Italian Alps summer 2012

[CaptGoodvibes]

I'm in the pre-preliminary planning stages for a tour of Italia on rented Ducati's. Preliminary planning will begin in November and flights and bikes will be booked in early February at the latest. A tour of the Ducati factory and tix to the Italian GP at Mugello will be included.

NOTE: This is not a knee-dragging tour. Expect to be sightseeing and coffee drinking, shopping with your sweetheart, eating delicious food, and drinking fine wine. Bike choices are Monster 6 and 11 and Multistrada. If you are interested, let me know.

Interested(update 11/6/11):
1. CaptGoodvibes
2. Ninja2
3. Sully
4. OUTLAWD

[Matty]

any realistic prices you've come up with yet?

[Ninja2]

I'm potentially interested. I know you're in the very early stages of planning. Here some details that would determine whether I would do this or not. Maybe something to consider as you continue planning:

- Which month? (I could not find the MotoGP schedule for '12)
- Route? (Does this mean we'll be coming in from Switzerland over the Alps to Tuscany? Will we continue to ride in Tuscany?)
- How many days?
- Is there flexibility in terms of flights, meaning could I fly in and out at my convenience as long as I am at the start point for the tour?
- Last but not least, approx. cost?

[cbrjohnny]

any realistic prices you've come up with yet?

lol you know how the old saying goes... "if you have to ask"...

have fun i know i wont be on this one lol!

[asp_125]

If you want to check out packages, prices, and routes, look up Eldeweiss Tours. Captn' you thinking of Eldeweiss (sp?) - I assume by the Ducati rental it's them.

[Ninja2]

Wow. It looks like $4+K w/o flight. And you start in Bologna, which I believe does have not an international airport.
I am not sure if you're open to this, but there is a direct flight from DIA to Frankfurt Germany. Depending on the season, you can get a roundtrip ticket between $800 and $1500. You can rent a Ducati Monster 696 for about 600 Euro a week in Frankfurt.
We could plan the route and overnight stays ourselves. Maybe COS Mille's wife, Vita, would help us if we treat her to dinner. Vita is from Italy. I am from Germany.
We could go through Bavaria, Swiss Alps, and maybe spend a night there. From there to Mugello the next day. The distances are not far. Two years ago, we drove from Frankfurt to northern Italy in one day in a car. The roads through the Alps are a lot more fun than cruising through Tuscany.
We can buy tickets to GP and the museum ourselves online. Granted, it is more work, but I think planning ourselves would save us a lot of $$$. And we have plenty of time. Just a thought.

[asp_125]

The great thing about Eldelweiss, is that the $4K is all inclusive including ride support, accomodations etc. So that you don't end up being weighed down with luggage or worrying about making reservations etc. But I can understand, it is pricey.

I want to do Tuscany .. or southern Spain. We have mountains here .. the alps

[CaptGoodvibes]

Wow. It looks like $4+K w/o flight. And you start in Bologna, which I believe does have not an international airport.
I am not sure if you're open to this, but there is a direct flight from DIA to Frankfurt Germany. Depending on the season, you can get a roundtrip ticket between $800 and $1500. You can rent a Ducati Monster 696 for about 600 Euro a week in Frankfurt.
We could plan the route and overnight stays ourselves. Maybe COS Mille's wife, Vita, would help us if we treat her to dinner. Vita is from Italy. I am from Germany.
We could go through Bavaria, Swiss Alps, and maybe spend a night there. From there to Mugello the next day. The distances are not far. Two years ago, we drove from Frankfurt to northern Italy in one day in a car. The roads through the Alps are a lot more fun than cruising through Tuscany.
We can buy tickets to GP and the museum ourselves online. Granted, it is more work, but I think planning ourselves would save us a lot of $$$. And we have plenty of time. Just a thought.

I'm not sold on a tour. I think, with great minds, we could totally figure this out and have a great week of riding/sightseeing. I'd love to start in Germany and perhaps make a multi country tour out of it.

Jeff, would you please stop trying to torpedo my trip? Every time I've posted about this(FB and BBO), you start blathering about Spain. Make your own plan, take 50sgrl to Spain and have fun. I am not going to Spain. I'm going to northern Italy and perhaps Switzerland and Germany. Thank you and goodnight.

[Ninja2]

If you want to do Tuscany only, consider a scooter tour: http://www.edelweissbike.com/en/allT...y-scooter.html
The towns, like Florence, Pisa and Sienna are crazy to drive/ride in.

There are a lot of beautiful places to visit and ride in Europe, just like in the US. Unfortunately, it would be more difficult to combine Spain with Italy simply because of geography.

In terms of sag support - I can try and find friend or family that might be interested. If I cannot, then we could rent a small car, and one less bike, and take turns driving/riding.

[CaptGoodvibes]

If you want to do Tuscany only, consider a scooter tour: http://www.edelweissbike.com/en/allT...y-scooter.html
The towns, like Florence, Pisa and Sienna are crazy to drive/ride in.

