Ducati Monster Forum

I've been itching to visit Italy and the Ducati factory for years, and next spring I'll finally make the trip.

My current rough plan is to fly out of Boston where I live into Bologna. I'll probably rent a bike and ride to Roma at some point. Not 100% sure of trip duration. Probably 1-2 weeks.

For those of you who have been - do you have any suggestions? Where to go, what to avoid, etc?

I assume you are a good rider, living in Boston.  The traffic is kind of crazy, and gets worse the further south you go. 

Other than Ducati, not a lot else to do in Bologna compared to the rest of the region between there and Rome.  Florence is a must, Sienna also. 

You probably can't go wrong planning - the Tuscany region is my favorite part of Europe. [thumbsup]

mitt

I grew up in Boston so the traffic doesn't seem too bad to me. :)

Thanks for the tips on Florence, Sienna, and Tuscany - I'll add those to the list!

Eat, drink, rome, er, uh, roam. But mainly eat and drink, have fun.

three replies and no mention of the hookers yet?

What's the nature of your trip?  Spend the entire time on a bike, or stay in/around Bologna and do day trips?  Rent a bike for both weeks?

I took my family to Bologna for spring break last March, and we had a great time. I'll second the recommendation to visit Florence (but it's only worth a day-trip), and we also enjoyed Venice.  (Venice is about a 1.5 hour train ride from the main station in downtown Bologna).  We also went to visit Ferrari in Maranello.

Give a little more detail about your trip plans, and I'll throw out some more advice.  Traveling alone?  Going to find a race (motoGP or F1)?  Need info about the Ducati factory?  (we visited that, too)

Sorry about all the questions - I don't want to waste your time with useless info/stories about our trip.  [laugh]

Just got back from there two weeks ago, Hotel Amedeus and hotel Del Borgo are next to the factory, airport, and a easy bus ride to the city center,(65e/night) With a grocery center near by. If your planning September, World Ducati Week will be in misano 2010. You can rent bikes from the factory and there are a lot of great mountain passes close by. So im told, we only did one. Hookers are by the grocery center  ;) A ride around Lake Como would be nice if you make it up that far. If you plan to do site seeing in Rome, you'll need at least two days to see the major attractions, maybe not spend much time, but see. Not a whole lot in Bologna. Id do at least 2 weeks if time and money permits. Fly into Milan, Night or two at lake como, Venice, Bologna, Sienna, Florence, Rome, fly out of rome.

Bologna is my dream trip next year, too. I have been told it is the best food city in Italy. I willing to have that proven to me.

My cousins just got back and I'll be seeing them this weekend, so I'll try to pick up some useful info to contribute.

Sounds like the perfect Italy trip to me.

My only suggestion is to go early. Around late March or April, the weather should be warm enough for a Bostonian. I cant speak for Bologna, but during the summer it seems like Florence & Rome have more tourists in them then they have Italians. And the Italians that are there are noticeably and quite understandably irritated.

Yeah its all tourists...

Sounds like this is a pilgrimage that we all aspire to go on one day.  I was thinking about going next summer also and taking a ducati tour from ducatitours.com.  check out the website, they do tours of several regions of italy.  I was thinking of flying to Pisa with my wife, picking a bike up from the agency in Luca, join the tour for a 3 day ride through tuscany, going through sienna and up to bologna for a factory tour, then ditching the bike and going down to the amalfi coast for some sunshine.  I'm not really much for organized tours and sight seeing, but from what I've heard, riding in Italy can be quite challenging and a guide could steer you in the right directions. 

I hadn't heard that the factory rents out some bikes.  DantheMan, do you have any of those details?

Yest they do, i believe its from the factory store, which is right by the factory. I think the prce was the same no matter the model. One guy had a Hyper, then traded it for the SF.

bluemoco - All excellent questions.

I won't be going alone, but I'm not 100% sure of the group size yet. I may venture out on my own if no one else wants to rent a bike and/or visit the Ducati factory.

I suspect I'll stay in/around Bologna and do day trips. It seems like Bologna is a nice spot, and it'd be nice to have a place to store my stuff while I shoot down to other places.

I'm not sure if I'd rent a bike for the whole two weeks. I don't think I'd ride it that much, but it might be nice to have it at hand. I guess cost would be the main factor there.

I'd love to visit Venice, and I keep hearing Florence so I'll add those to the list.

