Mountain Biking - Greatest spring break trip EVER!!!

I had trouble deciding what i should do for spring break....Go to Italy.....OR go on a bike trip...both 1 week long.

Then it hit me...WHY NOT TAKE MY BIKE TO ITALY?!?!?!?!?

This could be the best trip of my life if planned right. Has anyone every gone on a bike tour overseas (Europe) and could offer me advice and point me in the right direction.

do both, when you're there rent a bike for a day in the mountains and you're set

hey killerasp,

will that be for road or mountain biking?

i usually do a 3-4 day MTB trip to Lake Garda Italy (kind of like the Moab of Europe) somewhere around Spring Break time -- say last week of March through mid-April... if you end up here the same time as me we could definitely hook up in Lake Garda ---- or i might possibly ride in the Dolomites this year, probably around Bozen as Lake Garda has had some trail issues this winter (they announced some trail closures - should be fine but in the early season maybe tension) ---- although i guess i should warn you that we do MAJOR climbing and relatively technical stuff... if that fits then all the better!

as to other stuff:
* flying with bike -- different airlines have different policies, so check BEFORE you buy a ticket -- on about half the international flights the bike is free as your 2nd piece of luggage (US Airways and British Airways i know as i just flew them both with bikes), others charge $30-75 ONE WAY which can be a lot. if you have a hard-case (i don't) then cool. otherwise box in cardboard bikebox you can get for free from a bike shop (i just flew back in Jan from Philadelphia with 2 bikes!)
* around Lake Garda you can rent good Mountain Bikes... not sure but i would guess around $25/day for hardtail, $30 for top-of-the-line full suspension... only concern is this is "early" season but should be ok
* March/April is early so the high passes are still snowed -- typically you can ride up to maybe 1800-2000m this time of year which is enough for some great vertical (Lake Garda is 250m so *only* riding to 1800 gives you 1550m of vert)
* the trains in Italy are very cheap and while taking you bike can present a few problems (some trains fo not allow bikes) it should not be too difficult to get from an airport to a big city... getting out to trails is a little harder, but for example to Lake Garda you can take a train and the last 30km either ride or take a bus/shuttle. there are also special bike shuttles in the Lake Garda area.

let me know how your planning goes.