Italy Advice Please

[Wapping]

OOK, now we are cooking on gas. Left or right side down the peninsula, 1000 kms between Genoa and Bari.

To be frank, there is no perfect answer, which is where your maps and timetable will come into play; your timetable itself being ultimately flexible anyway. It's not helped as, in common with many mountain ranges, many of the 'must do' routes into the Italy's central spine are often circular in nature, bloody great lumps of rock blocking travel in some directions. These are not much good if the day spent riding around in big circle (even if on great roads) should have been spent getting to Bari and catching your ferry :laugh:

Me? What would I do? I'd look at the 1000 kms between Genoa and Bari and break it maybe into two equal 500 km chunks. That gives me about 300 miles a day (if you'll forgive the mixing of imperial and metric units) which is certainly reasonable. That would at least give me my halfway point. Then, if time allowed, I'd then maybe add a day to see if I could add in some squiggles from the map, even if these carried me say east / west as opposed to the north / south direction I needed to follow in order to get to Bari. Better still if I can get the east / west squiggles to go broadly south eastwards as that is roughly the direction from Genoa to Bari. I'd also probably take into account that the real purpose of my Italian venture was to get to Bari to catch a ferry... Not to spend two or more hours looking at the beautiful church of St Peter the Lost in a 16th century village and having a sun drenched lunch in the square. I'd save that for another day, happy that - baring earthquakes - the 300 year old church will still probsbly be there in another 200 years.

In truth, that is no more (and no less) than folk do when they say that they 'wing it' being 'flexible, not booking hotels, allowing changing plans' or whatever.

Some bods even ask their GPS device to do it for them, by tapping on the 'avoid motorways and main roads' button - now shown on some devices as a 'twisty roads' button option, as it takes all the thought out of it - safe in the knowledge that no matter what befalls them - their faithful GPS friend will bring them ultimately to their destination. It explains why fellows say: "It - by which they mean the GPS device - finds them roads they'd otherwise never have found". Of course they could have found them on a map but that takes a bit of effort and it's risky as they might make a mistake. That's not knocking GPS devices for the sake of it. I think they are fantastic tools, when used in conjunction with maps and imagination.

All of which hasn't really answered your basic question.... Left or right.... So here goes......

Both!

The roads are (generally) better in the stretch between Genoa and say Pisa. From Pisa, southwards to say Grosseto. This brings you roughly into Umbria, one of Italy's most beautiful regions. Now turn left (eastwards) across the peninsula to roughly between Ancona and Porto d'Ascoli. Why? If you don't swing east, you'll collide with Rome.... Unless you fancy Rome, that is.

You are now on the Adriatic, which is good as you need to get to Bari.

Now head southwards, inland from the close coastal strip and you'll get to Bari down some great roads, I promise.

Changed your mind about Bari? No problem. Head south westwards to Potenza and spend two days riding around in / across the narrow waist of the peninsula or head south into Calabria, in the direction of Catanzaro.

Job done!

Have fun and be sure to tell us how it all goes (thumbs)

Richard

[gbags]

Thanks gang,

Wapping, your "The roads...Catanzaro" is excellent and exactly what I want. I'll copy it into my phone and use as and when. We have about six weeks for this trip so I can easily add days wherever looks good.

Fullerton, I do like mooching along too and yes, you sometimes end up in a dump but sometimes the 'must see' places are just too touristy. I get far more out of camping beside some beautiful stream in the mountains than swatting away persistent T shirt vendors.

Up Norf John, thanks for those. I'll definitely look out for that and Monte Cassino, if I can. One of my father's uncles fought at Monte Cassino, only to be killed by the USAAF later on in the war!

One road I definitely want on the way back is that Trustafar..., Rastafari..., Transameric.... that cool mountain road the latest Romanian dictator built up over the Carpathians. It usually opens in late June so it'll be touch and go. Fingers crossed for an early thaw. Did we plan badly by not going later? Nope. We have stuff to do in June/July so that's why we're heading off now.

Thanks again,

G

[chico]

trips abroad for me...

if ive never been to that particular country, its all interesting, if i have been before, well, i'll have some idea's off the last time.....nothing can't happen, something will occur to you,......1st trip is to savour and formate,(wandering within a simple structure) next one based on that,....everything inbetween is down to how you personally like to travel....

[Wapping]

I've just pumped Genoa to Bari into Google Maps and asked it to plot a basic route.

I zoomed it in, then dragged the route to follow anything that looked like it was full of hairpins through what the Italians call 'Natural Parks' as far along the 1000 kms as I could manage. It's easy to assume that these will be, twisty scenic and fun. Other than adding about 300 kms or more to the distance (no great problem if time is flexible) it doesn't look bad.

As predicted, the mountains and hills do get in the way from time to time, which creates loops or forces you to sometimes go north - when you should be heading south -but that's just life and geography. Inevitably you have to hit the flat coastal plain at some point to reach Bari. Even then, it doesn't have to be dull, it's just different to the many miles of fun that came before.

[gbags]

I just Googled a route too, though I can't drag the route as I'm on an iPad.
I bought a Garmin 390LM a week back (my first ever) which we'll mostly use for getting in and out of cities and finding specific addresses like recommended campsites or hotels.
I have a Northern Italy map and will buy another as I start running out of that map. Coffee breaks and evenings can be spent poring over maps for the next good place to head for, as we charge phones etc. We only discovered last year that virtually every single place you stop for coffee or eats has wifi and they're happy for you to use it.
The map will go in the tank bag with about half a day's towns in four or five bullet points, with big road numbers and arrow left or right for junctions. That way I can read it all with just a flick of the eyes down.
We're off Wednesday week and I'm starting to get a tingle.

[Ttis]

Its a great trip to see the remnants of roman empire. Yes, its crowded, only few remnants left but you have to see in your first trip. Donna was great guide. Wonder how she maintains her enthusiasm for every day of the trip. This is the best tour of Rome. Thank you Eyes of Rome, I loved it.

[captinktm]

Hi, I'm heading down to Italy in two weeks time and then plan to ferry across from Bari to Macedonia.

Can anyone suggest any decent routes, POI on the way down? I thought of heading down the west side, Genoa-Florence-Naples then cross to Bari but we primarily want good mountain A or B roads and older towns/villages. This is my first time past Florence so I'd appreciate your experience if you know the area.

Cheers,

G

Hi I spent a couple of weeks finding routes in Macedonia for some Brits I was guiding so know my way ish. PM me if you would like more info.