Dolomites and Lake Garda Self-Guided Motorcycle Tour

Twelve nights in two halves, self-guided: the Dolomites first and then Lake Garda, with four free days between them.

The Ardennes, Munster and Bavaria come first on the way out, by way of the Verdun memorial, the Vosges and Titisee, with Neuschwanstein an optional detour. The first three days are transit rather than holiday, which is the cost of riding to Italy rather than flying and hiring there.

Corvara follows over the Fern and Timmelsjoch passes, the second carrying the highest motorcycle museum in Europe at the top of it, and the Jaufen. Two free days there cover the Sella Ronda circuit, which links four passes in a loop of about fifty kilometres, with a cable car up the Pordoi, and either Cortina d’Ampezzo and Lake Misurina over the Falzarego or the Great War museum on the Marmolada. Lake Garda comes next for the softer half, with boat trips, vineyards and an optional train to Verona or Venice, then Sankt Moritz over the Tonale and Bernina on the way home.

Twelve nights of bed and breakfast, five 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 split between hard pass riding and a lake is an unusual shape and a sensible one, particularly for two people travelling together who want different things from a holiday. The passes are generally open from late May to October, and Garda in late summer has wine festivals in the villages round the lake.