A race would be awesome but it would depend on my travel companions. I'm not sure I'd have as much fun on my own.

And yes I will definitely visit the Ducati factory. Any info you have there would be awesome. Is it a one day thing, or worth going a few days to take it all in?


DanTheMan - Thanks for the hotel suggestions! The price you mentioned gives me a good place to start, too.

Half day, they'll walk you through the factory 1-2hrs, then you can geek out in the museum. And another 3 hours in the store  :P So plan a full day of it.

no prob!

The autoroute is a good way to get from point A to point B as fast as possible (typically 150+ kph ~ 90+mph).  But, DO NOT use the autoroute exclusively.  The best scenery and towns are off the route, on little 2 lane highways.  Just look at the curves around here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&q=florence+italy&ie=UTF8&gl=us&ei=3hfZSsuvJo7-NabFsdQH&ved=0CBUQ8gEwAA&hq=&hnear=Florence,+Tuscany,+Italy&ll=43.409537,11.35437&spn=0.358153,0.617294&z=11 (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&q=florence+italy&ie=UTF8&gl=us&ei=3hfZSsuvJo7-NabFsdQH&ved=0CBUQ8gEwAA&hq=&hnear=Florence,+Tuscany,+Italy&ll=43.409537,11.35437&spn=0.358153,0.617294&z=11)

mitt

Cinque Terre.

It is about three hours from Bologna. It was one of my wife and my favorite parts of Italy.

My wife and I did a trip to Italy earlier this year. We ended up spending a week in Bologna, but was not part of the plan ... so I can only really tell you about the short trip between my hotel and the hospital. Bologna is home to Europe'e oldest University but all Italian cities/towns have their own points of interest. I can tell you that the hospital is quite good.

The highlight of our trip was meant to be a Ducati Tour as mentioned by Donzo but the first full day in (on our way to the factory) my wife was involved in accident requiring emergency surgery. So my recommendation is to stay off the autostrade (tolled motorway). I don't want it to sound like an advertisement but the Ducati Tours people looked after us ... they are such a small crew and it is a really difficult business to be in, particularly in ths economic environment. Like I said I don't want to sound like an advertisement if you want to know more just ask or send a PM.

The advantage of that type of tour is that they show you the best roads and organise accomodation, carry your luggage, etc. Yes it may seem expensive but the expensive bit is hiring the bike the 'extras' just make it all work. It is pointless hiring a bike and spending your time lost on the motorways.

Eventually got back to the factory and museum ... but for shopping I wouldn't recommend the small shop attached to the museum. There is what is effectively a factory outlet just down the road ... bigger range and more affordable.

We drove past it, but didn't stop, wish I had...

We also visited Cortona, and it was very impressive.

mitt

I'd recommend booking a Ducati Factory tour early as when I went the second time i wasn't able to get in.  The museum was still very cool.  I actually enjoyed it more than the Ferrari Museum in Maranello (but that was def worth a look too depending on how much time you spend in Italy).  I wouldn't plan on really spending alot of time in bologna though.  My experience was that Bologna, and Milan for that matter, were some of the least worthwhile places to visit other than for the Ducati factory and viewing the Duomo in Milan and the last supper.  Worth a day stop and thats it. 
You should def make an effort to get to Cinque Terre  on the Western coast of Italy, as well as going to Rome and florence. 
I hit a buncha spots my first trip since i was there for 3 months, the second trip I did some places again but it was 2 weeks and got to Venice, Bologna, Modena, Maranello, Rimini, Florence, Rome

oh and btw, the ducati factory tours shut down late July, early august or something for races and a vacation basically.  so plan accordingly

I was in Italy for a week's vacation last month, my second time. I took the future x-wife to the main attractions - 2 days Venice, 2.5 days Rome, 1 day Florence. We didn't have the time, but I wish I gotten back to Cinque Terre. It's 5 very small towns along the coast. They are connected by path, no cars. All the wine is local and the food is homeade / fresh. My next time back will have it in the itinerary. It's some of the best Italy has to offer. First timers need to see the big sights, but with 2 weeks make sure to get to Cinque Terre!
 [wine]

You'll be right in the thick of it in Bologna. Right up the road is Modena.
Ferrari factory in Maranello, Lamborghini in Sant'agata (sp?), and Pagani are all around that area. Don't know for sure about Lambo and Pagani, but you must be an owner to tour the Ferrari factory, but the Galleria is a must see.

Dave