There are a lot of beautiful places to visit and ride in Europe, just like in the US. Unfortunately, it would be more difficult to combine Spain with Italy simply because of geography.

I'm in it for the Alps and coffee. It's going to be a blast! This is a bucket list entry for me.

Jeff, you're my friend. PM sent.

[Ninja2]

Same here.
When I drove that route two years ago, I told myself I will come back and ride it. The nice thing - you get the best of both worlds - we get to ride through the Alps, and we will have some time to visit a few places in Tuscany and MotoGP. Granted, we have mountains here, too. But the Alps are different. And the roads are different, too.
I am hoping we can cut about $2K off the cost if we are willing to do our own ride support and planning, and being flexible in terms of sharing rooms.

[Zenshu]

Damn you...now I might actually have to pass my college class so i don't have to pay back the 2k tuition cost -_-

[CaptGoodvibes]

Looking at the tour for ideas...

I'd be thrilled if we made the race and factory tour the southern part of the trip and also did riding in the alps and black forest. I'd like to swim in the rivers in Switzerland, and I know my gal is going to relish shopping for a cookoo clock in Germany. Did I mention sipping coffee roadside frequently. Also, I don't have to rent a Duc. Anything will do...

[CaptGoodvibes]

Damn you...now I might actually have to pass my college class so i don't have to pay back the 2k tuition cost -_-

In eight weeks, I'll have my engineering degree.

You can doo eet!

[Ninja2]

You can rent any bike. They have Ducs, Kawis, and lots of BMWs.
Just, please, don't kick the bucket while we are there.
Black Forest is prob the most twisties with the most crosses. But that alone will take one day. I do think we need to sit down and first determine the amount of time we have and go from there.

The good news: All those countries have excellent coffee!

[Zenshu]

In eight weeks, I'll have my engineering degree.

You can doo eet!

Problem is with all online classes I have no idea what the paper i am supposed to turn in on Monday is even on...since there was no actual class lol...but the alps trip should be awesome..hope I can make it.

[CaptGoodvibes]

You can rent any bike. They have Ducs, Kawis, and lots of BMWs.
Just, please, don't kick the bucket while we are there.
Black Forest is prob the most twisties with the most crosses. But that alone will take one day. I do think we need to sit down and first determine the amount of time we have and go from there.

The good news: All those countries have excellent coffee!

I'll do my best. One of the reasons I decided to get a proper degree was for health ins at a mega tech/aerospace firm.

[Ninja2]

And, with any luck, I can turn the ~5 year prognosis into 20+ years. At any rate, I have a lost of travelling to do in the next 5 years.

Sorry if that was an insensitive joke - did not know.

If anyone is interested, Sweetie and I are going to spend several days in Amsterdam after the riding portion of the trip. You know, for the flowers. Best to go after turning in the motorcycles

Thank you for the offer. I'll likely spend time with family afterwards. Yeah, yeah. Flowers. In Amsterdam... .

[CaptGoodvibes]

No worries, I don't want to make it an issue.

[asp_125]

No worries, I don't want to make it an issue.

I didn't know it was that serious either, sorry if I was insensitive above.

[CaptGoodvibes]

So anyway,

Reading Google maps of Europe is difficult. What kind of daily mileage is reasonable in terms of sightseeing? <200mi/day? Also, I'm wondering if youth hostels might be a good solution for lodging. I did the youth hostel thing in Australia for 6 months, long ago, and since they were out of the way and because of the communal kitchen, I met a lot of interesting people and woke up away from urban centers - which I prefer.

Assuming Frankfurt is the best place to fly in, I'm going to bag the factory tour and focus on the race. Anyone that wants to play with maps and route and research on the must-ride roads, please do.

[Ninja2]

I started looking at this already. Mapquest works for Europe, too. I will be over there in 2 weeks, and will pick up some maps and talk with local motorcycle shops. Maybe we can meet after I return - early Oct? Hopefully, by then the MotoGP 2012 schedule will be out, too. I read that Mugello used to be late May/early June, but they pushed it out to July this year. Let's see. I wouldn't exclude anything yet. Let's just see how this pans out.

Hey, if we are really lucky, maybe we get a car-free track day in at Mugello: http://www.mugellocircuit.it/en/even...practices.html
That would be so awesome!

[powers]

I am liking this idea more and more... add in a GP and I will do everything I can to make it!

[Ninja2]

Just wanted to let you know that I stopped at several bike stores close by and picked up some maps for southern Germany/Austrian and Swiss Alps/Northern Italy, incl. most beautiful motorcycle trips through the Alps and Lake Garda (which is northern Italy) as well as motorcycle friendly overnight stays in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Luxemburg and Switzerland.
Also briefly talked about renting motorcycles.

I couldn't think of anything else. Let me know if I need to look into anything else by tomorrow (Sat).

Also, Mugello this year is even later - in mid-July: http://www.motogp.com/de/news/2011/2...endar+released.

I am IN since I'll be here anyways and Lake Garda that time of year is awesome! Talk with ya soon.