Touring - Bicycle touring around Milan (Milano) Italy

Hello Fellow Bike Tourists,

I may fly to Milano this summer for a solo, self-directed, two-week bicycle trip. I don't have a route in mind at this point.

I travel light, stay in hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, and do not mind steep hills. Because I like skinny bicycle tires, I travel on gravel roads only when absolutely necessary, and don't do off-road riding. I prefer towns and tiny villages, and avoid big cities. Crazy drivers scare me, so I avoid roads with lots of vehicular traffic. I am not adverse to hopping on a train to go somewhere interesting. I usually plan a loose itinerary, but I never seem to follow it closely; I allow myself to be distracted by the circumstances I find myself in. I generally cycle four to six hours per day, and take a rest day every three or four days. While traveling I am attracted to people who I can talk to, ancient history, architecture, geology, forests, old cemetaries, languages, food and wine, beautiful views, and places to go for hikes. I am not particularly interested in religious shrines and churches. I speak French and am studying Italian.

Some questions:

1. Are there backroads in this region? It is possible to travel from town to town along paved side roads, and stay away from heavily-travelled auto routes Do the unavoidable main routes have paved shoulders?

2. Is it easy to find inexpensive places to stay and eat in the surrounding towns and villages?

3. If I begin in Milano, which direction or directions have you found to be beautiful and fun for cycling?

4. What is the cuisine like?

5. What books do you recommend about this area?

6. What were the highlights for you while cycling in this region?

I appreciate all ideas in planning this expedition.

Alan

Oh- here's the section that never made it into my travelogues...

Touring through Milano. Ah, good stuff! :D

Get the Touring Club Italiano maps. You can get them from this wonderful Chicago store called the Savvy Traveller at: http://www.thesavvytraveller.com/

Ok, I travelled by bike using the Touring Club maps- they are the best. Roads where bikes were allowed were in Yellow and Green. Green also meant a scenic route. Yellow indicated that it would be a slow road. Red roads meant highways that are faster, so expect some trucks. Black roads mean autostrada and bikes were not allowed. It was a great bike map, though it was really meant for cars.

As far as books, since you're going in the summer, just get a couple of guide books. Lonely Planet is just plain aweful- it's the first book in their series that I just didn't get- I hated the book, but it still has quite a bit of information so that you can find some more obscure places. I would also get Rick Steve's Italy, but realize that his book is well used by almost as many people that use Lonely Planet.

Oh!!!!!!

You gotta go to Verona! Call Hostelling International in Verona and book your room NOW! Then ask them to refer you to a place where you can get opera tickets (I assume you're going in June) for the outdoor colosseum operas. They use the colosseum in Verona for the most beautiful and popular operas- the colosseum is almost as big as the one in Rome, and the props for the opera are like 20 feet high- Italians are like 2000% serious about their opera. If you go, bring dressy clothes. It's da bomb! Plus, they also do jazz fests on the same weekend, music in the plaza outside the colosseum all week, and religious music at one of the main churches in the evenings. The church and the plaza is free, but the jazz fest and the opera is not.

You can get to Verona by heading due east- you have to go north from the airport for just a tiny bit, then you get on one main road (I think a red road) that is a main road that goes all the way to Verona (pretty much). You will go through to Brescia, where you can spend the night, then the next day, ride the rest of the road to Verona. You can stop off at Lago de Garda, which is amazing and beautiful with mountains and lakes and some history. Then head on past that into Verona. The hostel is so freakin' impossible to find- see if you can get a map of Verona because I spent 2 hours trying to figure it out! The street names are almost non-existant, and my Italian wasn't good enough to get it figured out. God had mercy on me, and I finally found the road- a short, but steep, windy uphill climb. Do not play when it comes to Verona- during opera month, people couldn't find accomodations and had to go to Venice and other neighboring towns, which was just aweful.

While in Verona, drop your bike in the hostel and take the early train to Venice. It is almost sinful how expensive Venice is, so I wouldn't ever consider sleeping there again. The first time I went, I stayed at a nunnery, and they had a 10:00pm curfew, which was terrible. Those nuns locked the door and refused to let you in after 10:01PM. :(

Anyway, there's an early morning train that leaves Verona at like 5:20AM. It's an overnight train, so there will be lots of stragglers and people sleeping. From Verona, it's like an hour and a half, so if you have to stand, no biggie. Bring a book. When you get there, get an all day ferry pass. It's like 35 Euro, but it's the best 35 Euro you'll ever spend. Make sure to have your camera ready, as Venice will still be mostly asleep still- you'll get wonderful pictures of Piazza del San Marco, as well as alleyways and the narrow streets of Venice. I took ferries everywhere- some ferries I took were delivery ferries (didn't know, but good experience anyway) for groceries and stuff. That was fun. When you come into Venice in the morning, by the way, have your camera ready- the train slowly inches across the water, and it's just breathtaking to have Venice coming at you and nothing but water on either side of the train, and a wonderful sunrise to welcome you. Plus, you see all the boats that deliver food and cars and everything else that can't be made, grown, etc. in Venice. That morning was one of the best mornings I ever had on earth.

Don't just hang at the Piazza or at the Palace of the Doge, Architectural Museum, and the Guggenheim- go to the islands too- San Michele, Murano (where they make the glass, and boy can you get some really good, handmade Italian glass for cheap and don't be afraid to bargain!!!), Burano and Torcello. Also go inland through Venice- there's a total walking part of Venice that tourists don't go to. They just want the touris part, but there's a lot more there.

Ok, after a full day in Venice (check the trains every time you want to take one because they always announce when they'll be a train strike, and you don't want to get caught in Venice), you can go back to Verona, then head back to Milano. From Milano, you can head north and go right into Como- it's a pretty straightforward route, and you can ride all the way up through Como into Switzerland and into Lugano, Switzerland. Como was nice because there were so many beautiful Italian homes and everything's right there on the lake, and the ride up is just the bomb, although once you hit Como and head north along the lakes, the road runs right along cliffs (mabye about 20 feet up), and lots of tunnels, which I don't like. Still, the ride was good- lots of uphills and downhills, but totally do-able.

As far as inexpensive places- ummmm... not in the summer! Prices go up, so just look for hostels. In places where you won't find hostels, you'll pay maybe $35- $50 a night. Those were the cheaper places.

If you turn back around and head back to Milan after Lugano, I would suggest taking a train to La Spetza, and start riding south. You can ride pretty far down the coast, then turn inland and head over to Pisa, and then into Florence. You can ride the regions of Tuscany and head back north through Tuscany back to Milan, and if you run out of time, jump the train and ride the day train back in time for your flight.

Italy is great- Start with the Savvy Traveller store and order some maps and books and do some reading for yourself and decide what works for you. Then use the maps to see if the places you want to go are accessible by bike. Do it soon, then book your hostels (remember that most places are non-refundable, so you will need to stick with your itiniary) as soon as possible.

Have fun!

Koffee

One more thing-

I don't know how old you are, but they have some kind of pass you can get- I'm not sure if you get it from the Italian Consulate before you leave town, or if you can go to a tourist office when you hit Milano, but it's some kind of youth discount pass. I think you have to be 27 and under, and if you are, it makes travel a lot cheaper. It's 50% off some hostels and places to eat and visit sometimes, and sometimes it's just cheaper passes to sites and stuff, or whatever. They also have a similar discount for seniors, so if you're in those age ranges, do a little research to get that info for yourself.

Koffee