Eastern Alps Explorer Extended

Eleven nights across Austria, Italy and Slovenia, guided, the extended version of the operator’s Eastern Alps tour.

Five nights at the base instead of two is the whole difference, and it buys the thing that is usually missing from an Alpine tour: the option of riding a road again, or of not riding at all on a day when the weather has closed the passes.

The ground is the same Eastern Alpine region across the three countries, and the extra days open up route choices that a shorter itinerary has to leave out. Austria supplies the high toll passes and the Tyrolean valleys, Italy the Dolomites and the Stelvio approaches, and Slovenia the Vrsic hairpins and the Soca valley, which is quieter than anything on the Italian side. With five nights in one place the daily loops can be longer or shorter as the group and the conditions suit, which over twelve days makes a real difference to how much of the region gets covered.

A full support vehicle throughout, handpicked hotels, and the guiding are all included, and the holiday is UK Package Travel protected; the full inclusions were not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. The price shown is the starting rate, with the operator quoting up to £5,195 depending on the machine and the room. Late spring to early autumn is the window. Twelve days is the right length for anyone travelling a long way to ride the Alps, since the extra three days cost proportionally less than the first nine and remove the pressure to ride through bad weather. For a rider with the time, this is the better-value version of the two.