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Italy Tour


BigTup

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Anyone done this? We are looking to go next year. In the US we usually do 300 mile days, a lot of these tours are less than 200. We/me are thinking of a self guided trip. Any advice for tour companies is greatly appreciated.

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Take a look at Edelweiss (spelling?). Not cheap, but excellent touring with guides and support. My wife and I did a Western USA tour, so I can't comment on any specifics of their Euro operation, but their operation of the tour we took was excellent. Nice lodging and food. Stops were well planned and interesting.

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We did an Edelweiss New Zealand tour back in 2005 and the guides spoke very highly of the Tuscany tour. (If they still offer it)

Very relaxed and lots of places where the tour buses don't frequent.

The miles per day thing, you have to realize that Europe is very compact and each country is pretty small for the most part. Trying to rack up the miles will have you either criss crossing a lot or running into the ocean .

Our NZ tour was like that as the country is pretty small. Lots of stops to see the sights but the average day was about 200ish. Very well worth it though .

Edelweiss is high end, but includes breakfast and dinner and the hotels are very nice.

The chase van carries your luggage so daily you just have your items you will need for the day. In our case, when we arrived at the hotel, our suitcases were in our rooms waiting for us .the next morning, you bring down to the van or lobby and they are loaded back in the van until the next hotel that afternoon/eve.

 

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Four of us took a self guided tour of Ireland two years ago. The routes were 180-200 miles a day and like you I thought we could add miles without any problem. With so much new to see and do we had to ride from 9 AM to 6 PM to get the 200 miles in.

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Francois_Dumas

Nina and I now live in Italy. We can help you with a self-guided tour, or get you a good tour company. There are a few here that we know, cheaper than Edelweiss and better. Local riders !

Average tour speed in European alpine areas is around 25 mph..... day tours are around 200 miles. You can get further if you use the toll highways..... but what's the fun of that? ;-)

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Nina and I now live in Italy. We can help you with a self-guided tour, or get you a good tour company. There are a few here that we know, cheaper than Edelweiss and better. Local riders !

Average tour speed in European alpine areas is around 25 mph..... day tours are around 200 miles. You can get further if you use the toll highways..... but what's the fun of that? ;-)

 

We are still figuring things out. I read about traffic in the alps. Looking at the Pyrenees. Looking at camping. Looking at just renting bikes. We wonder if picking up rooms for the night is easy, or are they booked? I'm guessing that the bike rental places will store luggage?

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Francois_Dumas

Some bike rental places will, some won't. Depends on their size. There are plenty of B&B's and small hotels all over the areas. Vacancies depend on the season you are thinking of. August generally is a bad time to travel.... all of Europe is doing the same ;-) Best times are June/July and September.

I don't know about the Pyrenees..... am very familiar with all other areas (France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy).

You can drop me a PM if you have more definite plans.

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Determine what you want to experience and plan accordingly. Buy a Michelin map.

 

On the pavement there were huge arrows almost as wide as the lane and those are slick in the wet.

 

When you encounter a traffic jam it is ok to proceed to the front, even if it requires using the sidewalk providing you yield to pedestrians.

 

Never give a thumbs up or ok sign with the thumb and finger. These are serious insults.

 

If you use camping grounds be sure to lock up your bike. This is true for all of Europe. The camp grounds are very well equipped, restaurants, bars, laundry (maybe by hand but so what). And secure all your stuff if you use a ferry. I had horns stollen off my bike when crossing from Greece to Italy.

 

Even if the pump jockey is standing there bullshitting with his pal, don't pump your own gas. They get pissed.

 

Sardinia has a lot of nice mountain roads with so few cars it looks like an empty island. Chicanes for miles and miles. Lago di Garda has dozens of tunnels along the west side with intersections inside to various hidden away villages on top of the mountains. Be careful you don't go against a one way, very close call for me.

 

Do not hang out in the left lane, very dangerous as there will be cars moving very fast, watch for flashing lights and get out of the way. If the car in the right lane pulls over to his right it is for you to squeeze between him and the center line as the faster car goes by. You'll get used to this and closer distances between you and others. But when returning here you will feel less safe. Europeans pay far better attention to their driving. They will see you.

 

Spend all of your money. You may not get another chance.

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