Short Italy moto trip ?

[Raux]

download a list of bed and breakfast places in the areas you will be.

[DesmoDiva]

or just wing it.

When I went to Portugal I didn't make any plans at all other than my plane ticket.

I ended up staying in a room in a private house; worked out great.

It is quite common for locals to rent out rooms to tourist.

You might be able to find something on bandbair.

[stopintime]

Do you guys think we will have a problem finding a place to stay mid week in July? I doubt I can book anything because I can't predict where we will end up when we want to stop riding for the day.

Most of the towns/villages in the mountains have capacity for the winter season, which means more than enough beds for summer tourists. I have never come to a fully booked hotel in June, but I guess it's possible in July - still not very likely...  That being said - it's much more relaxing to go online + make a few calls one day ahead (if you can) than doing random searches when you get there.

[HotIce]

or just wing it.
When I went to Portugal I didn't make any plans at all other than my plane ticket.
I ended up staying in a room in a private house; worked out great.
It is quite common for locals to rent out rooms to tourist.

That depends on the area. Certain very touristic places have that, which is, that you can show up, and find someone renting you a place.
Usually, in the top season (July/August), in top tourist places, it is hard to find a place to stay at the last minute.
But, given the current economic condition, these days, that is no more true.
My home town is a pretty touristic place, and last year you could show up in August, and find an hotel to stay.
Unthinkable a few years back.  It was all booked since before the summer.

[mookieo2]

Got back last sunday. I had an amazing time riding. We didn't ride as far as I would have liked but it was great. Amazing scenery and roads. We rode Futa pass, Stelvio pass, and the dolomites. I'll post some pics and a map of where I can remember we went. There was this one road from Mereno to Bolzano Italy that had me grinning from ear to ear, hootin and hollering in my helmet to myself for over an hour.

[red baron]

and that's what it's all about....

 Looking forward to pics.

[mookieo2]

This is a long ass ride report

I was finally able to do something I've been wanting to for a long time. We were booking a trip to Croatia so I figured since the plane ticket was the same and I would only be 80 miles across the sea, now's my chance.

Here's is the basic map of where I can remember what we road. ( not sure what happened to Lake Garda to Bormio section, Will fix later)




 So after a awesome week in Croatia full of


(View from our rental house, This is where they shoot Kings Landing for Game of Thrones)

this

(every day view from the beach)


(View from a few steps of my father in laws house in zaton Croatia.
A little history Alfred Hitchcock claims the city of Zadar Croatia has the best sunset in the world. I would have to agree.

So after a week and a half of heavy drinking, eating, and partying my buddy Ben from London and I headed to the ferry for an overnight crawl to Italy.

one last Croatian sunset to send us on our way.


We arrived in the morning and made our way by train to Florence. I originally wanted to rent the bikes out of Bologna since I was supposed to meet/ ride with someone there which after I booked my ticket I realized probably wasn't going to pan out so I asked Ben to come with me. I found out the hard way that the rental company's take forever to get back to you and we could only get bikes out of Florence instead of Bologna. I had to call these guys every day to get the arrangements straight.

We arrived by train, I grabbed a sim card for my phone with 500g of data ( which was a HUGE help for the trip), and a quick walk to the rental place we got everything settled. It took a while to get the bikes all packed up and ready to ride. We were pretty exhausted from not sleeping well on the Ferry and it was very hot. We ditched our plans to ride around Florence and headed straight to Futa pass; Ducati's unofficial test track. The road didn't disappoint. It was a great road to get used to the bikes and since I hadn't ridden in probably 8 months or so and Ben had sold his bike a few months back we needed some saddle time. It was very hard not to crash due to the scenery which consisted of Italian beauties on scooters wearing heals and mini skirts ripping through traffic, the amazing Tuscan landscape full of vinyards, and many beautiful villas. We got about halfway through Futa pass and arrived at the top of a hill which I guess is a popular rest stop.




There was a lot of nice bikes and a lot of bikers.We grabbed a Gatorade (which I don't think was a good idea since it hurt my stomach) and a small snack.
I don't have any video of Futa pass since we pretty much ran out of Florence to get away from the heat and the traffic. When we finished Futa pass we ended up in Bologna. We looked at the gps and decided we were tired, I didn't feel well and we should head as far north to set ourselves up for the next morning. We jumped on the highway and slabbed it about three hours up to Lake Garda.

When we arrived in Lake Garda we were extremely hungry, dehydrated, and tired. We stopped at a hotel but they were booked. We pulled up a few on the phone and grabbed one a block away. After we checked in I made a huge mistake of drinking a ton of water since I was so dehydrated from drinking the week before and riding in the heat all day. ( I was warned to stay hydrated way before this trip) We washed up and went down to the lake area which was beautiful. We ordered food and I felt sick. On my way to the bathroom I projectile vomited water all over the back of the restaurant like a fire hose  puuuk!!. It was only water no food since I didn't eat all day. I was pretty embarrassed. ( long story and build up but I wanted to share) I wish I was in OK shape because it was a really beautiful spot to hang out. I left my buddy Ben to eat by himself and went to bed.

