Dolomites and Tuscany Self-Guided Motorcycle Tour

Twelve nights across the Dolomites and Tuscany, self-guided, which pairs hard pass riding with hill towns and factory visits.

The Ardennes, Munster and Bavaria come first on the way out, by way of the Verdun memorial, the Vosges, the Col de la Schlucht and Fussen, with Neuschwanstein optional. The first three days are transit, which is what riding to Italy costs.

Corvara follows over the Fern and Timmelsjoch passes, the second carrying the highest motorcycle museum in Europe, and the Jaufen. Two free days cover the Sella Ronda circuit and either Cortina d’Ampezzo or Lake Misurina over the Falzarego. Montecatini Terme comes next through the Apuan mountains, with a free day for the Ducati factory at Bologna, the Ferrari and Lamborghini works optional, and the Passo della Futa, which Ducati use as a test road and which has carried both the Mille Miglia and the Giro d’Italia. Another free day takes in San Gimignano, Pisa and Lucca.

Twelve nights of bed and breakfast, eight 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. Thirteen days for two regions this far apart means real riding between them, which is the cost of the combination. The San Gotthard is optional on the way home, with its twenty-four named hairpins. The factory visits need booking well ahead, and spring and autumn suit the Tuscan half better than high summer. The Dolomite passes are generally open from late May to October, so an early-season booking risks the better half of the trip.