3 Months in Italy
 

Hi folks just got back from a 3 month non-supported camping tour of Italy. This was sort of continuation from a tour I did last summer, Glasgow to Nice. Except this time no cold and no rain, only glorious sunshine. There where some days that I could have used a little less heat, but on the whole it was pretty comfortable hot weather riding. Also despite the fact that I spoke no Italian ( at least not the type you can use in polite company ) I had absolutely no language problems whatsoever, a little effort on my part was usually good enough to get things going.

My plan was to cycle south from Venice along the Adriatic as far as I felt I wanted to, then turn right and head to the Mediterranean, then back north to finally end up in Venice all within the 90 visa free time limit.

Italy is an excellent touring destination. A compact country with good roads, thousands of years of history on display, plenty of things to see and do, great weather, however it can get quite warm and humid at times, great food and drink never too far away and car drivers that display a surprisingly patient attitude towards cyclist.

I camped every night except for 5 nights I used Airbnb. Unfortunately Italian campgrounds are hit or miss. I stayed in some fantastic reasonably priced places as well as in some real dumps struggling to maintain a one star rating. I really missed the municipal campgrounds so common in France.

Despite the great scenery it appears that southern Italy is well off the touring cyclist radar. In the first 2 months I saw exactly 3 other people touring. It wasn't until I was in Naples that I actually met other touring cyclist, a couple from Argentina on their way to Greece. It wasn't until I was in Tuscany that I started to see other touring cyclist on a semi-regular basis.

This trip marked the first time I've ever had an electronic device with me, an e-book. Mixed feelings about that, recharging turned out to be more of a pain in the ass then I expected. I think that may have been the first and last time for electrical devices.

Mechanically the only issue was a flat tire – a thumb tack, otherwise the bike worked like a fine tuned Swiss watch, as close to perfection as mechanically possible, which isn't bad for a sub $500 bike outfitted with a bunch of no name components :o). If anything serious would have gone wrong, it would not have been much of an issue as it seemed that even the smallest town had at least one bike shop.

Getting to and from Italy was super easy on my favourite airline, Air Transat. Ride my bike to the airport, pay $30, put bike in supplied plastic bag. On arrival remove bike from plastic bag, put pedals back on, straighten handlebars and you're off in 5 minutes – priceless.

Glad to hear it! I've traveled all over, almost never knowing the language, and rarely have had an issue conversing. It is the one thing I wish I was better at convincing others about, that it is not a barrier to travel.

Any issues with the plastic bag? I shipped my bike back in one last time, and it worked well. Really wouldn't mind doing it more in the future, it is incredibly convenient.

There were absolutely no issues. It was as I said, put on the pedals, straighten the handle bars and off I went. I didn't even bother with the deflating the tires nonsense - no one seemed to care. The only thing I might do differently in the future, is a make a slit in the top of the bag over the top tube so the baggage handlers have something to grab onto, just figure it might be more convenient for them.

Cool tour!

AND: Thanks, I've now got Air Transat in my touring bookmarks.

If you have an airport they fly from near you and don't mind flying on odd days, they have some REALLY good airfares.

Surprising there were so few bike tourists, I'd have assumed it was popular esp for German/Northern Euro riders. USA has fewer bike tourists but it's still surprising to tour scenic areas & see almost no other tourists.

The nice thing about AT is that you never know where you will end up or when you will arrive. Adds an element of surprise: :D

Feds launch inquiry into Air Transat tarmac delays | CTV News

Sounds awesome.

Did you stealth camp at all?

What was your favorite region?

sounds like a great trip, glad you enjoyed it.

You know it's so easy to travel with these guys that I'm getting to the point I'll only go to where they fly to. Next summer it's Prague, for a tour of eastern Europe.

I have a feeling the south may not be as popular as the north due to: the south has lots of hills/mountains, it can get very hot, the area lacks the spider web of roads that one finds in north, and perhaps it's just too far from the big attractions found in the north.

I did not stealth camp, there was no real need to. However while I was riding I usually kept an eye out for potential camping spots - you never know if you'll need one for the night.
If one was careful enough you could probably find good camping spots in the south. Northern Italy may be a little more difficult due to the density of cleared farmland, but it certainly would be possible for the patient person willing to spend the time to find a good spot.

My favourite regions for the natural landscape would be Basilicata and Calabria in the south, while for the cultural landscape I would pick Veneto and Emilia Romagna in the north.

You should give it a try. Easy direct flights from Montreal via Air Transat to three cities in Italy at reasonable prices. However be warned in the summer months you'll have to put up with sunshine and blue skies all the time. :)

In 2013 I went with a group of friends to a cycling "camp" based in a little town outside of Bassano del Grappa. Great daily riding. Rode to places like the Asiago Plateau (Gallio) and the area around Valdobbiadene, where they grow a lot of grapes for Prosecco. Lots of WWI history in the area. I would love to back and tour the area.


This looks like a great resource:


The Veneto - cycleways and cycle routes - Italy Cycling Guide

A good resource indeed, well worth keeping.
What I usually do is just buy MIchelin regional maps ~1:200,000 and take it from there. I'm not a big fan of route planning, since I rarely stick to a "planned" route, which probably explains why it took me three months just to go around a relatively small country. :)

Nice! I lived in Prague for a few months, beautiful city. You taking the greenway to Vienna?

I love those regional maps. Back in 2000 I used one to plan a 7 week loop in Andalucía. Of course, I departed from the original plan for various reasons.

No, the plan (ah) is to head east to eventually end up in Bulgaria on the Black Sea. The route could possibility include Poland, Slovakia and definitely Romania. There is ferry service from Bulgaria to Georgia that I'm keeping in the back of my mind, that however would be icing on the cake.