Next morning we had a late start since. I still didn't feel 100%. We had planned to go and check out Sirmione Castle which is one of the coolest looking Castles I've ever seen.  



After Sirmione Castle and walking about the town I felt better, was able to eat a sandwich, and drink some more water. All systems go and we headed out.

[mookieo2]

After we left Sirmione Castle we were headed to Bormio at the Base of Stelvio Pass and the Alps. It was almost 1:00 but I felt normal again so we weren't going to get a ton of riding in. We followed the road around Lake Garda and went through the tunnels where they shot the opening scene to James bond Quantum of Solice


Some of those tunnels are really long. We took a short break above this roundabout at the end of the lake where it seemed like every other car that came by was drifting through the circle and onto the next road. It was pretty cool to watch.


We made our way to Bormio through some pretty tight mountain passes. Maneuvering this big GS full of luggage was tough on the really slow turns. I wished I had stopped for pictures because some of the scenery was just incredible. I remember passing by a waterfall that landed into a really small lake with bright green pastures as far as the eye can see. In the lake and waterfall was a huge lot of cows bathing and hanging out. On these passes we were basically the only ones around with a few bikes here and there. They weren't fast but they were really fun.

We arrived in Bormio around 6:00 PM where we had our fill of riding for the day, pulled over called a hotel and made our way to it. Some how they knew we were on bikes. The woman on the phone told us there was parking under the hotel and to pick a garage. This was a surprise.




The bikes resting for the night. Waiting anxiously for the best day of the trip.


A cool bike parking spot for the hotel next door.




The next day Day 3 we were able to get up early and the hotel had offered us an great breakfast of whatever we wanted on the menu. The weather looked perfect and we started our day with Stelvio pass. I'm sure most of you have heard of it. Here's a video of us climbing up from Bormio to the peak.


(I really need to learn to turn a little later)

Going up to Stelvio was really fun. The tight switchbacks are cool for little while. The parts leading up to them and after them are the most fun.

Ben and I somewhere up the first set up switchbacks.


The bikes at the top. It was cold up there. At the base in the morning when we started it was 28C and at the top it wa 9C


Had to get a Brat from this guy since I saw him on another video. He was pretty funny.

[mookieo2]

After we had a beer( we hadn't had any yet in Italy since we were so dehydrated, but now we felt good and thought it was time to celebrate. It was also 10:00 AM). We bought some souvenirs, and ate a little.

Then it was time to tackle this



The larger part of Stelvio.

This was really fun and brake fade definately happens towards the end. By this time I felt really good riding and got used to the handling of the GS. Now was time to have some real fun. The scary part about the switchbacks is that if you can't see the next section or around the turn you have to prepare for a huge tour bus coming around the corner. They barley fit and I do not know how these guys can drive the buses up and down like that.

This is a long video but take a chance to check out the views. It was like that the whole trip. Everywhere we went the scenery was amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7l30PmQvxA&feature=youtube_gdata_player#



When we got to the end we had to make a choice; Head north toward Austria and Switzerland, or head east and ride the Dolomites. We chose to go to the Dolomites mostly because the weather forecast was calling for rain and thunderstorms for the next few days in the Alps. We set a course for Merano to get to our next batch of twistys.



Took a fuel stop in Merano. The whole ride there we were driving through what seemed like endless apricot farms.

Took a Photo break up the first part of the next pass



This next section from Merano to Bolzano was probably the most memorable motorcycle experience I had ever had. Stelvio was great and I don't know what it was about this section but it was amazing to me. I finally figured out to use the GPS to see if the next turn was a sweeper or a hairpin. I got in the zone and had the time of my life. I was yelling to myself in my helmet and had the biggest shit eating grin the whole time. I seriously almost shed a tear because it was pure heaven. It consisted of fast sweepers, switchbacks, elevation changes, tunnels, Fantastic views, everything you would want in a motorcycle road. Of course I didn't realize that my Gopro had died because I had left it on while we were taking pictures and eating at Stelvio. I had and extra battery but did't stop to check if it was still recording. I got about 10 seconds after we stopped for the last set of pics.  :bang:bang:

The road I mentioned is in dark red on the map


We continued on and had a goal to get to the town of Corvera. It started raining so we pulled over in a small ski town called Saint UlrichWe checked the GPS  and had to go through another mountain pass to make it to Corvera, which was at least another 40 min. St Ulrich looked like a nice town so since we had such an incredible day we called a few places and found a nice hotel for the night.

Some shots from the town

This area of Italy Specializes in wood carvings

[mookieo2]

Ok last episode of the never ending ride report.


Left St Ulrich and had planned on doing a loop through Cortina and back for a few hours, then slab it back to Bologna where we were supposed to spend the night. ( originally with someone who was going to show us the town). Wake up early and take the hour ride to Florence to return the bikes, get on the train back to Bologna to the airport. In theory this schedule worked.

