Pootling around northern Italy

[nirakaro]

We're planning a few weeks very gentle touring around northern Italy, doing the big mileages by train, and riding gentle twenty-five-mile-ish days on the bikes, alternating camping with B&Bs. Herself has a course to attend for a week in South Tyrol in early July, when I may try something a wee bit more strenuous; a week or two either side of that we fancy wandering around Trentino/Veneto/Emilia Romagna, avoiding the tourist hotspots and enjoying the countryside/small towns/ quiet bike paths. Good food and wine a priority. Any suggestions/recommendations gratefully appreciated.

[HarryD]

Seems like you've got it sussed out so go and enjoy. We loved our tour there and apart from start and finish dates we didn't plan anything else. Simply went with the flow. Good food and wine was not a problem. The cycle paths were always interesting: from brilliant to a bit chaotic. Avoiding the main roads sometimes meant very steep hills. The climb from the Veneto plain into the mountains was a bit of a shock and was used as the final Cat 1 climb on the following years Giro. Even the big main roads were tolerable.

I'd never been to Venice and didn't plan to go as I'm not a city lover and as for crowds forget it. Paris, Prague and New York I can tolerate for three or four hours. Ripon is my kind of city. The better half sort of dragged me there and guess what? I loved every minute of it. In and out by train. Yes it was crowded, could have been expensive and full of selfie sticks and touts. Stayed all day.

[yutkoxpo]

I was there a few years ago, following the Alpe Adria and then making up my own route as I went along. Cycle routes can be a bit chaotic so a bit of preplanning is advisable. Having said that, I really enjoyed myself. Traffic was, by and large, very respectful, people were very friendly and the countryside is wonderful, if challenging at times. I was there mid to late September and the touristy places were jam packed. As a result I avoided Lake Garda because I had had a bellyfull of tourists. I do recall a couple of sudden, short and violent thunderstorms that were fun!
Enjoy!

[roubaixtuesday]

On pootling, the cyclepath down the Valsugana from Trento Lago di Caldonazzo/Levico Terme is tremendous and the parallel train line has a carriage devoted entirely to bike carriage.

There's a big climb from Trento to Caldonazzo, then downhill all the way, so would make a nice one day downhill all the way with train if you'd like something easy.

[nirakaro]

The Valsugana route looks ideal for pootling – that's a definite. For the "something a wee bit more strenuous" I'd planned doing part of the Sella ring. Then heading to Cortina, Dobbiaco and back to Bressanone; looks like I'd be hitting the Sella ring on July 7. Then I found out that's the day of the Maratone dles Dolomites, which Wikipedia describes as "one of the biggest, most passionate, and most chaotic bike races on Earth." Limited to maximum 9000 riders! I'm hoping I'll have a ringside seat. Anyone got reports on that race?

[nsew]

The Valsugana route looks ideal for pootling – that's a definite. For the "something a wee bit more strenuous" I'd planned doing part of the Sella ring. Then heading to Cortina, Dobbiaco and back to Bressanone; looks like I'd be hitting the Sella ring on July 7. Then I found out that's the day of the Maratone dles Dolomites, which Wikipedia describes as "one of the biggest, most passionate, and most chaotic bike races on Earth." Limited to maximum 9000 riders! I'm hoping I'll have a ringside seat. Anyone got reports on that race?

An Italian mate who’s a regular, told me last year he was able to get going one hour after the starting gun.

[MarcusT]

I planned on MTBing out of Cortina that week end. Looks like I may have to change plans

[nirakaro]

https://www.maratona.it/it/traffic
gives a timetable of road closures - mostly reopening from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. I'd imagine the pressure on local infrastructure - accommodation and food availability - may be quite extreme. We'll see.

[MarcusT]

Cortina hotels are mostly available. Riders must be staying more at the beginning/end of the route.
I'll get a vantage point and watch the ride

[nirakaro]

I'm curious to see how it works: kick-off is at 5:30am, I think, and the start point, La Villa, doesn't look like it would have accommodation for 9000 visitors. I suspect the Dolomites' ban on wild camping will be suspended for the day!