Tuscany Self-Guided Motorcycle Tour

Ten nights to Tuscany, self-guided, based at Montecatini Terme for the middle of the trip, on the rider’s own bike.

Sedan and Munster come first on the way out, by way of the Verdun memorial and the Vosges, then Lugano over the Sankt Gotthard, either on the modern road or on the old cobbled Tremola section, which is the better choice on a dry day, with the hairpins laid in granite blocks.

Montecatini Terme is reached through Parma and La Spezia. Three free days follow. The first is the motoring one: the Ducati factory at Bologna, with the Ferrari and Lamborghini works optional, and the Passo della Futa, which Ducati use as a test road and which runs over the Apennines on a surface to match. The second is quieter, with a funicular up to Montecatini Alto. The third covers San Gimignano and its medieval towers, Pisa and Lucca. Lake Garda, Lake Como and the Splugen Pass carry the route home.

Ten nights of bed and breakfast, seven evening meals and the return Eurotunnel crossing are included, along with the GPX routes and the itinerary; fuel, parking, admissions and the vignettes are not. Eleven days with three free days from one base is the right shape for Tuscany, where the riding and the towns are concentrated in the same area. The factory visits need booking well ahead and the Ducati museum keeps limited hours, which is worth checking against the dates. Spring and autumn are the better seasons, since inland Tuscany in August is hot work in leathers and the hill towns are busy with coaches.