First section that we went through was another beautiful place, Passo Sello







We then hit some more twistys which were really fun. I was riding good and there wasn't much traffic. We got passed by a guy on a Diavel who I decided to keep pace with and didn't do too bad. This was on the way up another pass. On the way down I rode my own pace, still very spirited. I noticed to myself that I was getting a little sloppy and commented on how forgiving the big suspension on the GS was. Well that was good for a few more turns.

Not sure why it didn't upload in HD


I really don't know what happened. I know I dragged some hard parts but other than that I'm not sure. It was at a slow speed and the bike was fine except for a rashed GIVI case and the right side of the bars bent down slightly due to it hitting the guard rail. ATGATT fellas. My new leathers worked great. I picked the bike up and we continued to ride for another hour or two on some more great roads. Granted I was a little more cautious but I wasn't really shaken up that bad.

The GoPro flipped around during the slide and caught all the action.


The next fuel stop, my buddy Ben yells to me "Oh Shit I just filled my bike up with Diesel".  bfft!!() I said how the nozzle doesn't fit. He tells me that he wasn't paying attention and just held it over the hole.  :bang:bang:

The gas station was closed and there was a auto service shop about a half mile back. I ran over there to see if they could help but they were closed. When I got back to the gas station we noticed they had a garage and a lift there so we looked around and saw a sign that said they are closed between 1 and 2:30 I guess for lunch and that is probably why the service shop was closed too. We parked our bikes and grabbed a good  lunch across the street. At 2:30 Ben spotted a guy with an AGIP shirt on and went over there while I finished eating. I heard a loud noise of air and walked to the gas station only to find Mario and Luigi sucking the fuel out of the bike. They had some special tools so I assume it's not an uncommon thing to do.



I had planned that day for to hit this other road that I read was really good, but it was getting late and we were a little nervous about having to get up early to return the bikes. We decided to get to the highway and slab it back to Florence and spend the night there. The rental place closes at 7:00 and we should be there around 6:30 if we hurry. The GS with luggage would only really go about 140 kmh which is about 90 mph. At that speed its definitely not as stable. So with a little traffic we made it into Florence at around 8:00. We puled up in front of the place and luckily they were doing some renovations and one of the guys was there. He let us return the bikes. I told him about my little mishap and they were real cool about it. Ben got his stuff sorted and I would meet them in the morning just to go over the damage again with the main guy in charge who spoke better English. Since I scratched one case pretty good I told the guy if they were going to charge me for a new one I am going to take it home with me as a souvenir as I had wanted to get one anyway. We figured with the case, bars, bar ends it would be somewhere 3-400eu.  I could live with that as I had an amazing trip and the experience was worth it. They also never charged us for the extra mileage which should have been a few hundred more since we were given 250km a day. Well the bars from BMW cost 249eu. I couldn't find any bars for that bike online and the guy sent me the quote from BMW including the discount they gave him. He couldn't believe it either. Oh well. At least they were honest about it and didn't try to screw me.

Put my Stelvio sticker on the case in front of the guy and smiled.


So needless to say after all of this I ran to the train station and just missed the train I needed to take by seconds.  I should have been able to barely make my flight on the next train but because of signal problems it was delayed about 40 mins. ( that's what I do for a living and It follows me everywhere. At lest we're not the only ones with those issues) The next flight out was the same time following day. Originally they told me it was 400eu. I fought with them and then somehow it was 36eu. I made the best of it and looked to see what was around. Ducati closed at 12, Lamborghini closed, Ferrari was open until 7, YES!. Took a cab to a hotel, jumped back on the train a few stops away and went to the Ferrari museum. It was pretty cool to check out all the cars and engines.

Dat Ass





That's pretty much it. I went back to the hotel washed up. Went out by myself. Thanks to Google and Trip Advisor, I found an awesome little restaurant in the back of a side street. I finally had some authentic Bolognese food. I then took a stroll inside St Peters Cathedral which is one of the largest churches in Europe. On my way back to my hotel I heard music form the park next door. There was a lot of kids partying and some pretty good Italian Ska bands playing so I grabbed a beer and hung out some more. I didn't think I would have that good of a day by myself but it was worth missing my flight.

If I had to do it differently I could have taken an easy jet flight from Croatia to Milan for $100 and rented a bike from there with unlimited mileage. It would have also put us in a closer place to the alps and eliminated a lot of thee slab we did. I would not have been able to ride Futa pass so it was a trade off I guess.

Thanks for the help guys. I wish I would have gotten to ride more of the Alps but the Dolomites definitively didn't disappoint.

[HotIce]

Great trip!
I have been in all the places you listed, though Bormio has seen me only during the winter (ski).
Dubrovnik is magical IMO.
Lingering around in Firenze or Bologna during end July, beginning of August is suicidal, heat+humidity wise 

[stopintime]

Thank you so much for posting 

Glad you made it through the lowsider - cool video catching your body slide.

The endless fruit trees before Merano are apples, I believe..
We stayed in a nice hotel twice on "your" road from Merano to Bolzano - yes, it's a fun road!