Bike Italy

Why Bike in Italy

Directors of the Giro d’Italia and the Tour di France have described Italy like a great peice of art and the perfect canvas on which to design of a bike routes. With countless hills, valleys, mountains, gorges and everywhere interlaced with villages and historical settings Italy has a variety of terrain for every level of rider.

North eastern Italy in particular has an incredible amount of history and culture; if you just follow the main tourist routes you do not always get a true picture of the uniqueness of the countryside with plenty of great riding routes to appease all levels of cyclist.

The Italian BIke Scene

There are three areas, in Italy, that can be considered the historical base of bicycling.  Vicenza and Treviso in the Veneto region, Bergamo and Brescia in the Lombardia region, and the Novi Liguria in the Piedmonte region, later after the 1950’s, the Forli province of Emilia Romagna can be added to the list.  These areas were popular for biking because they offer a perfect mix of terrain and roads that allows all levels of training, weather patterns, and social and industrial influences.

Many other regions that are now being presented as bicycle tour destination are the result of popular tourism,  the changing of the bike industry as a whole, and the way it presents itself. Each region of Italy varies greatly on the quality of riding, level of rider you need to be to enjoy the area, quality and quantity of roads, and friendliness to cycling.  With the exception of a few areas in Naples and its surrounding province, it would be very difficult not to find large numbers of individuals riding bicycles as part of their daily lives.

A unique aspect of biking in Italy is that you are not limited to the major hub seasons of May and June or September and October. The bicycle tour industry has become linked to the mainstream travel industry, and since it has become common place for the travel industry to present to you that the best time to visit Italy is during the spring and fall, it is natural that most major bike touring companies offer their programs during that time. However, understanding the geographical layout of Italy and its individual regions and understanding a little bit about the history of cycling in each region there is no reason you cannot enjoy a great bicycle tour in Italy 10 months out of the year. There are numerous companies that do a tremendous job offering great introduction cycling trips and package programs to various levels of riders. Yet there is another level of the Italian bicycling, culture and history, and food and wine that you can immerse yourself into with just a little bit of prior planning and knowledge.

WHERE TO RIDE IN ITALY

As you might know, if you have read the about me, I am an American who has been living in Italy for over 20 years. I have rock climbed, hike, scuba dive, ski, and bicycle throughout the country as a professional guide and instructor. I wish to share with you my personal opinion from my experience of bicycling in Italynot connected to any media base that is trying to sell advertisement or programs. Below click on a region to get an overview of the riding available.

Bike Veneto

The Veneto is one the best bike tour destination in Italy, a lot of history has played out on in what is now the Veneto Region: Roman,  Venetian Empire, Napoleonic, Austria-Hungary, WWI, WWII, modern Italy with its small family industries; bicycle, textiles, machine works, and fashion. Great place to go when you have a group of different fitness levels or non riders. 

Bike Trentino-Alto Adige

Classic Climbs is what you rid in the Trentino region. The Dolomiti and Alps host many of Cycling’s best and most challenging climbs. There are also a classic route in the valley along bike paths.

Bike Friuli Venezia Guilia

This region has been the forgotten region for several years.  However, it offers a unique variety of ethic mixture of Italian, Slavic, and Austrian.  There is a good variety of riding but you need to select your routes well.

Bike Emilia Romagna

The Emilia Romagna is very similar to the Veneto in the variety of riding but instead of bring circular it is linear in riding outline.

AFTER THE BIKE