Cycling Italy

"J. Zwiebel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Two of us are planning a one week bike trip to Italy in the Lombardia, Piemonte and alpine
regions. We'll be doing road rides - no baggage - and would appreciate recommendations for rides
50 -80 miles in length.

Italy is not my favourite cycling country, having lived there a couple of years. Italian drivers are
genuinely as stupid as the stereotypes, and hotels are generally rather poor quality and value
(especially if you are tall as the beds are usually only 1.80m!). Having said the bad, the good is
that there are some very nice places in Italy. If I were going to spend a weeks cycling in the
country, I would avoid Piemonte and Lombardia, as if in the Po valley it is really boring, and if in
the mountains, the car denisty is very high. I'd head to either Lake Garda, or the Alto Adige
(German speaking part of Italy, on border with Austria). Riva del Garda is a lovely little town
(with, bliss, lots of relatively good hotels!) and you can either cycle around the lake (154km) or
head up the valley towards Trieste. Merano is a good town to start off from in the Alto Adige. The
area is just like Austria, and the accommodation and food is of almost the same high standards, and
as the temperament is much more teutonic the drivers are more considerate.

You don't say how you will be arriving in Italy, but that may influence your choice. If (guessing)
you are flying into Milan, then Riva is a better choice as it is in easy striking distance. The Alto
Adige is a lot less accessible. I'd advise against taking the easy option and heading for the lakes
close to Milan (Como and Maggiore) for the reasons I gave at the start.

Riva del Garda is a lovely

Quoted message said:

little town (with, bliss, lots of relatively good hotels!) and you can either cycle around the
lake (154km) or head up the valley

Or hire a mountain bike there and do some proper riding. The tracks around Riva are fantastic. Mike

J. Zwiebel said:

Two of us are planning a one week bike trip to Italy in the Lombardia, Piemonte and alpine
regions. We'll be doing road rides - no baggage - and would appreciate recommendations for rides
50 -80 miles in length.

Thanks in advance!

I don't know these areas for cycling but they're not the most interesting for anything really. Riva
di Garda is better (there's lots of hilly road cycling as well as mountain biking). Tuscany and
Umbria are more highly thought of for road cycling than Piemonte etc.
--
Michael MacClancy