I want to drive to the toe of Italy from Rotterdam starting Aug 25th. A week there and a week back. Is it too early and too hot? Are there any great routes or sections that you can recommend avoiding motorways, cities and tourist overcrowding?
I drove back from Tuscany last week. Came through the Mont Blanc tunnel and had a few days in Chamonix. Both places a delight. Not too hot at all but may be hot as hell down Sicily way. Roads dead easy. I believe the A1 (Italy) takes you all the way down. Check though, Waze has made me very lazy geographically…
Your planned route... in my opinion it's a lot of miles you've got to cover in 2 week period, so you might feel like you've got to put loads of miles in every day, rather than perhaps cruising at a slower pace and taking in all the amazing sights & scenery! Also, try and have some flexibility in your travel plans to account for the weather... i.e. avoiding thunderstorms or if it's too flippen hot you might want to stay in the alps, woodland or beside water where its cooler. Research some recognised motorcycle routes through Switzerland (there are loads) and take mountain passes up and over the Alps into Italy (i.e. avoid the boring tunnels if you can). Italy has some of the best motorcycling roads in the world, so keeping off the motorways you'll be finding them everywhere. Check out the Futa Pass (Bologna to Mugello & Florence) which Ducati has used for testing development bikes. Good luck with your trip and please post some photos on here!
I'm near Pisa at the moment, by the coast it's about 32 in the shade. Florence had 40 degrees yesterday. I'd say it's hot.
Ooft, glad I missed that inferno. The girl at the hotel did say we’d been lucky with the weather at track. By lucky she meant not too hot. I guess she was right!
I’ve got family in Malta and it’s mid to high 30s there now so Sicily/Toe of Boot will be close to that. I did 3 hours in 32C in Essex yesterday and it was hot, but not hugely uncomfortable if I kept moving. I was in Taormina (Sicily) in ’23 and it hit 46C - fuck me that was HOT.
I tend to favour Timmelsjoch pass for entering Italy from Austria, and also the SS67 heading south from Forli is a gem of a road.
Thats 1500 miles (or 2500) clicks which is just a 100 or so per day in two weeks assuming you aren't returning in that time too? So with a few long days, no problem! It will be hot and busy. Personally I prefer the North of Italy and the lakes especially. Don't miss Bellagio.
Milage: I could be wrong but I think 1,500 miles is a direct route, and ONE way... so I think we're looking at over 3,000 miles... and with the aim of keeping off the motorways? I've always found the smaller Italian roads to be pretty slow going. Amazing roads, but time consuming, especially if you are looking to see some sights. Yes! The Italian Lakes are stunning!
You are correct, but the OP didn't mention a return trip, so its one hundred miles south per day in any style of zig zag. I expect the OP will be back to add a little more info as the replies come in?
