of fabulous riding exploring the Dolomites, based in one of the many delightful small towns such as Innichen or Cortina. The scenery is stunning, the roads are generally good, the food and accomodation excellent.

Funny, I thought I had said something about this proposal - must have been someone else.
Have a look at the link below for some info about the Dolomiti.
It relates to a hotel "chain" who advertise as a group- they happen to offer some great deals although I haven't actually used them (I keep meaning to, after I drink the snapps of the guy who represents them each year at the annual bike show at the NEC).

9 ausgezeichnete Motorrad-Hotels in den Alpen von Österreich und Italien: Tirol, Grossglockner, Dolomiten, Südtirol

Anyway, I spent 2+ weeks in the vicinity of the Dolomites last year, always camping, and I aim to return there.

Years ago I worked with some Italian guys and they told me to stay out of Cortina - by all means visit it but don't bother with the accommodation therein. Look more at any of the towns that surround Cortina on the Dolomite "circuit"; again, those ski resort hotels have some great offers for the summer riding season.

Even if you are camping, consider one or other of them when you want a break.

ps In the Sud Tyrol they speak far more German than Italian for historical reasons

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Dave

Hi there,
This trip is exactly the sought of trip I myself would like to do,
I have been a member for a number of years, but have never pushed myself to go further than the UK.
if your looking for any company along the way I would be more than happy to join you regards Nick.

man you can spent several weeks exploring the alps - don't take your car, take the motorcycle and ride 7+ mountain passes per day.

if you fancy go down to lake garda (which should take you something from about 2h from the border to austria all the way down), cross into france and drive up the route napoleon (really beautiful) - or the other way round.

in general - just take your preference. the only thing i strongly recommend to take the highway for is the po-plain (po is the river). it is terribly boring, nothing to see. but once you get to portofino on the french side (extremely expensive) you can easily cross to/from france or just head down the extra kms into the tuscany (one of my favourite places in italy).

if you go down from calais you could try to make a loop and take the route napoleon and then back up from italy (via lake garda, up to the alps). just don't skip the alps.

and one recommendation for just 'bout everything: take your time. don't rush. it's never worth to rush.

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hit the road jack! tr15a